Blog Post #5

 The technology I chose to research is Netflix. Netflix is an online streaming service founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California. It functions in a similar manner to Amazon Prime, Hulu, Tubi, Crunchyroll, Disney+, Paramount Plus, Peacock, HBO Max, and other streaming services. The circumstances were that Blockbuster was the top rental service. However, Blockbuster had several shortcomings such as inner strife and debt. Netflix started out as a rental service that rented DVDs and Videos through the U.S mail much like Amazon or Ebay. 

Over time, Netflix evolved into a global streaming platform with millions of users creating the Netflix that we understand today, giving the customers more options from which to choose . According to an article by Sharpencx.com, Netflix tried to “create customer-centricity to the video market” (Sharpencx 2024). “Customer-centricity” is where a company makes customer experience their top priority which Netflix has successfully done. Because of this, customers can “Netflix and Chill” to their heart’s content.

Netflix has solved the problems of the many inconveniences that traditional rental stores tend to perpetuate. One example of this according to Sharpencx, is the problem involving the cost of late fees which were sometimes expensive (Sharpencx 2024). Netflix changed communication by allowing users to stream whatever television show or movie that they desired.  Netflix grew from their  humble beginning as a service of delivering videos to your doorstep,by becoming a streaming service they removed the worry about cost or deadlines you would typically find when doing business with a traditional rental store such as Blockbuster or MovieStop. 

Netflix became one of the largest video libraries ever with television shows and movies from many studios whether they come from a big Hollywood studio such as Disney, Paramount, or Warner Brothers or from an independent studio such as Angel Studios, Animeigo, or Hawaii Film Studio. They also produced many classics and great shows as well as various Netflix exclusives such as Stranger Things, Aggretsuko, and Glitter Force. However despite this, it did not come without controversies and inconveniences. For instance, like many streaming services, they have various fees when dealing with subscription services as well as releasing and publishing controversial films such as the infamous film Cuties from 2020 which as a result, has led to many people canceling their Netflix subscriptions in droves as a response to the massive outrage surrounding the film Cuties. 

In other words, some content in Netflix’s library is not always going to be family friendly. Also just like all streaming services, Netflix often has the problem of the internet slowing down or buffering sometimes. This means that customers must know how strong their Wi-Fi connection is or check their internet connection in order to use Netflix or any other streaming apps in general on their devices whether they are on their smart TV, phone, video game console, or computer. In an article by Rajkumar Venkatesan, Shea Gibbs, and Daniel Shively all from the University of Virginia, Netflix has also faced some competition in 2019 from Disney in the form of their own streaming service known as Disney+ (Venkatesan, Gibbs, & Shively, 2020).  In conclusion, Netflix is a very diverse and excellent streaming service and is a very innovative product for its time.

Works Cited:

• Admin, Sharpen. “How Netflix Moved Operations to the Cloud and Saw Revenue Boom: A Digital Transformation Case Study.” Sharpen, Sharpen, 4 Jan. 2024, sharpencx.com/netflix-digital-transformation-case-study/#:~:text=Netflix%20founders%20Reed%20Hastings%20and,watch%20movies%20and%20consume%20content. 

• Venkatesan, Rajkumar, et al. “Netflix, Inc.: The Mouse Strikes Back.” SSRN, Darden Business Publishing, 7 Oct. 2020, papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3703310.