Why digital entertainment drives the need for speed

By aggressively maneuvering to seize and expand their market share, the entertainment industry's biggest players are shaping a 21st century in which consumer demand for entertainment will drive computing innovation. Private sector research and development spending, which now accounts for 75 percent of total US R&D, will increase to about $187.2 billion in 2000, up from an estimated $169.3 billion in 1999, according to Battelle Memorial Institute's annual R&D forecast. The significant and expanding role entertainment technologies play in the development of computer hardware and software implies that this sector can provide insights into the directions our industry will take in the coming years.