How do you watch television and movies? Are you old school and stick to cable, or do you even pay for cable anymore? With the new innovations for the entertainment industry, such as Netflix, it's very hard for people to not adopt these new versions of entertainment.
Netflix, founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings in 1997, is a subscription based streaming service for all the possible television shows, movies, or documentaries one could imagine. As of January 2021, 203.7 million people are subscribed to Netflix - 73 million of which are from the United States. First starting as a DVD rental business, the streaming services were created in 2007 leading to Netflix creating their own content in 2013 with the release of House of Cards, inspiring Netflix Original content. Thanks to market capitalization, Netflix became the largest entertainment/media company in July 2020.
According to the Diffusion of Innovations Theory, there are 5 categories along the journey of innovation acceptance once it reaches popularity. The Netflix phenomenon caught on very quickly due to the ease of its platform; as everyone knows, Americans, especially of this day and age, love to look for shortcuts in everything they do. Instead of having to take out a DVD, put it in the disk player, mess with the buttons, and figure out the remote all to watch one 30 minute television show, Netflix allows people to just press a button - or even speak into a remote - to find all seasons of a television series.
Netflix: The Perfect Answer to America's Pure Laziness
Netflix was obviously a hit with pioneers and innovators (the first 2.5%) because they kept working on advancing the technology to further spread its influence. They even created a "Netflix Prize" Contest to encourage other technological companies to find a way to increase the matching algorithm of "Top Picks for You" by 10%. BellKor Pragmatic Chaos won this contest, leading to streaming subscriptions in 2007. The early adopters (the next 13.5%) were the first subscribers to Netflix during its first phase of DVD rentals. The early majority (the first 34%) started subscribing in 2007 after subscriptions began being streamed through the Internet. The average time of adoption was most likely around 2010 when streaming-only plans (no DVDs) were released to the public as the Internet become more advanced. This type of service actually became the primary revenue generator for Netflix. Next, the late majority (the last 34%) started subscribing as Netflix Originals, series's of original content created by Netflix writers, directors, and producers, continued being released. Like the name states, Netflix Originals can ONLY be seen on Netflix, so many people started subscribing to Netflix just to watch shows, such as The Crown and Stranger Things among others. Lastly, the laggards (the last 16%) are still working on subscribing to this day. Most of the laggards are older generations, such as baby boomers, who aren't technologically savvy and are just starting to learn the "way of the times" from their children and grandchildren.
There are so many positives thanks to the innovation of Netflix, however, there are some negatives as well. Netflix can be seen as a disadvantage in social settings because it distracts young children from learning how to properly communicate with others. Some parts of Netflix aren't censored, so kids can watch inappropriate shows that could influence violence or drugs, without parental permission. However, Netflix has changed the world of entertainment! No one will watch movies, television, or documentaries the same ever again - no commercials, no large crowds, no tickets to buy at the cinema.
Sources
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Netflix-Inc
https://interestingengineering.com/the-fascinating-history-of-netflix
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