Studies have found that social interaction with real, live humans is important. (Yes, there are studies. Google it.) But many moons ago, local was replaced by corporate. Self-scanning checkout stations replaced Susie, the girl who once asked about your family while she bagged your groceries. (Since I’m on the topic of the self-serve checkout: it works by matching the item scanned with the weight on the scale. Get with it people!)
As big business changes the way we procure goods in the neighborhood, it’s no wonder that people opt for the point-and-click approach – especially when it comes to entertainment.
A new episode in the saga of Internet-enhanced life includes news that consumers can now download and burn movies to DVD. Last week, CinemaNow announced that it launched its “breakthrough” service only days after Movielink said it has partnered with Sonic Solutions to develop a similar system. The companies, both established with support from major movie distributors like Sony, Paramount, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros., provided just enough low-grade video content to keep themselves on the map. Users couldn’t download movies, but rather gather the family around the old PC for an evening of pixilated flicks from last season’s new release section.
Meanwhile, companies like BitTorrent, YouTube, and Guba have acquired swarms of users – enough to fuel the race to improve video distribution technologies. (I won’t even mention that little product called iTunes.) The result: The same companies that big business snubbed for being too kiddy-driven now hold the key to the technology (and traffic) needed to make video downloads a profitable segment in big business’ balance sheets.
The true news in all of this is not that you can now spend an eternity downloading a garbled digital copy of Barbershop 2, but that you can order sneak peeks of premier episodes from NBC at Netflix; email the video for Internet Killed the Video Star to your sister; and load the new Gnarls Barkley album to your iPod – all in a less time than it would take you to finish off a good laugh at big business’ digital blunders.
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