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"E-Book Services Spark an Increase in Reading"

The New York Times recently published an article stating that, despite a recent drop in sales in the publishing industry, people are now reading more than they used to thanks to e-books. For example, Amazon estimated that people who own Kindles (which is a software and hardware platform for reading e-books) now buy three times as many books as they did before owning the device. Additionally, Sony has reported that owners of it e-book service buy approximately eight books per month from its online library, compared to the 6.7 books that the average American purchased throughout the entire year of 2008. Fans of the new e-book devices claim that they love the service because it is convenient and customized for the individual user. Below is the link to the New York Times article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/technology/21books.html?ref=technology

The afortementioned article is the perfect example of how recent technology has made things incredibly convenient and personalized for users, and yet how it also helps generate a society of people that want instant gratification. On the positive side, it is a very good sign that people who use e-books have begun to read much more than they ever did in the past, as the service can be instantly downloaded and users can read from the privacy of his/her own e-book device. However, the concept of the e-book speaks greatly to the idea that people can now have whatever book they want, whenever they want it. Therefore e-books may further one's quest for knowledge, however they may also increase one's need for gratification.

Article #2

"The Future of Netflix"

"Wired" Online recently published an article that discusses, in detail, not only the history of Netflix, but also the company's overall goals since its founding in 1997. The article begins by telling of CEO, Reed Hastings, and the failed idea that he hoped to launch two years ago, in 2007, called the Netflix Player; a small, black, box roughly larger than an iPod that would stream unlimited movies and television shows directly to a television. Weeks away from unveiling said product, Hastings pulled the plug on the Netflix Player and instead "[spun] off the device" to developer Anthony Wood (and his 19-person-team), who had a small company called Roku. Hastings then decided that rather than create its own product, the Netflix company would "embed its streaming-video service into existing devices," i.e. DVD players, laptops, TVs and smartphones.
Two years later, nearly three million people use Netflix's instant streaming addition, which can be played through Roku's player (which launched with great success in the spring of 2008). During the course of the article, Reed Hastings goes on to say that he hopes that there will soon be a day in which cable no longer exists and movies/television can be instantly streamed instead.