Current Event in Tech 

       The coronavirus is having a major impact on the schools and workplace. Universities are worried that parents won’t send their kids back after the break, and the workplaces are switching to video conferences. People are trying to keep their interaction with others as minimal as possible during this time. The technology we now have is the one thing making day to day life still possible from home. You can still get your work done and talk to people without having to see them in person. “The coronavirus seems to be having an effect on all aspects of the tech industry, from social media policies around health misinformation to the way the big companies do business.” Major companies such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Microsoft have started using the mandatory video chats, keeping over 75,000 people from going to work. They are not only doing this in the US, Apple and Amazon have done this in their china businesses as well. Also, big companies have asked their employees to cancel all trips they had to China. Some companies, like uber and lyft, are benefiting from this because people don’t want to take public transportation. Also, companies like Airbnb, have given refunds for rentals that normally would not have been refunded. Although this coronavirus is new, it is just like the regular flu, but something we haven’t seen before. So, I understand peoples fear, I just believe it is slightly over the top. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/technology/coronavirus-tech-businesses.html

Netflix

Netflix 

        In class, we watched presentations on different evolutions of media. Netflix was one everyone was similar with and also a very interesting topic to actually learn new information about, instead of just watching it. Especially, since one of the founders speaks at High Point University often. 

        Netflix was launched in 1997, which was earlier than I realized before hearing this presentation in class. Soon after, in 1998, they released their first DVD rental. Over the years Netflix has introduced many new benefits. In 2007 they introduced streaming, in 2012 they started making their own series', in 2016 it became available in 130 countries, and on top of all that Netflix has won 5 academy awards for its original material. Although having Netflix has been a positive in general, and started a new society revolving around streaming, it has had some negative effects on society as well. 

          Movie theaters, and movie sales, have felt some backlash since the introduction of Netflix. People don't want to go to the theater, or buy the DVD for the movie, when they can just wait for it to come on the website they pay for monthly. Movie theaters are losing sales in tickets, and customers in general. A company that Netflix put out of business completely was Blockbuster. The Blockbuster was a way to rent movies for a few days, but now there is a way to watch them without having to leave your house to pick it up and return it. Netflix has also had a negative impact on family relationships. People used to spend more time with their families, but today research shows that people spend, on a daily average, about 36 minutes with their family, and about 1.5 hours watching Netflix. Being able to binge watch, encourages people to spend more time watching a show or movies. 

https://media.netflix.com/en/about-netflix