Red Queens and Increasing Returns Blog Post
This week, we are continuing to talk about the different forces that affect emerging and mainstreamed technologies. Once again, we will focus on the science fiction assignment that we completed in Module Four and take a look at how completing this assignment connects to the forces of Red Queens and Increasing Returns discussed in Module Five.
For my science fiction DVD assignment, I must say that I didn’t stop at one of the titles based on the Philip K. Dick books. I have an Amazon.com Prime Membership and I immediately called a friend who is a techie, to ask him which of the movies he would recommend. I remember watching Total Recall in the past, but I knew I would need to review the title for the assignment. However, after talking with him, and realizing that Nicholas Cage had starred and helped produce Next, I decided to focus on that particular movie.
I did purchase Total Recall, Next, and A Scanner Darkly, new, on Blu-Ray, from Amazon.com, to view at my convenience and then I found Blade Runner, Next, and Paycheck at our local Big Lots store for about $3 to $5 each, previously viewed. I did check to see if any of the movies might be on demand via my cable provider, but they were not listed. I thought they might be under the “free movies” since they are older productions.
I watched the regular production of Next on my computer because it was more convenient for me just to pop it into the CD/DVD port and play it while I worked and took notes. The others are still in their shrink wrap and await the time when I actually have a spare minute to view and enjoy them.
Increasing returns applies to the DVD and video technology in many ways. For instance, the “winner takes all” model for the high definition DVD is Blu-Ray (Laureate, 2009). It won out over HD DVD and monopolized the DVD world for high definition. I didn’t think I would buy Blu-Ray, but I really believe that the “Red Queen” of the Disney parent company gave Blu-Ray the advantage and they made HD DVD players and movies almost obsolete (except for those of us who purchased them before they were discontinued).
Although I have not yet subscribed to any of the computer-based movie subscriptions, my techie friend, who is a Mac and Linux man, is usually my source for viewing movies, and he uses Apple TV to download all seasonal episodes of various series or movies that he wants to purchase. This is a great space saver and I find that we spend more time watching the trailers to various movies and being more discriminating in our purchases with this technology.
While DVD’s are not obsolete, I believe most VHS formats have reached pretty much reached that stage in McLuhan’s tetrad and are only found in used condition on eBay or Amazon and purchased when they have not been formatted for sale on DVD. I can see Apple TV, Netflix, and other on demand services eventually obsoleting regular and high definition DVD’s, but before that, I see Blu-Ray working to obsolete regular DVD’s. These technologies are both mainstreamed and they are progressing rapidly with the on demand services gaining more ground since they eliminate the space needed to store Blu-Ray.
On a side note, I think that Blu-Ray and high definition DVD’s remind me of a past technology that would apply to McLuhan’s tetrad, being that it enhances the quality and viewing of the movie. This makes me think back to those days of enhancement to black and white films and those “re-mastered” versions of classic movies that were marketed in “Technicolor.”
Personally, I believe that multimedia formats are headed toward the downloads and live streaming as the emerging Red Queen, although it may take some time for it to progress to that stage of the tetrad. There will be laggards and I may be one of them because I still love the feel of a book and I still love to pop in a DVD when I have the time, especially those classics. I think I laugh more at Buster Keaton than any modern actor, except maybe Rowan Atkinson. (smile).
I think we will hear a shout of “Off with her head!” from on demand services sometime in the future that will be the diminishing of the physical DVD and may eventually obsolete movie rental businesses due to overhead and rental prices not being competitive. Change is good, but sometimes sad because that will eliminate jobs and change the face of society in a lot of ways for the sake of convenience and progress.
Cynthia
Please mouse over other terms for tags linking them to more informational websites.
Cynthia
ReplyDeleteIt will be a sad day when DVD is no longer available as it is replaced by streaming and on demand video purchase. I am curious as to how this will effect the educational setting.
Jane
Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteOne negative regarding on demand is the availability of older movies, which you were unable to locate using on demand. Although I view several televisions shows on my computer I have yet to watch a movie. I still tend to go to a kiosk or rental store when renting movies. I also agree that live video streaming and downloads will be the wave of the future concerning movies.