Saturday, May 7, 2011

Module 5: Red Queens and Increasing Returns

Orginally, I did an online search for Philip K. Dick and found the official website, http://www.philipkdick.com/ that refers to his books and those that were made into films. I wanted to watch the video on demand only because in my opinion it is easier and faster, especially now being I am in the transition of moving. Except to my surprise I found the price to be much higher that what I expected. So, I went to plan b which was a trip to my local Blockbuster store where I found the movie Next, which I had seen before but chose to watch again with a new mind, one of an instuctional technologist.
In speaking of David Thornburg's force of Increasing Returns it is possible that on demand video is driving out video stores, but not all. The prices are equivelant  but the accessibility of on demand keeps the competetion going.
It is a a slow process and I am undecided if one has significant strength than the other. It could possible be a Red Queen in that DVD rentals and on demand video, http://www.video-on-demand-guide.com/ that with the availability of Netflix, Blockbuster online as well as others are driving down DVD sales as well. Both of these forces is as Thornburg states are examples of technological determinism where "technology is a force in its own right that evolves at its own pace".
According to McLuhans tetrad which could be consiered an evolution process in its own right, I believe DVD's are being obsoleted while on demand video is being enhanced and are at different places on this tetrad.


References

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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3 comments:

  1. JodieMay 10, 2011 at 9:23 PM

    Jeannine, Interestingly I don't see movie theaters in this discussion. Do you think that the theaters and alternate home viewing methods have found a balance?

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  2. AngelaMay 14, 2011 at 6:38 PM

    Jeannine,

    Thank you for including the tetrad. There are several rental stores that are going out of business including local Blockbusters. Does anybody remember Hollywood Video? Not only have video streaming come along, but also the Redbox. Consumers are just not as interested in purchasing the movie. Of course, as a movie lover, I still buy movies. Except, now we purchase Blu-ray format. Since the birth of our daughter, we have a running list of movies we want to purchase because we have been unable to go to the theater, and we know Netflix will not have the movie sooner than the local WalMart, Target, or Best Buy.

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  3. JeannineMay 17, 2011 at 3:34 PM

    @Jodie, I do think eventually movie theatres will see a decrease but as long as they are the only ones who offer new releases it is hard to say, there are so many movie buffs. I think it will depend on the economy.
    @Angela, I find frustration with netflix due to that very fact that they often lag on the movies they offer, it is easier to go to redbox because they get it faster.
    Thanks for the comments ladies

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