While some may not consider TV and movies within our Constantly Connected scope, this article about Netflix got me thinking about how much the company has changed how we watch both. The article discusses Netflix’s movement towards fully subtitle-enabled content for the benefit of hearing challenged viewers, foreign language speakers, and sheer convenience. I was extremely surprised to learn that this was not already an available feature. I do not use Netflix (nor, truthfully, subtitles,) but many hearing impaired people enjoy watching TV and movies, so it did not occur to me that this would not currently be possible on Netflix.
In addition to increasing the number of movies with optional subtitles, Netflix is expanding the number of devices that will support the change. As of now, Nintendo Wii, PS3, and Google TV devices already support Netflix subtitles, and Xbox 360 is soon to follow. I believe that these changes will further increase Netflix’s market share. Netflix already essentially pushed Blockbuster out of business. While I do not think that Netflix will come to replace traditional television in the near future, I will be interested to see what the effects of this move will have.
3 comments:
I am pleased that Netflix is offering fully subtitled-enabled content. People with hearing problems now have more opinions when it comes to TV and movies. This is one example showing the technology is beneficial in our society
I have a friend who watches Netflix through his Wii instead of watching television, and I remember being very impressed seeing how this works. Technologies like this an the Apple TV where you can watch any popular media source like Netflix and YouTube have been becoming very popular recently! The fact that they are helping impaired people have more access to media can be seen as another benefit to being constantly connected.
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