Diffusion of Innovators

One of the technologies I learned about through our Each One Teach One presentations was streaming services. Before streaming services, everyone watched cable TV: DIRECTV, Comcast/Xfinity, Spectrum, etc. 

After learning about streaming services, I was taught was Netflix was created. It was created because Reed Hastings returned a movie late and had to pay late fees. He created Netflix so other people wouldn't have to pay late fees. He was a pioneer.

Other pioneers created streaming services for different reasons. When watching cable TV, if you miss a show or movie and forget to record it, you have to wait until it comes on again. With streaming services however, you can just log into your account and click on the movie or TV show you want to watch. 

Why doesn't everyone use streaming services (late adopters or laggards)? Well, there are a multitude of reasons for that. For one, price. Netflix only has certain movies and TV shows, and you can't watch live TV on there? How would you watch sports? This is why a lot of people own multiple streaming services. Unfortunately, this racks up a bill. Second, cable TV is easier to manage for some people. You don't see a lot of older people with

cell phones and laptops and things like that. That is simply because they didn't grow up with them. It's easier for them to stick with what they know. This is the same for cable TV and streaming services. They would have to learn how to use a completely different service, which can be difficult. Third, a lot of people don't want to get addicted. Plenty of people download TikTok or Hulu, then delete or cancel their subscription because they noticed they've been on it for too long.

Now, there are some unintended consequences of streaming services. One, a lot of people are paying for a bunch of streaming

services that they don't even use. They sign up for something because they wanted to watch a show and forget to cancel their subscription. This happens all the time. Another unintended consequence, which I mentioned earlier, is addiction. A lot of people start watching streaming services and the next thing they know they need it while eating, taking a shower, or to do work.