Technology That I Learned From Someone Else

Although the various technologies presented in the EOTO Presentations were familiar to me, there were individual elements or facts that I did not know about. The technology that fascinated me the most and that I learned the most from was Netflix. While listening to Alex Rucker's presentation on this streaming service, I was aware of how Netflix is now but was not knowledgeable about how it was created and started out. 

 

I was surprised to find out that Netflix started out with the distribution and mailing of DVDs to the homes of its subscribers. For some reason, I always thought that they did streaming through an app. With this movie mailing system, they had over 1,000 movies for their subscribers to rent. This fact is intriguing to me as well being that I currently think of Netflix as the go-to for TV shows more so than movies.

I also learned that this DVD mailing process lasted until 2014. They stopped this mailing method and changed their program’s structure based on the progression and development of technology, especially smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. They realized that people wanted to do more on their phones instead of just using the TV to watch shows and movies.

But along with this factor, I also believe that Netflix transitioned from mailing DVDs to mobile app streaming because of the competition from Redbox. Redbox provided a fresher take on DVD distribution being that there were kiosk dispensers all over the city and the dispensers gave you a DVD right on the spot. Whereas with Netflix, there was an inherent wait from delivery to one’s home.

 

    

Although I do not use Netflix as much as I once did, it was interesting to hear about the founding of technology that revolutionized and changed how we view movies and TV shows and changed the impact and need for cable TV. I learned how this streaming platform evolved with time and technological progression just like most things in history and how society is better for it.