To begin talking about the history of the Discovery Plus app, I want to use this image. The picture in question represents the end of an ad that would be aired across the numerous platforms that are included in the Discovery Plus app that would be offered to viewers with the goal being to encourage them to buy it. I would see this ad being played all the time from the TLC and Animal Planet channels, as this was a huge effort on Discovery Plus’ part to attract people to its platform. The history of Discovery Plus is actually an interesting one. Contrary to belief, this app did not start in the United States, but actually began in India under the name “Dplay.” This app was launched on March 23rd, 2020, and featured pretty much the same offerings as Discovery Plus today, but the language offerings were only in Hindu, English, and six other native languages in the country. When Europe and the United States got some control of the app, they renamed it “Discovery Plus.” It was then released to the United Kingdom and Ireland in November of 2020 while the United States got access on January 4th, 2021. Canada also received access to the app on October 19th, 2021. However, while most of the world has access to the app, certain countries still are not able to enjoy this platform today, such as Saudi Arabia and New Zealand.This post by Discovery Plus was made the day of the platform’s release in the United States. As shown in the image, this was an ad made on Instagram (with others like it plastered around multiple social media platforms, such as Facebook) showing the wide range of options that viewers can use in order to start watching shows on the app. This shows how useful it is for people to access the platform. However, some viewers are not as pleased with the service as others. For instance, the two comments on the bottom right corner of the image show some backlash on the company, as one person was asking if the app was going to appear on PlayStation consoles while another individual asked when the app would be offered in Canada. As of this point, Discovery Plus has launched in Canada but has not been released on PlayStation consoles. As a result, it’s interesting to note which problems the service was able to solve in a timely manner, but also raises questions about why it ignores other people’s concerns.Part of the interesting aspect of Discovery Plus that is able to attract some viewers to the platform is the idea of exclusive access to certain shows that are not aired on regular television channels. This show seen in this image, “90 Day Bares All” is a prime example of such a show that only viewers that have Discovery Plus can watch. This show is about the individuals that were on any of the “90 Day Fiancé” shows as they talk about their lives since they were last on their journey. Some of the reasons that this show is only on Discovery Plus are that the platform wants to attract viewers by limiting access to certain shows on the app and that (in the case of this show) the plots depicted in this show are too mature for a normal television audience (in other words, this is not exactly family friendly content). However, due to the fact that shows like these are restricted to people only signed up for the platform, there has been some backlash that this company received from the public. In more detail, people have commented on multiple social media platforms that this company is being ridiculous (or money-hungry) by restricting the shows on the platform, as, in the case of the “90 Day Fiancé” universe, people are missing aspects of people’s lives that may be relevant when they return on another show in the future. As of this point in time, Discovery Plus still has shows like these restricted to their platforms and has not released any of these episodes to the public. The role that this app has made in this history is that it has increased the amount of content that some of these series that are offered on the app have made for viewers to watch. For example, in the “90 Day Fiancé” universe, more spin-offs appeared that were specifically designed for Discovery Plus viewers, such as “90 Day: The Single Life” and “90 Day Diaries.” While some of these series were transformed into episodes on TLC (released about a year later), others have remained on the app. Thus, this gives the people that appear on this show more opportunities to be publicized for public consumption (and can possibly stir up some drama for viewers).This image represents the show that brought my family and me to Discovery Plus: “90 Day Fiancé” (the original series, not any of the spin-offs… yet). At this point in time, this was the version of the “90 Day Fiancé” shows that were being aired on TLC (the main channel that the series is from). The episode I annotated with the poorly written star was the episode that was pretty much released with the platform, as this episode was aired the night before the platform was released in the United States on January 4th, 2021. The history I originally had with this platform was that we originally tried getting this platform on an Amazon Fire Stick that was given to me, but after multiple technological glitches the Fire Stick had with the platform, we then decided to get the app on my iPad and watch the episodes through there. This app is useful to us for a number of reasons: first, we were able to watch the new episodes earlier than when they aired on TLC (which at that point the Discovery Plus release date of the episodes was a few days before the TLC launch of the episodes) so in case we needed to go to bed before the show ends to get up early for the next day, we would already know what happens so we would not feel bad about missing anything; secondly, we were able to go back and watch the episodes of the season that were aired and rewatch them, or, as the full series was released onto the platform, we would be able to go and watch the shows from previous seasons that we couldn’t access in a different way; and thirdly, this platform was able to clear space on our DVR at home for other shows that this platform doesn’t have instead of taking space for these episodes. All in all, the app was a pretty good thing for our household as it brought us as a family together and has made other aspects of watching television easier. As for me shaping the history of this app, I have not made any specific contributions to changing this app besides being on it and watching its content.
Physical Space (My House):
As I will be examining the history of my physical space for this week, I will be using some of the photos that are found in a photo album that my parents have in the house that demonstrate the building process of the house. To introduce my physical space for this week, I want to begin by taking it back to 2002, where we see the house in this image. This was the house that was on the property where my current house is at. In more detail, this house and a garage were on the premises, with it being occupied by one man. The history is a little sad, but pretty much what happened was that the owner of this house died on the premises, so this house became abandoned. My family then came over to the house and eventually bought it from the family of the man that died and we got the rights to knock the house down and start it over to make it fit for a family to live in (when the owner died, the house became infested with mice and bugs, so with this fact and with the information that the house was not structurally sound, it was inhabitable for others to live in).In the summer of 2002, this is the site after the old house was knocked down and a new project was to begin. The purpose of this project was to build a house for a family of three (my parents and I) along with the pets that we had (at the time, I believe we had two dogs and four cats). So, this open space would eventually occupy a new house for all of us to live in.During the building process, the house being built was actually featured on Channel 7 Eyewitness News with the anchor seen here (Tim Fleischer) interviewing my grandpa and my Dad (seen here in the photo). They were doing a story about the importance of correctly installing windows when constructing a house for the purpose of avoiding heat and air conditioning being leaked out of the house. During this time, I was in school so I never seen the shoot in progress, but it must’ve been pretty cool for all involved to have the house featured on a popular news source.At the end of the day, this is what the house looked like. This picture was taken in the fall of 2002, with the family car (this red Ford seen here) parked in the driveway with one of the dogs (named Hercules) hanging out on the driveway. It took about six months to build the new house, and it includes all the rooms I’ve described in the first week of online presentations. I’ve lived in this house between the years 2003-2008, and then we moved to my grandparent’s house in Pleasantville so I can go to school where my Mom worked. When we were not living here, we rented out the house to one lady, who pretty much stayed there the entire time that we were living in Pleasantville. We moved back to this house in 2019, so it’s closer to Manhattanville (and that my family can have our own space), and it’s great to be back to where we first were. As a result, this house is important to my family as they built the house themselves (along with a construction company). This house is important to me as this was the place where I first remember living at, as I started having my first long-term memories here. This house also shaped me as this place is very convenient for me in regards to traveling to school and for me beginning to take care of myself, while it was important for our family to be more independent as we were away from everyone else (in other words, not living with anyone else). In general, this house made a mark not only in the town that we live in (as we were on a local news station) but in our lives in general, as the efforts of many people were needed to make this process a success.A little bonus picture here showing my grandpa and I hanging out at the construction site. I was one year old in this picture. One of the famous stories that is told about this house in my family is that as they were building the foundation of the house, I would be apparently throwing rocks in the foundation, ignoring remarks from people telling me not to. It always gets a good laugh from my family whenever they would tell it over the dinner table.
3 thoughts on “History of My Spaces”
That’s really interesting, how Discovery Plus was only in India for the first year. This seems very random, since Discovery is thought of as an American corporation. However, I’m sure there is some good reason that makes this make sense. I’d be interested in finding out what that reason is.
I have never heard of Discovery plus, but it seems like it is similar to ABC channel app except it would be just for ABC shows, and Discovery is for a bunch of different channels. I wonder how many viewers are on Discovery plus compared to other channels like ABC or even Netflix…
Craig. Thanks for sharing the history of the house. I think we have to do better in making sure that our neighbors aren’t left alone. It’s too bad the owner didn’t have someone named as a beneficiary. We have to look out for each other and the community. Abandoned homes are a major problem. I saw this happen in Alabama and Florida. Sometimes the children move away and don’t want to return to the hometown.
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That’s really interesting, how Discovery Plus was only in India for the first year. This seems very random, since Discovery is thought of as an American corporation. However, I’m sure there is some good reason that makes this make sense. I’d be interested in finding out what that reason is.
I have never heard of Discovery plus, but it seems like it is similar to ABC channel app except it would be just for ABC shows, and Discovery is for a bunch of different channels. I wonder how many viewers are on Discovery plus compared to other channels like ABC or even Netflix…
Craig. Thanks for sharing the history of the house. I think we have to do better in making sure that our neighbors aren’t left alone. It’s too bad the owner didn’t have someone named as a beneficiary. We have to look out for each other and the community. Abandoned homes are a major problem. I saw this happen in Alabama and Florida. Sometimes the children move away and don’t want to return to the hometown.