The World Won’t Stop Spinning
Maybe you've heard this story before: in the year 2000, Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings tried to sell their fledgling startup to Blockbuster, the video store behemoth.
The deal they offered went like this:
The pitch was simple. We would join forces with Blockbuster. We would run the online business. They would run the stores. We would jointly develop a blended model.
Blockbuster said no. They thought the online business model was more hype than substance, and so they turned down the chance to buy Netflix, the company founded by Randolph and Hastings.
We all know how this story ends.
Once a fixture in every town in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia, Blockbuster has since been wiped off the map. From total dominance to total disappearance, it's hard to imagine a more dramatic downfall from such a position of hegemony.
I remember browsing through endless racks of video cassette cases on rainy Friday nights, hoping to find some weird arthouse film in the giant Blockbuster near my rented house in Fallowfield, Manchester.
It was definitely more fun than idly flicking through onscreen menus like we do today, even if the walk home in the rain is no longer part of the experience.
And maybe there was something to be said for that business model, because I certainly used to watch far more quirky little movies back then. Streaming services don't stock those strange arthouse films I have a taste for.
But it's hard to argue against the convenience. Maybe the Friday evening trip to the video store was all part of the ritual, but when you need something to entertain the kids in a hurry, Netflix is the winner.
And so the wheels of change will grind once successful businesses into dust. From Tower Records to MySpace, these giants are now relics of the past.
And so we adapt.
John Antioco, CEO of Blockbuster, failed to notice the tide going out. We can't always see which way the world is going to flow, but even so, we all must eventually adapt.
I held on to my clunky Nokia phone for years, partly out of a stubborn refusal to join the herd. But eventually, I too had to cave and buy an iPhone, even though the cost at the time seemed absurd. And, of course, the iPhone was better in every way (except for the price).
The world changes, and we must change with it. That's partly why I like to keep learning new things. There's always new stuff to discover, and if you're willing to go with the flow, it can be thrilling. Sometimes sticking with what you know is just too limiting, and embracing the new means flowing with the changing tides of culture and technology.
Stay curious.