Module 5 -Red Queens
and Increasing Returns
Thornburg (2009) noted in Red Queens and Increasing Return that “an
increasing return is when two technologies come out and one clearly takes over
the other and eventually forcing one out. This author defined this phenomenon
as one that notes two technologies competing for the market share by making
improvements to maintains its edge on the competition.
When you decided to obtain a DVD
for your science fiction assignment in Module 4, where did you go to find a movie
based on a Philip K. Dick book? Did you rent or purchase a DVD, or did you view
it digitally on your computer using Netflix or a similar vendor of
video-on-demand?
Netflix was the best option due to
convenience and price. Other considerations are the ability to record and
replay.
Is the current competition
between DVDs and video-on-demand an example of increasing returns or Red Queens ?
Justify your response with sound reasoning and specific examples.
Cited by Thornburg (2009),
competitors for market dominance experience the example of Red Queens when
similar innovations become public offerings simultaneously. Video on demand
(Netflix) and Blockbuster stores (DVD or Blueray technology) tend to compete
for the consumer’s video recreational dollar VOD sales are gradually overtaking DVD sales via increased marketing
tactics and appealing to the trend in convenience and affordability. A similar
experience occurred in the recent past with the passe use of VCR tapes and
non-digital multimedia.
Where do you think DVDs and
video-on-demand are on the four criteria of McLuhan’s tetrad?
McLuhan’s (1988) tetrad poses:
- What does any artifact enlarge or enhance?
- What does it erode or obsolesce?
- What does it retrieve that had been earlier obsolesced?
- What does it reverse or flip into when pushed to the limits of its potential?
DVD
technology most likely is doomed to fall into the obseletion sector on
McLulun’s tetrad due to slow sales and the convenience of offerings such as
Netflix. While DVD vendors appear in gas stations or grocery stores, consumers
often seek the solitude and ease of purchase from the home laptop versus
standing in lines and the expense of travel to rental stores. VOD technology is
enhanced and rekindled as the ease of downloading brings more family and
friends together under more desirable conditions. Leisure and recreational time
has fallen under more austere planning and strategic actions as this generation
strives to meet both economic and social challenges. Rekindled opportunities
for Saturday night family time lingers for those that choose to grasp the
concept of staying home to become reacquainted with each other and recuperate
from the weekly grind.
McLuhan, M., & McLuhan, E.
(1988). Laws of media: The new science. Toronto :
University of Toronto
Thornburg, D.
D.
