DVD's vs Streaming Video

I have not been a subscriber to satellite TV or cable for over five years.  I made the choice years ago to get rid of cable for financial reasons, and have not regretted my decision yet!  The only downside to not having television programming is that I cannot always keep up when people are talking about television commercials, or the latest reality TV show.  But, I have even found a solution to this.  

Just because I choose not to have cable, does not mean that I don't watch my fair share to TV.  I am an avid supporter of Netflix.  I have an extensive list of DVDs in my queue, over 100, and have streamed my fair share in a week.  I was a member of Netflix before I officially decided to give up cable, and it was one of the supporting reasons why I thought I could survive without cable.  As Netflix has enhanced its streaming options, I too have streamed more programs.  When it was time for me to find one of the required movie for the module 4, I quickly turned to Netflix.  One thought that went through my head was, "what if Netflix doesn't have one of the movie on the list?  Where am I going to turn?"  Thankfully Netflix didn't let me down.  

  

So are DVD and streaming video the next Red Queen, or are they an example of increasing returns? Dr. Thornburg defined an increasing return as "two technologies that hit the market at the same time.  By chance, one technology gets locked in and drives the other to extinction" (Laureate Education, 2009).  By this definition, the two technologies would need to hit the market at the same time.  DVDs became popular in the mid to late 1990s.  Streaming video emerged ten years later.  Due to the fact that they did not enter the market at the same time they are not an example of an increasing return.

Dr. Thornburg defined a Red Queen as "huge competition existing between two technologies, in the process all other competition is left behind"  (Laureate Education, 2009).  By this definition streaming video would need to be clearly competing with one source for DVDs.  At this point in time Netflix is the leader in streaming video, but there are several other sources.  iTunes is one place that you can acquire digital versions of media.  Also, at this point in time there is not one source for DVDs.  People are still choosing between renting them through several different companies, or to purchase them.

From my vantage point it seems that at this point in time in regards to McLuhan's tetrad, streaming video is making DVDs obsolete.  Within the next five years I would predict that very few people are still watching the video entertainment on DVD, and are turning to the streaming option.   

Enjoy ~SJ 

Wish Books to Wish Lists!

The Sears and Roebuck company began as a mail order catalog in 1888.  Since at that time people bought must of their goods from the local general store they were required to pay inflated prices.  Sears and Roebuck were able to offer lower prices through their mail order catalog which featured farm supplies, toys, sewing machines, cars, houses, and just about anything that a person could need.  This business expanded until 1993 when it stopped producing its large catalog.  Today it prints fewer and smaller catalogs due to the interest in online shopping.

The Sears and Roebuck catalog and transitions to online shopping is an example of what Dr. Thornburg described as a Rhyme of History.  Someone once said that "The future will be like the past, only with cooler toys."  Although new technologies are invented, these new technologies allow us to go tasks that we used to do, but easier.  One example that Dr. Thornburg used in his Rhymes of History vodcast was social networking.  Social networking is a rhyme of history because it brings back the concept of a watering hole.  The watering hole was a place in a community used by people to not only gather water, but to also exchange news and stories.  Social networking sites hold the same purpose today, they allow people to share news and stories in the digital age.

Online shopping at mega stores such as Amazon.com allow people to accomplish the same task as the Sears and Roebuck catalog did.  People can log onto Amazon and browse until their hearts are content.  They can read about an endless variety of items, read descriptions as well as reviews from customers.  Once a customer finds an item that they are interested in they can either place it in their virtual cart, or my personal favorite place it on your wish list.  Placing something on your wish list is the same as turning the corner down on a page that has an item you are interested in.

It isn't that the idea of dream shopping has died with the lack of print catalogs, it is simply the way that people interact with the catalog has changed.  Gone is the thrill of receiving the Sears catalog in the mail, instead we receive email updates on family members growing wishlists!

As a side note, according to a Boston Globe article if you are interested in viewing all of the Sears catalog pages since 1896 they can be viewed at ancestry.com 

Enjoy ~SJ