Red Queens and Increasing Returns

Dr. Thornburg describes “Red Queens” as two companies that are in fierce competition to gain a market share (Laureate, 2014g). At times the competition may not be between two companies but rather two different mediums for distributing content. One example of this is the distribution of video content. For years the dominant medium has been DVD. The evolutionary development has led to Blu-ray. The “Red Queen” aspect of this comes with the entrance of online repositories of content that can be streamed through high speed internet connections and accessed with a variety of devices. Each of these methods has their own set of pros and cons. DVDs and Blu-ray Disks require a compatible drive to read but do not require a stable high speed internet connection. Online streaming services can be used with a variety of devices but must have access to a high speed internet connection. Many of these services will allow you to download the content to your device storage. This process still requires a high speed connection but allows the user to take their device to another location where they may not have internet and still access their content. Another difference between the two mediums is the long term viability of the content. With a DVD or Blu-ray disk the content remains available as long as the disk remains physically viable. In other words, you can use the disk until your children, pets, or other influence damage the physical disk. With online streaming companies you have access to the content as long as the online company continues to function.

Another concept seen in the distribution of video content is that of “Increasing Returns”. Dr. Thornburg describes it this way, “Increasing Returns – Two innovations hit the market at about the same time. By chance, one technology gets locked in and dries the other to extinction” (Laureate, 2014e). We can observe this through the variety of online streaming video companies. Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, and others provide the same content at similar costs. Each of these companies require the content to be accessed through their software. Consumers choose their preferred option based on features of the software and the compatible devices that can be used to view the content. This arena of competition will be interesting to watch. Only the future will reveal if there will be a single company that rises to the top as others become extinct or if there will be a wild card technology that will make them all obsolete.

References

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014e). David Thornburg: Increasing returns [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2014g). David Thornburg: Red queens [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Thornburg, D. (2013d). Red queens, butterflies, and strange attractors: Imperfect lenses into emergent technologies. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.