When we were asked recently to watch a movie for the Emerging Technologies course the choice was simple: which one from the suggested list can I stream from Netflix? If this had been 10 years ago the choice would have most likely been to drive to the nearest Blockbuster and find which one was available on DVD. Today that is no longer an option I consider. I own DVDs, and I believe the ones I currently have will be it. I do not find myself buying any more DVDs, or Blu Rays for that matter, anytime soon. I see storing them as an obstacle to overcome. What do I do with them? Digital content is so easy to store, and I don't even do that. Why store a movie that someone else is storing for me? Sure, Star Wars collection, Lord of the Rings, Heavy Metal, Pulp Fiction, some movies are worth having to watch them whenever I want. Still, I think I bought my last DVD already. I might buy another one at some point as a gift or such, but it is surely a rare occasion.
It seems like this is so. To my generation there was and still is a principle when it comes to watching audiovisual entertainment: bigger and louder is better. From what I can see to other generations there is a modification on this principle: mobile is better. I see many children and young adults happily watching videos, ad even movies, in their miniature phones. The resolution is obviously not the best, the sound is not superb. Yet the convenience of disconnecting from the world from anywhere in it is sufficient to please them. This makes streaming video attractive and marketable. At the same time most movies make as much or even more from DVD sales than in the theater. This points to strong sales, explained by the fact that consumers like to watch feature films more than once and at the comfort of their favorite location. There is no signs of the DVD industry slowing down, even when services like Netflix and Cable's On-Demand make watching movies so easy. Of course, many factors in the public's perception contribute to this fact: not all titles can be streamed (although I find almost everything I want to watch online); watching in a computer monitor is somewhat uncomfortable (yes, true, that is why I hooked my computer to the big screen TV); services that stream require a monthly fee (yes, Netflix is $8.99, which I pay gladly since I am saving more than $100 in cable, Oh and Hulu is free); streaming from online requires an internet connection (? who lives without internet these days?). Finally a big factor in the growth of popularity for streaming services has been the success of YouTube. This website has made on demand entertainment very favored and opened up the possibilities of using computers beyond for purposes other than typing, communicating or doing research.
There are many options to obtain audiovisual entertainment. They saturate the market. It is a great time to be entertained, but how is this affecting human development? Market forces have now driven how we think for centuries. We are branded since very early on, yet we comply happily. Watching too much means we are not producing too much. If everyone is watching, then we are still leaving the power in the hands of a few. Streamed or not the truth is the media still controls many hours of our day. Audiovisual content requires our full attention for a specific amount of time. How can we avoid being influenced? How can we take advantage and use such a powerful tool with so many possibilities to advance human knowledge? It will be upon us to see how...
Luis
ReplyDeleteWhen I first signed up for Netflix it cost $5.99 per month. Yes it is very comfortable to have movies streamed directly to your home. What I see as the "Red Queen" effect is video stores going out out of business because of the competition between the various video on demand services. The video rental stores are not running fast enough to keep up with the competition from video streaming.