Plenty of articles on the Internet have detailed numbers of consoles sold for each category, and similar articles have appeared on iTWire, either by myself or iTWire colleague Mike Bantick.

What it all comes down to is a battle for your dollar. Each digital device is appealing and has benefits of its own, whether unique or better implemented. The Wii has the motion sensing Wiimote and Nun-chuk, while the PS3 has the SIXAXIS controller.

The iPod has the best interface and simplest media content transfer system (iTunes), but the Zune has a bigger screen and Wi-Fi capabilities. The new Sandisk mp3 player launched at CES takes those Wi-Fi capabilities even further to let you download music directly to your player, and even stream Internet radio.

The iPhone has come along to not only redefine the widescreen mp3/video player, but the phone and the Internet access device, almost rendering the older iPod and the Zune into the last century.

All of these devices are relatively expensive, and all compete for your dollar. If you can afford a Zune, an iPod, a mobile phone, an Xbox 360, a PS2, a PS3, a Wii, a digital camera, a laptop computer, wireless Bluetooth headphones and other digital devices, including the software to run on those devices and the accessories that you can buy for them, you have outlaid a lot of cash – or you have burned a hole into your credit card.

There’s also the issue of the time taken away by these devices. Playing games all evening on your games console means you’re not interacting with your family, you’re not watching prime-time TV, you’re not surfing the Internet or watching Youtube video clips, you’re not getting your homework, or for adults, your business work done. You’re living in a digital world.

All of these devices can both digital enhance our everyday lives, but they can also lock us into a digital world. I like to think that it’s a bit of both, with common sense and moderation used to ensure you don’t get trapped or escape into a non-stop virtual world of gaming.

Already gaming addiction clinics have been set up to help those with a strong addiction to gaming. A friend asked me for advice on how to help his son who can’t give up the gaming bug. Even a stint in the army – prompted by a love of violent action games – was not enough to cure him. He left the army because he didn’t have enough time left to play video games, and it was not as fun as the games themselves.

I don’t think there will be any digital camera or iPod addiction centers anytime soon. But the way we spend our time has changed dramatically in the last decade or so. No more are millions guaranteed to be sitting in front of the TV at prime time. The watercooler chat is no longer about the hit show in TV last night, but can be fractured into all manner of different topics.

It might be about your experiences with Gears of War, or the new show you downloaded from Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Live video download service. It might be about a cool video you watched on Youtube that you emailed your work colleagues about that you’re discussing the next day. It could be about a great song you downloaded from iTunes and have on your iPod. It could be about your conquests in your favourite online game. Or one of a limitless number of topics.

The trend towards digital living in both the online and offline worlds has barely begun. The future for games consoles, for digital devices, for total connectedness, for simplicity in usage, for access to information, entertainment and communications and much, much more is only at the beginning.

Games consoles and other digital devices certainly did well across the globe in 2006. But that was only the pre-show entertainment. The next few years is going to see digital living evolve in ways we haven’t even imagined yet. How we deal with so many choices, as human beings, is still being figured out too, as we go along and get exposed to it all. Hang onto your hats – it’s going to be quite a ride!
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