The internet is a part of our life in almost any aspect. It has completely taken over the world forcing industries to conform to meet its standards. The internet has drastically shifted consumer demand forcing traditional industries to transform and invest in new technologies to meet these demands. Not all industries were able to keep up, however. Here are 6 industries the internet has completely ruined.
- Cable Television
Be honest, if your cable TV went away tomorrow, would your life be affected that much? By 2022, 55.1% of Americans will have ditched cable. It’s no surprise since users watch on average only 17 out of 200 of their paid channels in their cable package.
The scrolling cable tv program menu has now been replaced with scrolling through thousands of tv shows and movies all on one platform. The average person spends only $50 each month for streaming services vs $100 for cable. Streaming services also allow for several cost scaling options like the Hulu’s $4.99 student plan with commercials up to their commercial free Hulu + Live for $64.99. With a wider variety at a lower cost, it’s no wonder more Americans are making the switch every week.
2. Book Stores
21% of book stores have been in Jeopardy of closing since beginning of 2021. Book stores have been declining for multiple reasons. Since the birth of e-books, more and more Americans have switched to a digital format. The convenience and lower price makes it almost irresistible.
Any traditional book-worm will tell you books are not going away any time soon, and they’re correct. Sometimes you just can’t beat the smell and texture that the pages of a book offer. While paper books aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, the internet is still shifting this industry. Amazon now makes up 22.6% of the book selling industry. This is a drastic percentage considering big contenders such as Barnes and Noble make up only about 17% of the industry. This is one of the reasons brick and mortar bookstores will soon be obsolete.
3. Music
The way Americans intake music now has drastically shifted in the last decade. While K from Men in Black might have thought mini CDs were the way of the future, he didn’t realize he would instead be rebuying the White Album on his computer. The rise of music streaming like Spotify, Apple Music, and even Youtube have lead to the decline of CDs, music stores, and even buying music from online music stores such as iTunes.
While the music industry might be fine, it is the record labels and artists who are suffering. The internet has caused music to be more accessible but has changed the way it is distributed. Since the way it is distributed is changed, so is the way artists and labels are payed. While the artist royalties use to come from album purchases, their payment now comes from a pay-per-stream basis. If an artist wants to turn a large profit from streaming, they need to have hundreds of millions of streams. The Rolling Stones magazine reported that the average per-stream payout are between $0.006 and $0.0084. Thanks to the internet, music may be more accessible but less profitable.
4. Landlines
In both homes and businesses, landlines are flying out the window thanks to the internet. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) have transformed the business phone business. A recent study shows that 36% of businesses use VoIP service, more than any other type of voice service (POTS usage is at 24 percent, and PRI usage is at 11 percent). VoIP Hosted Phones specifically are becoming more popular for multiple reasons: it replaces your traditional phone line giving each caller their own dial tone and saving companies money almost every time. Several of the big contenders’ fees and charges are going up every year costing businesses hundred of dollars every month.
Combined with Cellphones, landlines have pretty much gone extinct in residential homes. Why have a landline when you can have the world in your pocket. The integration of internet and cellphones gave birth to smartphones causing even more industries to go out of style.
5. Retail Stores
When was the last time you actually drove past a RadioShack or a Sears? I’m sure most adults remember the joy of getting to walk around Toys ‘R Us and looking at the barbies, legos, and G.I. Joes. Amazon and online video games have driven these once great childhood empires to almost obsolete. Desks use to be filled with different gadgets like calculators, voice recorders, music players, and cameras. These have now been replaced by smartphones which can be taken to any Apple or Best Buy store.
We are in the age of online shopping, and with that, stores are forced to either adapt of go out of business. Especially because of the Coronavirus Pandemic, more stores than ever are being pushed more and more online. Consumers spent $861.12 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2020, up an incredible 44.0% year over year. Best Buy’s CEO, Corie Barry, anticipates 40% of total sales to be made online this fiscal year. It’s clear that the internet decides the final death sentence for stores, and if they don’t make the switch soon, they may risk going out of business.
6. Movie Theaters & Video Stores
Like cable television, streaming services have been given a slow death to movie theaters & video stores. The convenience of streaming or renting a movie from the comfort of your own home is almost unbeatable. The cost of movie tickets has almost doubled in the last 17 years. The average movie theatre ticket is over $9 which is almost the price of a monthly streaming service or the price to buy a movie off Amazon Prime.
There now only remains one Blockbuster Video store in America. Americans can now rent a movie on Amazon prime for as little as $2.99 on average with the ability to watch it as many times as they’d like in the allotted rental window without having to worry about returning it when they are finished. This final Blockbuster now just exists for Americans to relive their childhood and experience nostalgia.
Don’t Get Left Behind
In today’s fast-paced technology climate, don’t let your business get left behind. At Travis Voice & Data, we help you stay competitive in your industry by assessing your technology needs and working with your business and your budget to bring you solutions that increase your productivity, safeguard your data, provide reliable internet and voice services, and more. Contact us to learn more or get started.
