Red Queens and Increasing Returns

Science fiction is a great resource for emerging technology. Several novels by Philip K. Dick have provided the basis for movies and technology. A couple of weeks ago I chose to watch Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the basis for another assignment. How did I watch the movie? Did I go to the video store? Did I download it? Did I purchase the DVD? I have to admit, I went to the video store and I ended up watching Total Recall because the video store did not have any of the other movies on the list. Was Total Recall my first choice? No. But it is a good classic SciFi movie that I enjoyed watching with my husband and son. It was Henry’s first time seeing it and he really liked all the blood and guts (gotta love those 10 year olds J). I did not stream the movie because I actually do not have a membership to Netflix or any other video-on-demand service. I do not have time very often to sit down and watch a movie so I cannot justify the cost.

The competition between DVD’s and video-on-demand is an example of increasing returns. Video-on-demand started somewhat later than DVD’s but has grown quickly as more people have connected in more ways to the Internet via faster connections. Video rental stores, especially independent video rental stores have had to find a niche to continue to attract customers, and large video rental stores are investing in online streaming to continue to boost their sales (Overfelt, 2009). Video companies like Netflix and Blcokbuster provide both DVD’s and streaming to reach a larger market share of movie customers.

McLuhan’s Tetrad for DVD’s and video-on-demand:

Enhances: Family time – provides opportunity for family to watch a movie together without high cost of the movie theatre	Obsoletes: VHS video tapes
Rekindles: Reflects the progression of books throughout history – from a rare commodity to a common item most people own	Reverses: Movies presented in a virtual environment where viewer feels more a part of the movie

Overfelt, M. (2009, March 06). The last movie store left standing. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/06/smallbusiness/last_movie_rental_stores.smb/index.htm.