Hollywood Has Adjusted To New Technologies Before

from the why-can't-they-do-so-now? dept

Every time we bring up new technologies, and how they challenge current business models, someone says "but I just don't see how so-and-so can make money when competing against this new technology." It's a standard refrain, and the simple answer is that markets and industries change with the times. If they don't adapt, they die - but very often, they learn how to adapt. As an example, here's an interesting NY Times article about how the movie industry changed the aspect ratio of their films, making them wider, in order to compete with television. The simple act of extending the width of the films made movie going more of an "experience" that simply couldn't be duplicated on the tiny box in your home. It shows that Hollywood (at one time) realized the value of offering something that differentiated the movie going experience from watching it at home. Now the entertainment industry is complaining that they simply can't come up with ways to compete against free copies on the internet. I would bet if they spent a tiny fraction of the time and money they've put into legal responses to online file sharing, they would discover many more business opportunities in letting the file sharing continue, and offering up something with more value to consumers instead.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Joe Scmoe, 11 Aug 2003 @ 8:25am

    I ask again...

    Outside of planned obsolesence, has there ever been another industry with (for lack of better words) such a wanton spiraling death wish?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Aug 2003 @ 11:00am

    Re: I ask again...

    look at SCO

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.