9781422277362

7 P ulling out a smartphone or tablet computer and watching a favorite TV show or movie is a part of life for millions of peo- ple around the world. Today’s streaming video services give consum- ers the ability to watch content almost anywhere and any time they want. And the desire for greater freedom and choice has led a number of companies to enter the business of providing access to that content. The companies present old programming as well as create new shows and movies just for their customers. The technology that makes streaming video possible has been around for less than 30 years. At the heart of the technology is the internet, which since the 1970s has helped people use their computers to share information around the world. But it took many developments to go from sending emails or small amounts of data through the network to be able to stream videos. The development of the World Wide Web made it easier for people not familiar with computers to access the internet. Then internet providers began to increase the bandwidth of their systems—the amount of data that can be sent at any one time and how fast it travels. Data sent over the internet is mea- sured in electrical signals called bits, and the speed at which the information travels is measured in millions of bits per second (mbps). Before the rise of the World Wide Web in the 1990s, most people accessed the internet over a telephone line. The speed of the data was then measured in thousands of bits per second. The use of cable TV systems to transmit data enabled the greater speeds common today—and opened the door to streaming video. Improvements in cell phone technology and the ability to send computer data wirelessly also shaped the streaming video revolution. With an app on their phone, peo- ple can watch the same movies that were once only available in the theaters or on TV.