Red Queens and Increasing Returns

When I searched for a movie based on a Philip K. Dick book, I downloaded it on my computer from Blockbuster for $2.99. I was permitted to view it within 24 hours digitally. If I purchased this video from a store or from Amazon.com, it would have cost me $4.50 to own. If I went to the library, I could have rented it for free.

Based on Thornburg (2008), two technologies can positively impact each other causing a beneficial competition. Each technology wants to dominate the market share and provide the consumer with the best possible product so that it will be chosen over the other. Consumers enjoy the benefits of the improvements. The term Red Queen, taken from Alice in Wonderland, refers to the actions of the competitors who try to out do each other’s innovations to move ahead in the industry.
Increasing returns, a term coined by Arthur (1996), refers to two technologies that also compete with each other to capitalize on the market share, but one’s strength and domination causes the other to go out of business.
I think that based on my decision to rent the movie on demand, it demonstrates consumer’s interest in the “here and now” mentality that we have been privy to experience. However, there are many people who might go to the library to borrow the movie because it is free and their home DVD player will provide the tool necessary to view the movie on their TV.
If we really want to understand if this competition demonstrates a Red Queen or an Increasing Return, we need to look into the future. I don’t see many people going to the store in a few years and purchasing a DVD player to play their old DVD’s. I do anticipate that movies will continue to be stored digitally and therefore distributed to the consumer on demand. The same analogy occurred with the VHS 8 tracks and the record player. As new technology develops to provide ease of distribution and simpler storage methods, the consumer will continue to buy into that. I believe that eventually the DVD will become extinct and therefore this comparison demonstrates an Increasing returns.
I think that both video on demand and DVDs fall into the enhancing and obsolescing section of McLuhan’s tetrad. Viewing movies without having to leave your home and at the convenience of your schedule, with repeated viewing replaces watching a movie on television and/or going to the movie theatre at specific movie viewing times. They both are making VHS tapes obsolete because of their size and their ability to be used in conjunction with the TV screen or a computer. In addition, they offer better quality, they’re cheaper and they can be easily transported.


I commented on Nina's Blog and Valeria's blog

Resources

Anderson, C. (2004). Chris Anderson of Wired on tech’s long tail [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/
chris_anderson_of_wired_on_tech_s_long_tail.html

Arthur, W. B. (1996). Increasing returns and the new world of business. Harvard Business Review, 74(4), 100−109. Retrieved from the Business Source Complete database.

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

Thornburg, D. (2009). Increasing Returns (Vodcast). Emerging and Future technologies. DVD produced by Laureate Education, Inc. Baltimore.

Thornburg, D. (2009). Red Queens (Vodcast). Emerging and Future technologies. DVD produced by Laureate Education, Inc. Baltimore.