The current competition between Netflix and other DVD competitors represents an example of being an increasing return. Increasing returns represent a scenario where a competitor makes another competitor become essentially obsolete (Thornburg, 2014a). Consequently, I would not categorize the completion between Netflix and DVDs as being a red queen (Thornburg, 2014b). A red queen is demonstrative of two similar competitors that control a given market, however, I am of the opinion that DVDs are not in the same market as Netflix. The on-demand industry has grown beyond the selling videos, but companies, such as Netflix offer entertainment beyond a, meaning one, movie. A DVD is just a singular movie.
On McLuhan’s tetrad Netflix would be categorized as being at a point of “Enhancement” (Kelly, 2011). The on demand industry no longer has limits tied to a video, they have their own productions that are not offered on DVD. Due to this DVDs are moving to a point of obsolescence. Moreover, modern laptops no long carry a DVD port. We are witnessing the demise of the DVD.
References Kelly, O. (2011, October 17). McLuhan’s tetrads: what thy are and how they work [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.owenkelly.net/984/mcluhans-tetrads/
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014a). David Thornburg: Increasing returns [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Laureate Education (Producer). (2014b). David Thornburg: Red queens [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
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Hello Bianca,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response to my blog post. In reading your post, I find your perspective that the DVD and Netflix are not within the same market. I do see your perspective, but at the same time, viewers are seeking to achieve a common goal of viewing their favorite movies through the use of either on demand access, such as the type of access that is granted from services, such as Netflix, or through the purchase and renting of DVDs. One way that we often view movies is through purchasing them through DirecTV, or using our DirecTV on demand features, where we can search for movies, and then view them as we desire to do so. In my post, I categorized the competition that exist among Netflix and DVDs as Red Queens because of my perspective of the two being able to produce the same outcome of displaying movies that viewers choose to watch.
I do believe that there are some who will make the choice to continue viewing movies via the DVD, and there are others who will view the movies using a combination of services, such as myself. On Friday, my husband and I purchased a DVD for the first time in forever. However, as indicated previously, we primarily use on demand and DirecTV services. Thank you for your insightful post. I enjoyed reading it!
Kenyatta
Please view the link below on the effect that streaming has on the DVD. Thanks again!
http://mashable.com/2012/04/20/streaming-video-dvd-infographic/
Bianca,
ReplyDeleteOnce again, we (as adults) have had the opportunity to see an entertainment medium such as VHS fall to DVDs and now DVDs bowing to video on demand. Our technological existence is being piped onto web-based applications and thus giving the consumer greater access and choices of what they want the experience. Great post!