I’ve heard on the radio this morning that DVD’s are going to be sold that once opened will have a life of apx 36 hrs and are not copyable.
I can understand the lifespan, I would wag some oxidizing compound will obscure the data in about 1.5 days. Not copyable I have a harder time believing - more like harder to copy then your standard DVD. That’s not my point anyway.
The real issue is will if fly? Divex (sp) seaverly limited peoples viewings and was doomed. People who just want to see a movie once will rent. IF people but the DVD they want it to last. I think unless they sell these DVD’s for rental prices it’s going to be a flop. I further thing that the motion picture industry wants nothing more then to charge us per viewing.
Any opinions.
And sorry no link to the self destructing DVD - but trust me on this one.
Nothing like paying 20 bucks for something that lasts 36 hours.
I’ve never met something that was uncopyable…just hard to copy, I dont think people would just bend over and accept it more likely would abandon their ‘copying is wrong and its theft’ position .
I have my doubts about it. I wouldn’t be surprised at somebody trying to make it happen, but I think it’s pushing consumer gullibility a little too far.
I read a story about this. Two ways they are being used are for sneak previews and game demos. The length of time varies with atmospheric conditions. The story pegged the time up to 60 hours.
It’ll work, if the cost is right. I’d pay a buck more than rental for a DVD that I could throw away and not return. Say $3 for a rent and return and $4 for a buy and throw away, if the economics are right it could be huge.
On the copying thing, there is always the analog copy that you can make from the TV with a VCR or Tivo or DVD Recorder, so you have an extra D to A and then A back to D, so the quality suffers a bit, but if it is only one generation it shouldn’t be too bad.
So other than the “don’t need to return” consumer benefit what is the cost/benefit for video stores.
Cost - Hardware wise let’s assume this costs much, if not a bit more, than a standard DVD to press.
Cost - Rough estimate that video stores now need to stock 50-100 copies of a disposable DVD instead of 10 they would recycle - Space required for storing DVDs increases 5-10 times.
Benefit - I don’t have to return the DVD and can have a nice coaster afterwards.
Prediction- People will use Seal-a-Meal vacuum baggies to stop oxidation between plays - Ron Popeil’s stock goes through the roof.
Hey astro what if blockbuster could burn the DVD while you wait (say in five minutes), and then it would destruct in 36 hours? Then there would be 0 inventory! Hell, you could have an ATM sized blockbuster vending machine with no staff, no inventory and almost no rent. There’s an idea…
I agree with k2dave. They can never get away with charging more than about 2 or 3 bucks for one. And it can’t possibly be uncopyable. If you can get the data off the disk to view it, you can copy it.
I would say that rental stores will not like this as a good portion of their business is people returning the tapes/disks picking up new ones while they are there anyway. Also Blockbuster makes a good deal in late fees.
Where I could see it working is if the stores can burn it on demand or video vending machines.
I think the hydrocarbons saved in eliminating the 11:45 PM dash to the video store on the night the DVD is due has got to worth something environmentally.
k2dave that is what I was thinking. Sure, blockbuster makes money on the candy and the late fees, but if they could create a burn on demand DVD vending machine with a self destructing DVD I am almost positive that the reduction in overhead would more than offset the reduction in revenue.
Oh yes, and the ocean really needs the effect of more plastics being dumped. :sigh:
I am so sick to death of disposable every damn thing that’s solely for the sake of convenience. I’m sick to death of things that have no end but in landfills becaue there is no other damned way to dispose of them.
The only way that this scheme could be justified would be if the DVDs really did self-destruct, if the data evaporated and then the disc slowly but surely evaporated as well. But that won’t happen.
Maybe it wouldn’t be self-destructing, but rather limited in the number of times it can be viewed? I’ve seen VHS tapes like this - usually preview copies that are sent to video stores before the movie’s released, so the owner knows how many to buy. The tape would play a maximum of, say, three times and then wouldn’t be watchable (but I can’t recall how - maybe it wouldn’t rewind after the third time).