How could a million dollar empire y be overthrown by,what started,as a garage small movies website?
Whenever we talk about the Blockbuster vs Netflix case,that is the first thought that comes to our mind. and then we wonder, Was it the need of people in finding something more affordable at the moment of acquiring an entertainment service? or the variety that a webpage portrayed to a bigger audience? or maybe the commodity of seeing whichever film they wished and not having any time limitations or restrictions? Actually,it was none of them.
yes,they may all have taken part,however The key to Netflix's success is called adaptation.
In an era where technology was making its massive entrance in the world,Especially the early 2000s,and in the field it was introducing itself to,we were marveled at the novelty of dial-up connections.
Think about this for just a moment, the web had just been introduced to the world,a digital navigation tool called a browser. this new gadget that gave you access to anything you wanted, information, entertainment, and communication, something that broke down geographic barriers, enabled global collaboration, fostered education, and overall, helped the everyday of a lot of people; moreover, without having to pay any dime. It was revolutionizing people's lives in so many ways,from a personal level to even professional aspects. proclaimed as the big innovation of the new century,and,how could it not? Who would’ve thought people liked typing instead of talking? So naturally, and after experiencing the big welcome it had for different publics from around the world, big companies, especially in the entertainment media, were making the transition from the world as we knew it, into nowadays, a virtual version of it.
Clearly with these advances, and this popularity wave that internet had, came people wanting to have comfort over anything, now that they saw what it was like and meanwhile; for example, Blockbusters was out there making you pay double or even triple the fee that you initially gave up for a movie, if it was possible, only but a couple days late.
Netflix gave you access to an affordable membership that gave you no strings of time and complete full access to a huge variety of movies.
Technology made its way into society at an incredibly quick but effective pace. It provided young ones with an arrange of possibilities, from being closer to their favorite artists, learning recipes for everything, to unlimited entertainment,to a way to keep up with the latest trends, a way to talk to their friends, and people all over, it provided professionals to a new path of evolution in the workplace, access to worldwide information, therefore, technology developed as a tool in the households of everyone.
So, we could say everything was great, right?
The thing is, the golden era of technology and its rising, also meant the rise of new problems.
From such banalities as kids spending way too much time on the computers,through professionals losing connection to documents not being safe, and all of this because as much as these inventions were better, they were also being newly tested up until information that went through the web wasn't neither always reliable, nor safe, not even good. Which was worsening this situation prior mentioned, there was no precise way to fix this, but by error and trial. So, as these little mistakes went on, there were a lot of problems that made people start to question, and again using it as an example, if they missed the experience of how things used to be before, this new rise of technology was marking a new path to progress.
Going back to the Blocks era, when to rent a movie with friends or family, was a whole experience, since it wasn’t just the movie you rented, it was all the fun you had on your way there: the snacks you bought before or after, the movie you then saw, and all of that was then merely replaced by just a few clicks; therefore, for as much as you'd do this with your friends, now in a videogame or such entertainment, there was a experienced series of events that were at another level. There are quite a few examples, let's remember the only inventions in the 2000's technology-wise started from simple things like a browser, to cameras, games, consoles and others; as a consequence, everything just did not feel the same.
Having shared the two points of view of how society was impacted by technology, the rise and the lows, and why each of them was, the conclusion this brings us is that as much as something could have revolutionized the world around because of how comfortable, flashy or brand new it was presented, there is always a new viewpoint with creative ideas, not disregarding all of the rest of the innovations, because they clearly helped and still do in today's world, it never beats the feeling of comfort that some things may bring us. Indeed, Netflix won the battle to Blockbuster when in 2010 they declared bankruptcy, but that wasn´t completely the resulting affect of technology, so blaming it for everything, would be lying, as I said earlier; thus, they key to Netflix success, is called adaptation, to its environment, and now, as much as I love technology and use it in my everyday life, I think it's good to have a balance between being present here,and also taking advantages of maybe, technological tools, but let's not forget Blockbuster lives in the hearts of the people as something that was iconic and once changed the cinematic market as it was known.
Remember, everything, at the end of the day, is gonna be replaced by something newer, better,or more up to date.
Thanks.
By: Gabriella De La Rosa, Step 10
