Radio
Radio in the 1980s In 1980, many new commercial radio stations began broadcasting on the new FM band. This also introduced the use of FM stations employing sophisticated methods of audience research which allowed it to appeal to specific groups of people which became their target audience, this is now used in a modern context but at a larger scale and in which there is no escaping. Some of these stations primarily played rock and pop music targeted towards young people, while others played hits from the 1960s and 1970s in a bid to appeal to more mature listeners. Computer and video games Computer and video games in the 1980s Personal computers became more affordable in the 1980s and a wide range of computer games provided a new source of entertainment. Handheld consoles for home computers were introduced in the late 1980s this provided a new stream of a generation which was ‘tech savvy’ also after this introduction of these devices they became even cheaper and smaller and faster we now see the progress today that the 80’s eventually kick started. Young people could also gather in video arcades and play video games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong launching this generational change of their activities and interests. Video cassette recorders (VCRs) Video cassette recorders (VCRs) became a common fixture in Australian homes in the 1980s. The device allowed people to record programmes from their television sets onto a video tape and watch them later. The VCR gave people much more control over their viewing habits, allowing them to watch whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted this although in a modern day context an ancient technology was in fact one of the most common and most used household entertainment appliance/accessory after this 80’s development as seen in the statistic below. In 1981, 3 percent of Australian households owned a VCR. By 1993, this figure had risen to 80 percent. VCRs also allowed people to hire videos of movies that had previously screened at the cinema. In 1978, just two film titles were available on video. By 1993, 33 000 films were available. |