Blockbuster Video started as a single store in Dallas, Texas in 1985. By 1994, it was a multi-billion-dollar company, renting out movies and video games all over the world. Then in 2010, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy.
Blockbuster's success and failure were both based on rapidly changing technology. In the beginning, the company did brisk business renting out VHS video cassettes. This was the first technology that made it practical for people to watch movies in the comfort of their own homes. The simultaneous invention of video game consoles added another home entertainment option, but VHS tapes and game cartridges were expensive to buy. In 1987, Blockbuster won a lawsuit against Nintendo to be allowed to rent out their game cartridges. Between videos and video games, the company's business boomed, even after VHS cassettes transitioned to DVDs and video game systems changed. It was able to open more stores around the world and even acquired other video rental companies as it expanded.
In the early 2000s, Blockbuster started having problems. As the Internet grew more sophisticated, people started downloading and streaming movies. Many games became so complicated that simply renting them for a few days was not enough. In what is probably its biggest mistake, Blockbuster passed on purchasing Netflix, an online service allowing customers to watch TV shows and movies for a membership fee. Without the additional revenues Netflix may have offered, Blockbuster couldn't compete any longer. Now, Netflix is on top and trying to change the way TV shows and Hollywood movies are watched. Technology was the basis of Blockbuster's original successful business model, but technological change was its downfall as well.
1. What was Blockbuster's status in the early 1990s?
(A) It was a large, profitable business.
(B) It was just getting started in Texas.
(C) It was at risk of going bankrupt.
(D) It was in a very expensive legal battle.
2. Which technology was most important to Blockbuster at the start?
(A) DVDs.
(B) Home video games.
(C) Streaming video.
(D) VHS cassettes.
3. What was the subject of Blockbuster's lawsuit against Nintendo?
(A) Nintendo copied Blockbuster's business model.
(B) Blockbuster wanted to rent out Nintendo's games.
(C) Blockbuster was the first to call its company Nintendo.
(D) Nintendo wanted to use Blockbuster's videos to make games.
4. What opportunity did Blockbuster miss in the early 2000s?
(A) Becoming a partner with Nintendo.
(B) Opening more stores.
(C) Buying a new company called Netflix.
(D) Owning the entire Internet.
|
沒有留言:
張貼留言