Past, Present & Future

Hello Digital Media. Goodbye brick-and-mortar entertainment retailers.

The first week of class, we discussed the past, present, and future of the Internet. The Internet is still a relatively new technology, but it’s growing and expanding at a very quick rate. We started with web 1.0, with basic HTML, one-way communication, and static webpage’s. We then graduated to web 2.0, with social networking (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, etc), user generated content (UGC), and user interaction and collaboration. And now we are in web 3.0, with wireless networking, Smartphone’s and smart appliances, and personalization.

The advent of web 2.0, social media, and user interaction have created a shift in power away from sellers, and into the hands of buyers. Consumers can go online, compare prices, check peer reviews, ask friends on Facebook, and customize and personalize their order. Soon enough, there will be no use for brick-and-mortar stores. As it is, many companies have collapsed under the strain of the economy, and have been forced to shut their doors. Technologizer, an online blog, posted an article back in February, using a timeline to chronicle the large retail stores that have gone under since 2003 due to the surge in digital media, such as books, music, and movies.

http://technologizer.com/2011/02/17/borders-bankruptcy/

Among the retailers mentioned are: Borders Bookstore (the most recent), Tower Records, Hollywood Video, and Virgin Megastore.

Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, e-readers, tablets, and online video streaming have made entertainment stores nearly obsolete. And the trend has these stores closing their doors one after another. Small, family-owned stores have suffered the most.

With the future of web 3.0 continuing to unravel before us, it’s becoming clear that everything is going online. It won’t be long before all brick-and-mortar entertainment retailers close up shop for good. With the way things are going, many other stores could become a distant memory, as well. What’s next? Maybe we’ll be saying goodbye to malls and outdoor shopping centers, if things keep going the way they are.

It’s a scary thought, huh?