Disney is going to start testing a disposable DVD called EZ-D in August. They can be watched for 48 hours after they are opened after which they become unreadable.
Will this product succeed? Obviously it will be competing with DVD rentals rather than DVD’s themselves. I think the product could well be a success if it is priced at about 5 dollars or less.
You don’t have the hassle of returning the DVD. It can be sold anywhere including in vending machines. It will be possible to stock a bunch of them to watch later on a rainy day without having to go to a rental store.
My, that’ll do wonders for the nation’s landfills. :rolleyes:
I can see people returning in droves to Blockbuster because of their “faulty” discs. People don’t read signs/labels now–what will be the learning curve for this? This seems to appeal exclusively to the lazy people who can’t be bothered to return the DVDs in time. Late fees are where Blockbuster makes most of its profits–how likely are they going to actively support this format and educate its customers to the “advantages”?
Divx, a similar idea (though different technology, IIRC), bombed, and one can only hope this does too.
Does anyone know how these work? Do they physically destroy the disk, or do they depend on some kind of digital rights management? Is there anything to stop you ripping the DVD and watching it as often as you like (other than the fact that you would be breaking the law)?
From what I have heard It is a chemical reaction. Once the seal is broken the disk is exposed to air and deterorates to the point where it is unreadable. Anything is rippable so long as you have the tools and know how… Me I don’t and personally want movie companies to remain profitable so I can see a half decent big budget film once and a while.
“Late fees are where Blockbuster makes most of its profits–how likely are they going to actively support this format and educate its customers to the “advantages”?”
Ah but the beauty of it is that Blockbuster doesn’t have to be pushing this product. They can be sold by anyone including vending machines. You don’t need to set up an infrastructure for making sure customers return the product on time. As for educating customers I don’t think the concept of a disposable DVD is that hard to explain/label.
“Does anyone know how these work?”
Through a chemical reaction that works through exposure to air after you open it.
I don’t know if there is any way of preventing people from ripping the DVD; that would definitely be a practical issue if this to work. OTOH I imagine you have the same problem with DVD rentals today.
Close – IIRC, the bottom of the disc is coated with a transparent chemical/paint that reacts with air. When you break the seal for the disc, the paint slowly turns opaque, and by the time your 48 hours are up, the disc is completely black and cannot be read by the DVD player.
I think I recall reading something about that on Slashdot last year. IIRC, the film used to burn information on fades from exposure to air after a while.
I can’t imagine any way they could keep you from burning a copy that would still keep it compatible with current DVD players.
Elwood, why is it Stupid? The main dfference between this and DiVX of course is that DiVX was a completely different format incompatible with DVD. In fact, this has the added benefit of taking a hit at Blockbuster nad their anti-OAR bias.
Yeah between Netflix-type services and this I wouldn’t be surprised if the big video chains aren’t put out of business eventually.
As far as I can see the three main advantages of Blockbuster over Netflix are
VHS cassetes
impulse rentals : ie when you need to have something to watch that day
people who rent too infrequently to use Netflix
.
The first advantage will fade away as more and more people get DVD players. This product , if it works, could destroy the second and third advantages since it’s more convenient. This is especially true for new releases which you can’t rent for more than 2-3 days anyway and which will probably be the most econonmical to sell in , say, vending machines.
I’m not a big fan of Disney (I do like a few of their offerings, but not many), but one way to keep these discs out of the trash would be to silk-screen the fronts and turn them into “collectables”.
A sample idea already exists: you can buy a clock kit from most arts & crafts stores that use dead discs (CD or otherwise) as the “face”.
Just wait till the self destruct DVD’s have been out a short time.
Some smart individual will come up with a simple way to negate the oxidation process. Maybe even convert them to archival status!
It would be okay for adult dvds cause that way you don’t have to disinfect them first. Ever see how grimy the top of adult video cassettes get at the rental store? I dunno why they get that way but ah, let’s leave it at that
Next thing you know, someone will come up with a way to open such DVDs and put them in the player in an airtight housing. I realize such measures, though costly, could be implemented on the principle of demonstrating that the technology can be defeated.
What I’d like to know is how the disk will behave as it approaches its unusability stage. Do read errors gradually start to appear or is it still good for a certain amount of time and then BAM! Suddenly it all goes bad?
There are other factors to consider since the properties of air change from one location to another. Factors such as altitude, temperature, humidity and perhaps pollution, could affect the useful time period for the disc. Consumers in areas where the time is less than 48 hours would feel ripped off.
I foresee this as yet another big marketing failure and I hope it dies an early death, much like DivX.
