When I was assigned to watch a science fiction movie based on Phillip K. Dick’s books, my first thought was, “How am I supposed to find these old movies without Blockbuster?” Just a few years ago Blockbuster was where we went to rent movies, and they had a large variety of old and new movies. Since Netflix and Redbox has emerged, Blockbuster has recently closed its stores and has attempted to limit their business to vendor machines similar to Redbox. The only way that I figured I was going to find older titles was through my Netflix subscription or downloading one from the Internet because Redbox and the DirecTV On-Demand Cinema only seems to have new releases available for renting. The great aspect of Netflix is that there are several ways to access its services, such as on iPhones and iPads, XBOX, Blu-ray players, or through their website. I used Netflix through our XBOX 360 since it is connected to our family room television and easiest to view. I chose to watch the movie Paycheck, and fortunately it was one of the titles available.
I believe that the driving force behind the current competition of movie rental technology is due to the concept of ‘Red Queens’. Thornburg (2008) clarifies how “The name ‘Red Queen’ is attached to certain phenomena when competition between two forces results in the rapid development of them both”. There seems to be more than two emerging technologies in existence today for renting movies, but the two that are rapidly competing and emerging into society are Redbox and Netflix. These two companies continue to rapidly develop as they compete with low prices, Redbox costing $0.99 to $1.50 per rental and Netflix offering unlimited streaming of movies through for $7.99 per month. I use both services, as Redbox seems to offer newer releases faster and Netflix is great for when we are bored sitting at home and want to instantly find a movie to watch without leaving the house (or when I need to watch a movie for an assignment).
According to McLuhan’s tetrad, I believe that renting DVDs from Redbox retrieves the idea of going to Blockbuster or similar companies to rent a movie. Video-on-demand will continue to reverse the idea of movie renting by allowing people to find movies to watch without leaving their home. With the developments of the Internet and the abilities to download or stream movies, I believe that eventually videos-on-demand will obsolete Redbox and people will choose to download movies or access them through Netflix. Although we can predict what the future of such emerging technologies holds, we can only wait and see!
The following article takes a look into why Blockbuster has become obsolete and how the emergence of Netflix has made an impact on movie rentals.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/10/18/101018ta_talk_surowiecki
References
Surowiecki, J. (2010). The next level. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/10/18/101018ta_talk_surowiecki
Thornburg, D. (2008). Red Queens, butterflies, and strange attractors: Imperfect lenses into emergent technologies. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.
Hi Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI also believe that there is a huge competition between DVD rentals and streaming which looks like what is explained in "Red Queens" concept. I have read reports that Blockbuster's video renting business is going down. Redbox is teaming up with Verizon Wireless for streaming videos. This explains that ultimately streaming is going to take over. If the streaming sites like NetFlix get hold of the new releases and make the latest movies available to their customers right after release, the market for DVD rentals will be gone. Probably only traditional people will continue to choose renting after this.
Hi Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteYou are correct with Block Buster service. They have an extended library of both old and new movies. Block Buster dominates the market being one of the first movie service providers. Their price was “high” but with a wide library they held their market share. Netflix has invested in the technology that has captured the consumers market recently. Broad Band technology is becoming wide and popular in the market. Do you think the technology tool (lap top and so on) plays a major role in the rise and fall or live or die for some movie service provider?
In 2009 DirecTV purchased Block Buster. Blockbuster now compliments the service that DirecTV offers. Netflix have invested in much popular technology and have created an impressive lead and market share. The competition among movie providers with DVD rentals and internet movies utilizes McLuhan’s Tetrad in several ways. I guess you could say that from “Red box retrieves the idea of going to Block Buster” as Block Buster has been in the market for a couple of decades now. You might be correct streaming movies will ride high in the consumers market but DVDs holds a niche that will die hard. Block Buster has not become obsolete by Netflix. I rented my video at the Block Buster store and they are alive and kicking. Both Block Buster and Netflix continue to be Red Queens but with competition from rivals at their heels. You have made an interesting post.
Hi Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteI too, had a hard time figuring out how I would get my hands on the movies that were needed for the assignment. However, I decided to use Googles play store to rent the movie for 24 hours. This rental was $0.99. I was happy to have such imediate access and even happier to pay less than a dollar. I am concerned that streaming and downloading materials may impact the market especially for those that don't have access to the internet. As technology continues to develop, do you think students will be asked to have more access to the internet and utilize streaming or downloading, rather than the teacher providing the materials in the future?