I can remember visiting Blockbuster Video stores and picking movies to watch on the weekend. If I was lucky, it would be one of the coveted “new release” movies. Curling up at home with popcorn and a good movie with my family or friends was a relaxing way to spend a Friday night. Enter the innovator, Netflix. Netflix blazed a trail and completely changed the way people are entertained in the comfort of their own home.
New terminology was invented, such as the words “streaming service." Very few had the vision to see this revolution coming and it could not have happened without the expansion of bandwidth. Netflix’s unique offering was its web-based catalog of all genres of filmmaking. Instead of having to maintain costly storefronts, customers could access these titles online. Every user in every part of the country has access to a full library of choices. Gone was the limitation of titles that only the nearest stores could carry.
To enable maximum utilization of their DVD catalog, the company created a unique movie recommendation system. This alleviated pressure for DVD rentals away from new releases, to a more uniform renting out of their library. This solution drives how customers experience Netflix and how the company makes decisions when acquiring new content. The subscription service model has been the bold leader for other streaming services to follow.
Facilitating Netflix’s rise to success was the expansion of bandwidth. Faster bandwidth reduced the likelihood of buffering and latency issues, providing a smoother viewing experience for users. The Innovators and Early Adopters would have struggled with lack of bandwidth. After those kinks were worked out, the Early and Late Majority groups would have been jumping on board the streaming train. When the Blockbuster storefronts started to close, the last group of Laggards would finally be forced to reluctantly step into the world of streaming.
The change from renting DVDs to streaming services has led to an amazing variety of information and entertainment options becoming available. It has also caused a change for the providers of these services. They have all had to pivot so that they could continue to keep their share of the entertainment market.
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