Streaming is well and truly upon us in this modern age. Gone are the days when we had to wait for laggy, glitchy streams with low definition to watch anything. In this modern age, streaming gives us the option to watch pretty much anything we want, wherever we want.
There are so many reliable devices now available and Internet speeds are going through the roof (even if you are connecting via a cell phone). So, the option for anyone to easily watch any television programs or films is an obvious positive for those industries, but many other businesses are also taking advantage of streaming technology.
For example, online gambling companies are now providing their customers with new ways to bet on table and slot games. A live dealer online casino means that you can connect to a stream where somebody is actually dealing the cards, and you may even feel like you’re right there in the room as you place your bets.
Have we reached the pinnacle for streaming or is this just the start? What does the future hold for the world of streaming?
Even more demand for programming and other content
The market is huge, and people are streaming content all the time. Instead of there just being four or five television channels, like in the good old days, there are now hundreds of channels and platforms for content to be released on, including some pretty niche options.
This means that the television and film production companies are particularly busy, but the same applies to other areas of streaming too, such as music and gambling companies with iGaming offerings.
Critical acclaim
The snobbery around a lot of online streamed content is slowly fading away. It used to be that television shows and films that were put out by streaming platforms didn’t tend to get the same level of critical acclaim or be recognized by award shows, but now, the Academy, among others, is recognizing this content.
For instance, the hit show, Only Murders in the Building, is streaming on Disney Plus in many parts of the world. This means that, unlike historical ways of tuning into television shows, people can log in once a week and see their favorite show (or wait until the season’s end and binge-watch the whole thing).
Independent content creators continue to thrive
The massive industry of “streaming” has also given rise to some modern stars and independent content creators. For instance, think of all of the gamers who have turned themselves into stars on Twitch.
There is an average of almost 3 million people using Twitch at any given time. It’s a huge platform, and whereas the infrastructure of Internet servers, computing, and networks may not have supported this in the past, it is no problem in the modern age.
This means that there are a lot of young people logging in to watch streamers from their phones or on their other devices, and anyone can start streaming whatever they’re getting up to. In some cases, the streamers with a lot of personality go on to generate some really huge followings.
Even higher quality streams
The quality of streaming is increasing all the time, and people can watch their favorite shows in UHD and 4K quality if they wish, assuming that their Internet speeds can support this.
This is all improving at a fast rate due to the fact that Internet connections are getting faster and more stable every day (at least on average) and this means that more data can be quickly transferred. This allows for high-definition streaming to your heart’s content.
Streaming for demanding games
Playing games over the cloud is becoming increasingly popular too. In essence, this is a form of “streaming”, as your device is continually retrieving data from the cloud to display on your screen. Xbox and PlayStation now both support some forms of cloud gaming.
This is another thing that would not have been within the realms of impossibility just a few years ago. However, advancements mean that there are some games that we can now play via streams or cloud connections. This is likely to increase in the future as technology improves further, allowing for even faster transfers and gaming in real-time, with no need to download large files to your console or device before getting stuck in.
Undeniably, streaming is a part of most peoples’ daily lives now, and the future holds a lot of exciting possibilities for the sort of content that we will all be able to access on our devices, wherever we are in the world.