What they didn't witness, however, was the cinema's subsequent defeat at the hands of TV, nor cable television's attack on conventional TV.

It's the way of the world: each of the abovementioned leisure media brought appreciable improvements over what came before, forcing them to either reinvent themselves or disappear.

With regard to the much vaunted WAP technology, it's not just being able to get on the Internet that makes the difference, it's everything that's coming after: from pay per view concerts to live videoconferences, virtual democracy and no end of shopping at the touch of a button on your mobile.

Another technology bound for success would seem to be DVD, thanks to its enhanced sound and picture quality, the choice of language, as well as other features such as zoom or automatic picture search.

As for interactive television we should at least give it the benefit of the doubt. Its main advantage is that it enables you to create your own television viewing menu, according to your personal preference and timetable, which in the not too distant future will mean that every PPV viewer will have their own customised TV schedule.

Channels broadcasting over the internet will have an even greater potential for customising their offer to the viewers' personal tastes.

At this moment in time it's not clear which technology will finally come out on top, or whether they will be able to exist alongside each other, but in any event there are significant design changes for both in the pipeline with the aim of enhancing their interactivity.

The future of the electronic book on the other hand does not seem so clear, at least not in the short term. Up to now the e-book has scarcely made any inroads on its paper precursor with the exception of some very specific areas, such as encyclopaedias, atlases and dictionaries �or in other words, those cases where ease of access and comprehension of the information is the key factor� .

Perhaps its future lies in niche markets, where the e-book can exploit its main strengths �the access to information factor mentioned before, and its interactivity� in areas such as driving theory tests, preparation for public exams or language courses.

And we cannot finish without mentioning that classic of digital leisure: the video game.

Experts in the subject are forecasting exponential growth in the next few years affecting both the range of games and their technical specifications. They even foresee the setting up of national and international federations and tournaments.

And I'm sure there will still be some manufacturers of analogue leisure for those of us nostalgic for the twentieth century...