Consumers spent $24 billion buying and renting DVD and VHS titles in 2004, more than twice as much as they did buying tickets at movie theater box offices, according to the Video Software Dealers Association's (VSDA) 2005 Annual Report. The major studios generated $21 billion from home video in 2004, representing 47 percent of their combined worldwide film revenues. Estimates of consumer spending on used DVDs and videocassettes for 2004 ranged from $658 million to $2 billion. The VSDA said that 73 percent of U.S. households had the capacity to view a DVD by the end of 2004, while VCR penetration declined for the first time during the period. The group also said that 2004 video game rentals totaled $700 million, adding that 53 percent of all games rented were rated "E" (Everyone). Mass merchants had a 50 percent market share of sell-through consumer spending on home video. The top three rental chains (Blockbuster, Hollywood, and Movie Gallery) collected more than 50 percent of consumer dollars spent on video rental transactions. Video-on-demand was available in approximately 22 million U.S. households. Digital video recorders were in fewer than 7 million U.S. households.
What was once a simple, unidirectional flow of electricity from centralized power plants to passive consumers is evolving into a complex, intelligent network where millions of distributed resources actively participate in grid operations. This transformation, powered by smart grid technologies, represents one of the most significant infrastructure shifts of our time. It promises to reshape how we generate, distribute, and consume energy. At its core, the smart grid represents far more than mere digitization of existing infrastructure. This bi-directional capability is fundamental to understanding why smart grids are becoming the backbone of modern energy systems, facilitating everything from real-time demand response to the integration of renewable energy sources. Smart Grid Market Development By 2030, smart grid technologies are projected to cover nearly half of the global electrical grid, up dramatically from just 24 percent in 2025. This expansion is underpinned by explosive gr...