How has the internet changed our favourite pastimes?

Technology has always played a huge part in moving society forward and making our lives easier. Who can imagine still driving around in an original Model T Ford, for example? Tech certainly plays a key role in how we engage with our favourite pastimes. One of the more recent tech innovations to make a huge impact in this regard has been the internet.

Since it first came into the public domain in the 1990s, the internet has developed and grown to play a central role in how we like to stay entertained. This has seen it disrupt many industries in a positive way and change the most popular pastimes we enjoy. But which pastimes are they exactly and how has the internet changed them?

 

Listening to music

In the past, we listened to music via physical tapes, records or CDs via home-based stereo systems. There is no doubt that the internet has changed this. Streaming services such as Spotify use online tech to send music direct to our smartphones, tablets or wireless speakers. By using digital networks to bring music direct to the listener, there is no need to buy physical copies of albums or expensive home stereo systems.

Of course, music streaming over the internet is also far more portable and allows us to enjoy music in a wider variety of settings now. Streaming services have also caught on for TV shows and films. With services like this, you can have the same on-demand access to your favourite choices any time you like – all via the internet. From old classics such as Friends to shows like football doc Pele on Netflix, the appeal is easy to see.

 

Casino games – from online roulette to digital slots

People have loved to play casino games for a long time, ever since the first casino was set up in Venice in the 1600s. While playing casino games has long entailed going in-person to a land-based casino, the internet has changed this significantly. Ever since the first online casino sites and games were introduced in the mid/late 1990s, they have grown in popularity with each passing year.

One of the most popular casino games to play is roulette and this is also true at online casinos. It seems that the lure of the wheel and the convenience of playing this classic game at secure internet casinos is attractive to many. If you need to know more about the best sites to play this game at, read a review here first of the top choices.

It is not just roulette and how we play it that has been positively affected by the internet boom. Modern online slots, for example, now attract a massive audience, while other classic table games such as poker are also popular to play online.

 

Catching up with friends

How we catch up with friends has certainly changed since the internet has become more widely used. If you think back to how we used to catch up with friends pre-internet, the difference is stark. But what exactly has online tech done to revolutionise this pastime?

Top mobile apps for chatting to friends and social media platforms (like Twitter) that operate online must be mentioned. These sorts of platforms have billions of users between them and make it simple to chat, hang out and gossip with friends online. The internet tech packed into modern mobile devices is also key to our changing habits here. Whether it is the chance to video chat online or text, we now prefer to catch up with friends in a more digital way.

 

Shopping

Of course, shopping has always been a pastime that many people love to engage in. But how we shop now looks a lot different than even 10 years ago. E-commerce is now a vibrant sector – £200 billion in revenue was generated during 2019 in the UK alone, for example. The advent of the internet and the founding of online shops has seen more people shop from home. It seems the mixture of convenience, offers and choice is hard to resist!

 

The internet has changed everything

Although this may sound a little dramatic, there is a good case to be made for the internet changing everything about how we live. When you think about how we enjoy our favourite pastimes, as mentioned above, this is certainly true. Although we might still enjoy doing the same things as 20 or 30 years ago, it is how we enjoy them now that has been changed by the internet.

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