Harry Potter and Internet Magic
Reading Harry Potter With My Son, A Conversation About Video Streaming, And Thoughts About How Much More Magical The World Has Become
Linear Television’s Lack Of Magic
"But why does he have to watch it on Monday?" my 8-year-old son asked.
We started reading Harry Potter on the trip. In an increasing attempt to keep the Hogwarts acceptance letter from Harry, Uncle Vernon goes crazy and drags the family to a shack out at sea.
Dudley complains about the absence of television. What’s worse – it’s Monday, and his favorite show is on. My son, born in the age of video streaming, was puzzled.
"Oh," I realized. "Harry Potter was written before the internet." I explained how linear television worked when I was his age. Our TV was connected to a dedicated cable that ran to our house. It broadcast the same programs to every single house that connected to it (I skipped the concept of channels). Each show had its own time slot, and you had to tune in at the right time to watch it. If I played outside for five more minutes, I’d miss the beginning of the show. I couldn’t even pause to use the restroom (I spared the DVR stories for now).
My son’s follow-up questions were fascinating. “So at some point they just decided that everyone can watch whatever they want, whenever they want it?” he asked.
I tried to explain how it wasn’t any one person’s decision; it’s a reality created by the internet. Once the broadband infrastructure could support video, streaming was an inevitable outcome. Being able to watch anything, anytime was superior to linear TV.
Streaming Sorcery
Next, he asked when the change happened. It didn’t happen at one point in time, I told him. No magic wand can be waved to instantly transform the world of linear television into video streaming. It’s been a long process. That’s what makes it so interesting.
YouTube started at the end of 2005. Netflix launched at the beginning of 20071. All you needed was an internet connection, and you could stream videos. But it was pretty crappy at first. You could only watch on your computer. The selection was small. The quality was bad. So most people still preferred cable television.
“But it was good enough by the time I was born in 2017, right?” my son asked next. “Well, yes,” I said. US cable subscribers peaked around 2012. And it wasn’t like everybody just cut the cord all at once. The decline of the traditional cable and media industry has been slowly progressing for more than a decade. It’s fascinating how long it sometimes takes for a true disruption story to play out.
I was just about to tell him about the "It's like the Albanian army taking over the world" 2010 quote from then-CEO of Time Warner (which owned HBO), commenting on the likelihood of Netflix becoming a threat to HBO’s successful business. But I noticed that my son didn’t share my excitement. It was a little too much for him.
“Hey, do you know what I just saw on Twitter?” I said, trying to win his attention back. HBO is filming a new Harry Potter TV series, and I showed him the leaked videos of Hagrid and Harry walking around London.
“Is that the movie you mentioned?” my son asked. I’ve told him how my brother and I used to go to the movie theater as soon as a new Harry Potter film came out. I explained that this was different – the movies came out a few short years after the books. But it was all a long time ago. Once again, my son seemed confused. That’s when he asked another wonderful question.
“So they published the books and movies when you were in school, and then waited over 20 years to make a TV show?”
The Content Labyrinth
It took me some time to realize that the answer to this question – why did it take so long to suddenly produce a Harry Potter show – is, well, the new reality created by the internet.
Since every subscriber can watch whatever they want, the streaming services – no longer bound by the limitations of linear television – require vast amounts of content to satisfy more and more niches and subgenres. There are far more television shows being produced today, which is why there is finally room for a Harry Potter show.
Why a Harry Potter show, though? Why can’t it be a show about some new fantasy story? Why do we have to stick to a decades-old “franchise”? The answer is, again, the internet.
A similar question came up in a recent Sharp Tech episode, where an emailer asked why there is so much “derivative content” these days – sequels, remakes, or franchises like Marvel or Star Wars.
Ben Thompson explained: back in the nineties, the hard part was getting the content made. Producing a movie or a show. Once it was made, viewership was almost guaranteed. Sort-of by default. Because there wasn’t that much content! People just picked from a short list of movies playing in the theatre, or from the few shows available on the TV.
The hurdle was getting approved to make the movie. You weren’t appealing to the general public, you were appealing to a small number of people in Hollywood making those decisions … by virtue of being made, most movies made money … The internet changed all of this. It took away the gatekeeper function.
What happens when there are no gatekeepers to determine if a show or a movie would make money? The decision point is in the hands (or eyes) of the viewers themselves. As it is incredibly hard for a new TV show to stand out in the flood of new content being produced – it makes sense to rely on a well-known franchise!
The reality of movies today is, they exist in a world with YouTube. They exist in a world with TikTok, of a gazillion things to do to occupy your time … people have to decide to go see a movie. What’s the best and easiest way to get people to go see a movie? Make a sequel they’ve already seen before.
Such a tremendous insight. If you do original content in this era, you have to spend a ton of money on marketing. Or pray for magic. That’s why a Harry Potter show makes so much sense! It’s like a spell that guarantees viewership.
There are a lot of fans out there; without even knowing how good it is going to be, the new Harry Potter show has already secured at least two viewers: my son and me.
Internet Wizardry
The long trip gave me an opportunity to think. I found myself reflecting on the conversation with my son, and wondering whether the Harry Potter books would have been as successful, had they been written today. With the internet.
I am not sure if people would have been equally impressed with messenger owls, or magic spells for creating light and moving objects.
The real magic is, of course, the iPhone.
And every muggle has one in their pocket.
Back in San Francisco, we made plans to meet friends at the park. They quickly found us, after we shared our location on WhatsApp. What’s more magical than seeing our live location, in real-time, over Google Maps?
When the kids got hungry, we just ordered DoorDash. A few smartphone-spells, and the pizza arrived within 20 minutes. All the way to our picnic table in the middle of the park.
A few weeks later, we found ourselves arriving in a foreign country in the middle of the night, and by virtue of pushing a button – a kind stranger showed up, helped us with our luggage, and drove us to our Airbnb.
I mean, to some random apartment, that had been prepared for us by another person whom we’ve never met. We could rent it thanks to the internet, after verifying it would suit our needs and preferences.
I am not sure if even J.K. Rowling could have fathomed all of that.
And besides – the real magic of Harry Potter, at least for me as a teenager, was the story of the miserable misfit child, miraculously being saved and transferred to a magical world, where everyone is like him. Weird in the same way, doing the same strange stuff as he does.
Well, isn’t that one of the biggest magical opportunities granted to us by the internet? More than the convenience of being able to travel through the world without worrying about food or transportation or shelter – the internet allows everyone to search for their niche, and connect with like-minded people!
The internet enabled anyone to try and find their own little “Hogwarts”.
This is essentially the whole purpose of this blog. It’s good to be back.
the company was actually founded in 1997 – around the same time Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was first published – but I didn’t want to get into the whole DVD-by-mail story. If you (or your child) are interested - I’ve dedicated a whole post to the Netflix vs. Blockbuster rivalry
As they say “Kids ask the darndest questions”. Humans have likely unlimited capacity to get accustomed to any changes, so to appreciate the change over time we need to be asked these questions haha
You write in such an accessible way, Matan! I sent this to my HP-loving children. Just the other day we were talking about how 90s childrens' shows like Bear in the Big Blue House were making a come back. My son observed that it was because it had an END. There was no streaming. Therefore no screaming. You could not roll into the next episode automatically.
Wow. How the world has changed! Thank you for another thought provoking essay and welcome back!