The progression of technology has served to improve and enhance a number of industries, but it is arguably entertainment in which advancements have had the most notable effect. In fact, entertainment and technology have always been intrinsically linked, ever since the first ever television broadcasts in the late 1920s. Now the lines are so blurred that all entertainment needs to consider current technology, and new tech developers need to think about how their products can be applied to the entertainment sector. Land-based businesses that don’t put a heavy focus on the digital side could be at risk of failure.
Looking at some of the biggest start-ups of the last few years, there has been a heavy focus on digitalization. Jobcrawler is one such company which is making use of technology to make it easier for people to find work. In the past, prospective employees had to trawl through listings in a newspaper or go to the job centre. Nowadays, sites like Jobcrawler do all the hard work and filter through thousands of online job ads to match users up with the positions that suit them best. Hashtag South Africa has also been somewhat of a revelation. It offers unique products and services which are designed to help budding businesses. The main mission is to engage business models and development through integrated social media, fiber communication, and cloud computing.
These companies have embraced digitalization, but may have not placed enough emphasis on entertainment and the land-based side of things. It makes sense, considering their individual purposes. But new start-ups should certainly look for more integration between entertainment and technology in both a real world and digital sense. They could look to some bigger brands for inspiration on ways to implement this.
Netflix is one of the most famous examples of a company which is blending entertainment with technological innovations seamlessly. The use of live streaming, for instance, has been taken to new levels with choose-your-own-adventure options like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and You vs Wild, which require the viewer to be an active participant. As soon as new advancements become available, the streaming service seeks to incorporate them. Buzz Bingo is an example of a brand which is trying to bridge the gap between land-based and online bingo. The company has online games as well as brick and mortar bingo halls. Augmented reality games like Jurassic World Alive from Ludia allow players to entertain themselves by walking around in the real world hunting dinosaurs. In all of these things, the lines between entertainment and tech are blurred.
Whenever there is a new innovation in technology, the entertainment industry looks to make use of it first. This has been seen with the rise of mobile gaming, live streaming, online bingo, and augmented reality. Land-based entertainment sites now need to look to integrate digital elements in order to attract the online generation. New start-ups would be wise to look for ways to create integrated entertainment experiences which combine real life with the digital world.
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