I don't get why anyone would want to buy/rent these.
Any comments ?
Disney to issue Self-Destructing DVDs......WTF ?
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Aladdin
- Gold Classic Collection
- Posts: 123
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2003 12:01 pm
- Location: Jasmine's Palace :) Toronto, CANADA
Disney to issue Self-Destructing DVDs......WTF ?
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030516/media_disney_dvds_1.html
I don't get why anyone would want to buy/rent these.
Any comments ?
I don't get why anyone would want to buy/rent these.
Any comments ?
I don't think it will affect us in anyway, as it's meant to be an alternative to renting.
Only renting I do is with the online rental places (and goodness, it seems like EVERY one of them is more than happy to give me a free trial month). Right now I'm on my free month from FilmCaddy.
And even if I were paying, it'd turn out to be cheaper than this, from another article I read.
I don't think it will succeed, but it's weird and interesting. And wasteful, too, I'd think.
Only renting I do is with the online rental places (and goodness, it seems like EVERY one of them is more than happy to give me a free trial month). Right now I'm on my free month from FilmCaddy.
And even if I were paying, it'd turn out to be cheaper than this, from another article I read.
I don't think it will succeed, but it's weird and interesting. And wasteful, too, I'd think.
Oh, and since this article doesn't specify it...another I read said that the Disney Animated Classics would most likely not be released to this format anytime soon. So, even though it is "Disney" news, it seems strictly Touchstone/etc. for the time being. So it's not even worth giving more attention on the site, IMO.
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The Lizard King
- Special Edition
- Posts: 539
- Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2003 3:22 pm
Re: Disney to issue Self-Destructing DVDs......WTF ?
This smacks like the "old" Divx discs that Disney and Circuit City wanted to cram down our throats 4-5 years ago. It didn't work then, and I doubt it if it will work this August.Aladdin wrote:http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030516/media_disney_dvds_1.html
I don't get why anyone would want to buy/rent these.
Any comments ?
TLK
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Bill
Here's the article posted here in case it would self-destruct. 
This disc will self-destruct in 48 hours.
That is the warning Walt Disney Co. will issue in August when it begins renting DVDs that after two days become unplayable and do not have to be returned.
Disney home video unit Buena Vista Home Entertainment will launch a pilot program for the DVD movie rentals in August that uses the self-destruction technology, the company said Friday.
The discs stop working after a change in color renders them unreadable.
They start off red, but when they are taken out of the package, exposure to oxygen turns the coating black and makes it impenetrable by a DVD laser.
Buena Vista hopes the technology will let it crack a wider rental market, because it can sell the DVDs in stores or almost anywhere without setting up a system to get the discs back.
The discs work perfectly for the two-day viewing window, said Flexplay Technologies Inc., the private company that developed the technology using material from General Electric Co.
Chief Executive Alan Blaustein said he also was in talks with other companies to use the self-destructing discs.
The technology cannot be hacked by programmers who would want to view a disc longer because the mechanism that closes the viewing window is chemical and has nothing to do with computer technology.
However, the disc can be copied within 48 hours, because it works like any other DVD during that window.
Buena Vista did not disclose pricing plans but said the discs, dubbed EZ-D, would be available in select markets with recent releases including "The Recruit," "The Hot Chick" and "Signs."
It does seem very odd. But what ever happened to the new "Video on Demand" system for homes? It's like a hard drive that sits on your TV and you can have like 100 movies on it at a time, but you have access to the entire Disney Valut. That may work out better then these DVDs... they sound like something out of Inspector Gadget.
This disc will self-destruct in 48 hours.
That is the warning Walt Disney Co. will issue in August when it begins renting DVDs that after two days become unplayable and do not have to be returned.
Disney home video unit Buena Vista Home Entertainment will launch a pilot program for the DVD movie rentals in August that uses the self-destruction technology, the company said Friday.
The discs stop working after a change in color renders them unreadable.
They start off red, but when they are taken out of the package, exposure to oxygen turns the coating black and makes it impenetrable by a DVD laser.
Buena Vista hopes the technology will let it crack a wider rental market, because it can sell the DVDs in stores or almost anywhere without setting up a system to get the discs back.
The discs work perfectly for the two-day viewing window, said Flexplay Technologies Inc., the private company that developed the technology using material from General Electric Co.
Chief Executive Alan Blaustein said he also was in talks with other companies to use the self-destructing discs.
The technology cannot be hacked by programmers who would want to view a disc longer because the mechanism that closes the viewing window is chemical and has nothing to do with computer technology.
However, the disc can be copied within 48 hours, because it works like any other DVD during that window.
Buena Vista did not disclose pricing plans but said the discs, dubbed EZ-D, would be available in select markets with recent releases including "The Recruit," "The Hot Chick" and "Signs."
It does seem very odd. But what ever happened to the new "Video on Demand" system for homes? It's like a hard drive that sits on your TV and you can have like 100 movies on it at a time, but you have access to the entire Disney Valut. That may work out better then these DVDs... they sound like something out of Inspector Gadget.
I honestly wouldn't worry about this. People aren't going to be stupid enough to support such a model, so the system will collapse.
I honestly don't even know why Disney is trying. I could understand if they were pushing for rental windows (Buena Vista still has rental windows on most Touchstone/Miramax releases in the UK) because although it would be unpopular in America, at least it's a proven business model. If Disney want people to 'rent' their movies, they should go for the accepted method instead of disguising it as something else.
This new scheme will fool nobody and annoy many.
I honestly don't even know why Disney is trying. I could understand if they were pushing for rental windows (Buena Vista still has rental windows on most Touchstone/Miramax releases in the UK) because although it would be unpopular in America, at least it's a proven business model. If Disney want people to 'rent' their movies, they should go for the accepted method instead of disguising it as something else.
This new scheme will fool nobody and annoy many.
Most of my Blu-ray collection some of my UK discs aren't on their database
