KEWARTAWANAN
NETFLIX : THE EPITOME OF SOMETHING
DIFFERENT ?
- MUHAMAD IRFAN IZZUDDIN
Illustration purposes
T
he digital age has come and in 2020, the use of
digital and new technological equipment has
become more of a need to society. Television and
radios are becoming more or less a necessity as
people now are allowed and have their own ability to find
their own favourite content. Be it on social media, the World
Wide Web or even on television. With the introduction of
streaming devices such as Netflix, iflix and Hulu, these
new technological advances have allowed users to view
thousands of different content such as movies, TV shows
and documentaries. One of the commonly used streaming
devices is Netflix with over 182 million paying streaming
subscribers worldwide as per reported by Statista. Statista
also reported that Netflix will have more than 336 thousand
subscribers in Malaysia in 2020. These numbers have
clearly shown that Malaysians are more prone towards
finding and searching their own content rather than
watching what television programmes have to offer. It has
become more than just a streaming device as Netflix also
offers documentary shows such as Dirty Money which
revolves around the former Prime Minister of Malaysia,
Tan Sri Najib and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansur’s
involvement in the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad
(1MDB) scandal. The streaming service took the nation
by storm and the effects are still ongoing as we can
see almost everyone has a Netflix account whether on
their personal computer, laptops or in their television
at home. But, there is also a dark side looming over
Netflix’s superiority as one of the top streaming devices.
The introduction of Netflix has inadvertently crushed
the physical disk industry. Back then, people would
have to go to a CD shop to buy movies and dramas. But
with Netflix, all they need to do is have a good internet
connection and they can watch whatever show that is on
Netflix. There is no denying the fact that streaming is the
future of watching movies. Facts that can be added to
support the statement is Blockbuster and Speedy are now
closing most of their stores due to the lack of customers.
The answer is simple. People can now buy and watch
the content they want on their laptop as it is easier rather
than walking to the store and picking up the movie that
they want. Blockbuster and Speedy were huge back then
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