How the Internet Changed the Way We Do Business

The internet has drastically changed the way business is done. Before the internet, people had to travel to stores to find what they want. Sometimes this meant that they would have to travel to multiple stores to find the items that they are looking for. Now, people can sit at their computers and purchase whatever they want in the comfort of their own home and in their pajamas. Even more, thanks to the internet technology, people can stream music directly on their smartphones or smart television sets, as well as stream movies. All without the hassle of traveling around to find exactly what you are looking for.

There are some winners with these new conveniences. For instance, digital music is hugely popular. Whether it is through streamed websites like Spotify or Pandora, or even purchasing singles and entire albums directly on iTunes, digital music is a huge market today. People are willing to pay subscription fees in order to get unlimited music at the touch of a button, and they are willing to pay big money for this convenience. As for purchasing albums, often the digital version is less expensive and even offers better quality music than their CD predecessors.

Another big winner is companies like Netflix, that offer streaming movies and television shows directly onto your smart devices. For a low monthly cost, people are able to sit on their couch and scroll through lists of movie choices in order to pick whatever they want. The movies are HD quality, and it does not require you to go to now defunct movie rental places to get a movie. Some places have new releases that come out before the physical DVD's are released. This removes any travel time in order to get the movies you want, when you want them.

Finally, eBooks are a huge industry that seems to be taking over the classic bookstores. Thanks to tablets, smartphones, and eReaders, people can get pretty much any book choice that they want by clicking a few buttons and taking a few minutes to download your book. eBooks are cheaper than the physical books, and there are many options that these technologies can bring to books including highlighting lines that you need for school or just to remember the quotes and saving your spot without that fury you get when you lose your bookmark.

As a result of this booming internet industry, there have been businesses that have suffered as a result of these technologies. There are no longer as many music stores that have walls of CD's for people to listen to. The music quality is not as great as digital music, and it takes extra steps to rip the CD onto your digital music library to add onto your MP3 player. While there still are some music loversthat wander around local music shops, for the most part consumers opt for the convenience of purchasing online, especially since they can get only the songs off the album they want, rather than purchasing a whole album for only one or two songs.

Bookstores are increasingly dwindling in size thanks to eBooks. Much like with music stores, there are still the devoted faithful that prefers the feel of a book rather than technology. More and more, bookstores are closing down; even big name retailers like Barnes & Noble are feeling the pinch, causing them to evolve into the eReaders industry as well as closing certain locations.

The industry that seems to have suffered the most is video rental stores. Due to online movie streaming and DVD kiosks, people no longer took the trek out to video rental locations. As a result, very few of these are in existence today. There are no more late fees to worry about thanks to online streaming, and no more traveling around to find the one rental store with the new release you are looking for.

The internet has provided consumers with an enormous amount of convenience that physical store locations could never offer. While most of these physical locations are no longer in existence, most consumers do not even miss them because they are too caught up in the ease that digital media offers viewers. Digital media is often a better quality item and at better prices. Even more, people love their pajamas and couch, and now they no longer need to leave either for their entertainment. Now after the internet, today we are in the middle of a new technological revolution.

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