Monday, February 18, 2013

Module 5: Red Queens


When I was deciding on which movie to watch for the Module 4 assignment, I originally tried to watch the movie through Netflix on my computer. I would have preferred that because it was the fastest way to get the movie. However, none of the movie choices were available for watching instantly on your computer, so I had to get the DVD. I chose to go ahead and get the DVD through Netflix. I personally do not have a Netflix account because I just don’t want to pay a monthly fee for something I will not use every month. I use my friend’s account whenever there is something that I can watch instantly. I still rent DVDs through the Red Box that is located at my grocery store, but mostly I just purchases movies on demand through my satellite provider. We live in a world full of people who want instant gratification and having to go out and purchase the DVD or rent the DVD takes more time than being able to instantly stream on your computer.

The emergence of video-on-demand (VOD) versus DVDs is an example of Red Queen. “Without fierce competition, there would be little incentive for vendors to provide new feature sets for their [product]” (Thornburg, 2008c). There has been a fierce competition between DVDs and VOD for quite some time now and VOD has emerged and will one day replace DVDs all together. With all the choices available online to instantly stream a movie, it is clear that is where movie watching is headed. A Red Queen is defined as two technologies that are in competition with each other and they are each trying to stay one step ahead of the other, causing one to be left behind. DVDs will be left behind in the end.  

VODs enhance the availability and amount of time it takes to get a movie. VODs retrieve the idea of having instant entertainment like music downloads.

Reference:
Thornburg, D. (2008c). Red Queens, butterflies, and strange attractors: Imperfect lenses into      emergent technologies. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

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