Now, <em>That's</em> Entertainment Technology

While music production is an increasingly low-overhead enterprise, movie production isn't getting any cheaper, so it's likely that the film industry won't see quite the surge of unsponsored talent that the music world will. That said, movie-making is a very accessible enterprise – using a camera is easier than playing a guitar – and it's likely that the popularity of ultra low-budget short films or series like Lonelygirl15 will continue to crop up on video-sharing sites Web-wide. How these can be reliably monetized is anyone's guess, but suffice to say: their continued popularity suggests they will be.

Gaming

The ubiquity of network gaming is finally bringing back the old spirit of games – real human competition – to the formerly isolated world of console-based entertainment. But less isolation also means a less needy audience. With the ability to challenge an infinite number of competitors, Xbox and PS3 users no longer run out and purchase a new game once they've beaten an older one. The Ninendo Wii will suffer from the same problem (or boon, depending on your perspective) as its action-based multiplayer games are practically social events, and are almost endlessly playable.

For gaming companies, less frequent game-buying means earning revenue from somewhere else, and since there's a limit to what customers will pay for a game, advertising might be the solution. Video game makers have been subtly (or not so subtly) working in the occasional brand presence to their games (witness any game by EA Sports). But look no further than Red Bull's recent ground-breaking deal with Freestyle games for evidence of advertising's importance in the modern gaming market. Following in the footsteps of Burger King, which last year released three mini-games for Xbox to surprising success, Freestyle is planning on making what Chris Lee of Freestyle calls three "innovative, original, next-gen games" with Red Bull branding. Unlike the Burger King mini-games, Freestyle's efforts will be full-scale, full-price titles.

As with some Internet applications (like anything Google), nuanced advertising might provide a way to slash retail costs for consumers, while driving up brand exposure for the sponsoring company.

Television

TV executives have joined their record-label counterparts in soiling their collective britches over online piracy – hence Viacom's billion-dollar lawsuit against Google for its thousands of pirated YouTube videos. However, the dinosaurs of TV land aren't just knee-jerking their way through the 21st century; many television companies have actually taken a pro-active role in controlling how their media can be freely, but profitably, distributed.

Take programs like Joost, for example, which has partnered with titans like Viacom and Warner Bros. to bring full-screen, high quality streaming television to computers. That kind of free Web-based TV might someday be enough to crush the myriad of mirror sites like TVlinks.co.uk and Alluc.org that serve as link libraries for pirated shows – but for now, the program hardly offers any new or popular shows. Joost faces stiff competition from the likes of Hulu.com, a joint project between NBC and Fox that is rumored to present shows simultaneous to their live airing – and do it free, through huge portals like Yahoo, MSN, and AOL.

Microsoft may have an even more significant idea for TV-over-Web. According to the tech blog Gadgetell, Windows Vista may soon incorporate the ability to watch TV over the Internet innately within the operating system. Details are still hazy, but a beta is apparently in the works that would allow near-DVD quality, ad-supported shows. That kind of integration would likely mean DVR-like functionality that Websites can't provide.

If all these services sound like they're offering the same thing, it's because they are: the ability to watch shows on your own schedule, commercial-free. At present, Apple's iTunes has been successful selling television shows that are normally gratis on network TV, just because they allow viewers to watch anywhere, anytime, without advertising. To that end, television will follow its entertainment peers in becoming free, Web-accessible, and flexible.

But that's assuming that we're watching the same shows we've always watched: professionally acted, big-time productions by the national networks. Amateur television is gaining popularity on sites like blip.tv, where the conventional TV-series format is being done by small-time crews of actors and producers – and even being distributed on Apple TV. Also offering homemade TV channels is Next New Media, which recently acquired the satirical site BarelyPolitical.com, made famous by its "Obama Girl" music video. If amateur TV mavericks can manage to pull off big-network drama and comedy on a free, accessible platform, viewers might be wooed away from their TVs and towards their PCs.