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.