- Netflix is truly revolutionary, considered by some as an impossible alternative to the video store, run simply through your local mail office. The system they have implemented has baffled me for years, being one who considers "through the mail" businesses too much of a liability from the operator's end. My goal with this lab assignment was to research exactly how Netflix was successfully launched and thrived in a market of uncertainty. In order to do this, I will be examining the remediation of digital media rentals. I will find out how they have earned the business of thousands of customers, taking away from the "Blockbuster Empire" which is known to have outlets peppered throughout suburbia.
- Already being familiar with the concept of mail order movies, I had a prior knowledge of Netflix.
3) Include a picture / video clip / etc of that object
4) Expand upon the answers you walked away with in Tuesday’s lab.
- Up until recently, in order for a consumer to rent any form of digital media it would require about five dollars, a half an hour and a ride to your local video store. Netflix, founded in 1997 has became a remediated form of loaning out games and movies on a "we come to you" basis. Eliminating the need for their couch potato cliental to travel in order to rent that late night movie, Netflix has captured the hearts of millions of users. Realistically, the biggest obstacle presented when renting a movie is traveling to the store and returning the disc on time in order to avoid pesty late rental return fees. Netflix has effectively removed this obstacle by offering movies and games through the mail. Consumers open very affordable accounts based upon a system of unlimited rentals, they choose a movie or game online through the Netflix website, abracadabra, 24 hours later your title is in your mailbox, then when you're done drop it in the mail with it's prepaid postage and the movie is returned to the Netflix warehouse. By keeping the customer's credit card on file in their account, late fees become obsolete. If a customer has an account that entitles them to unlimited rentals for $X/month, and chooses to not return a rented movie after 30 days of rental, it will be replaced using their financial collateral (credit cards etc.) This form of remediation not only makes digital media more accessible, but also makes the process more relaxing and worry free, transferring all responsibilities of renting from the customer to the operator. Though this form of renting is much more convenient and simple, there will always remain those who would rather go to the store, physically view what is available to them, ask the counter clerk for recommendations on good new movies etc. Therefore, it is clear that this form of remediation is emphasizing the availability of said media rather than replacing the concept of renting. This form of remediation is also seen as an older medium (renting from a store, browsing isles, asking employees for assistance) being represented in a newer and simpler digital form of keyword searches and paperless purchasing.
