Jordan Thacker
INTRODUCTION:
Have you or someone you know ever been replaced or laid-off from a job due to a downsizing? With technology becoming ever popular in today’s world chances are your answer to that question is YES. If you, yourself, have not been replaced there is a very high possibility that someone you have become acquainted with over the years has been. In this age of rapidly advancing technology, humans just simply are not needed to complete certain jobs as they have been in the past. Of course, there are still jobs available that a machine just simply cannot do but most jobs have since succumbed to modern technology and drastically changed in the past twenty years. An example of this change is the downfall of many “brick and mortar” office buildings and stores. Many companies have found new innovative ways to bring in the same amount of profit and at the same time cut costs drastically. This is ever present in the movie rental industry. Blockbuster, a giant in the industry, has been forced to shut down nearly 1000 stores across the nation due to the high competition from NetFlix and RedBox. Both of these competitors are technology based companies that aren’t found in traditional brick and mortar buildings. RedBox is operated through kiosks placed in areas of high consumer activity and NetFlix is operated by streaming video selections via internet and by mail service. With basically no overhead there’s no wonder that Blockbuster, once king of home entertainment, has given up its crown for the younger, more innovative companies to compete for in the present and further into the future (Blockbuster Corporate, 2011).
Summary:
As America’s economy has been in the dumps for the past several years, you would think that companies that provide home entertainment would be booming with business, but that has not been the case with Blockbuster.
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