Disney to Begin Renting 'Self-Destructing' DVDs

[cityhunter]

Bullsh!t. That's just a waste of material and money. That's just wrong.

[Nicodemus]

That has got to be the stupidest thing I have heard in a long time. This screws them as well as the public. They will end up having to send out DVD's over and over again if this takes off. Only the first person to crack open the DVD would be able to watch it. So what happens when someone else wants to watch that same movie...they lose the re-watch value. The retailer will have to order more of the same......so disney ends up having to ship out more of the same thing losing out on the cost savings they were trying to gain.

This will alienate retailers from them because of course they will end up having to purchase additional copies. Also, the retailer loses the ability to re-coup any money on the DVD since it has no resale value to them. I am sure retailers make their money back through rentals but considering how many of us buy DVD's that is a huge chunk of money for them to lose out on. The solution would of course be for Disney to be shipping out both types but then no one would have any reason to rent the one time only ones.

Which ever genius sold this idea to the execs. at Disney is a marketing genius and should get a raise cause being able to make this pile of s*@t idea look good takes real talent.

~L~

[Roasturkey]

"Which ever genius sold this idea to the execs. at Disney is a marketing genius and should get a raise cause being able to make this pile of s*@t idea look good takes real talent. "


right on
:buttrock: :buttrock: :buttrock:

and i dont see how its gonna benefit anyone other than it being a really dumb gimmick. the discs could be copied within 48 hours ANYWAY, so piracy will still be rampant. and it doesnt take 48 hours to make a copy of a dvd.
geez doesnt anyone SENSIBLE make decisions at disney anymore?
:thumbsdow

[moovieboy]

How on earth could they come up with a "fair" pricing structure for this?

Considering I can:

buy a new Disney DVD for $15-$30

buy a "previewed" disc for $10

or just rent the damned thing normally for $3-$4...

How much do they think they can ask for?

And there is flat out no way I can imagine this is a perfect technology. What happens if the disc "rusts" out in 41 hours? Do I get my money back?? At least Blockbuster can give me a break with another disc or a refund. Some 7-11 corner shop selling these won't give a crap about them breaking down...

This reminds me of the old Divx days (No, not THAT Divx... The technology Circuit City wanted to put on the first DVD players so discs would only work for 48 hours) I can't believe they're rolling this out again!:annoyed:

-Tom

[Nicodemus]

Thanks movieboy. I could not remember the name for that Divx thing. I do remember that it was an idiotic idea and it failed miserably.

It was that idea they had where they wanted to you to purchase a movie and they would authorize it to play in only your DVD player. So forget borrowing someone else's DVD.

We see how well that did.

~L~

[BiTMAP]

mkay, so vacume seal ur DVD's AFTER you watch it the first time, so it should kontinue to work!

[gigatron]

it doesnt take 48 hours to make a copy of a dvd. lol-^

I've known about this for a very long time, and its been used by the military and intelligence agency but like 3 years ago the idea was sparked as in 'why not in hollywood with movies'. I personally think its retarded and a total waste of material, resources, ideas, anything and everything.. It's so pointless...... I mean ok.. maybe a DVD Screener but for 'renting'... totally lame.

Argh companies, corporations and firms shoul try and LISTEN to the consummer for once not just their wallets and sheeeeesh if they want to do something right.. agree on a damn HD-DVD standard ffs..! Do something useful for once! Don't screw up and complicate already valid ways of working something...

[digital_red]

I laughed when I saw this. I mean how stupid?

This sort of reminds me of a recent dispute between Warner Brothers and video rental stores here in the UK. A while ago you couldn’t rent any Warner videos from blockbuster’s, Video Solent and others because of a long running dispute over ex rental sales or something. The result being WB videos despaired of the shelf’s for ages and they lost out. The dispute has been settled now and the titles that should have been out ages ago are only just starting to hit the shelf’s.

Isn’t an example of big business trying to control how we watch the films we rent/buy
If people want to copy DVD’s this aint going to even slow them down. If anything it will speed them up since they only have a limited time to do so.

This message will self destruct in 48 hours. :hmm:

[froggyplat]

what about the enviromental impact of having a few more million useless dvd's floating around our landfills? of course, i'm sure that hasn't been considered at all.....:rolleyes:

[samartin]

what a ridiculous idea for the mainstream, fair enough military utilising this technology... :thumbsdow

could make useful coffee coasters tho' !!!

[hypercube]

I can't believe someone bit on that flexdisc crap or whatever it's called, let alone disney. But it seems right for them, they've always been pricks about home video, and DVD. The whole thing of sitting on titles, then pulling them from shelves after a certain amount of release time, etc. it's sucked since the LD days.

This is as retarded as the idea ever was, DivX failed for a reason. I hope this burns them a lot, they deserve it. :thumbsdow

[halo]

i must be missing something here...you take the dvd home watch it and throw it away...the biggest pia with renting is remembering to take the things back + you get charged extra if you forget...

they seem to think that its cheaper to not collect than collect them + the shops dont have any losses from scratched/damaged/non returned dvds...remember rental copies are still paid for at a premium above shelf prices...this way the shops would just be selling a product on demand rather than invseting in a quickly obselescent library.

coupled with instore burning this could lower prices anyway...

add the fact that bluray is around the corner and that content in the future will be delivered more online adds to a pile of obselete dvd's in 20 years time anyway

ok theres the enviromental angle, but then everything is throwaway these days

the copying angle is irrelevant, films are copied from cinema, as soon as a film is on dvd wether as an internal promo or awards promo its copied and then dvd's are copied when theyre officially released.

[Matt Leishman]

ya know . . . I honestly thought the exec's at Disney couldn't get any more pea-brained than they already are. Wow, who would have figured I was so wrong. Their capacity to attain new heights of stupidity is beyond anything I can imagine.

[gigatron]

"There are only two things in the world that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity." -Einstein

[froggyplat]

Originally posted by halo
ok theres the enviromental angle, but then everything is throwaway these days


.....we don't have to return it....so we save money on gas.....hey, it's GOOD for the environment!!!!!!!!;) ;)

[Gentle Fury]

wow, so basically all this means is that people can buy the disc for......prolly something like 3 bux......take it home, rip it to their computer or copy it to a dvd-r/svcd...........great strategy guys.......how bout making a movie that can only be played once and give it away for free............gotta love the ingenious planning with those guys.........course you know whats gonna happen, a month after it comes out they are gonna realize people are buying them, copying them and tossing them, and not buying the traditional $30 dvds..........great way to lose some revenue diz :)

by the way, didnt they always sell their dvds this way......it's been my experience that if you can even get a "disney dvd" to play when you buy it it generally only lasts about a month anyway ;) then they discontinue the title so you have to wait another 5 years to buy it again...........and what does that do, make people have to wait and buy them at exhorbenate prices from disney agents over ebay????? NOPE, just gives people a legitimate excuse to download the damn movies!

[Sutekh]

I think you guys are missing the angle here. It's not about stopping piracy... you're right that it will have no impact there.. it's about increasing their revenue.

Currently you want to view a movie once you go to your rental store and hire it for a couple of bucks. Now the rental store pays a liscence fee plus the actual cost of the disk but everytime a disk is rented they get the money. Now with these once off DVD's the studio's get a portion of the dough you fork out everytime you watch a new "rental"... not to mention they can now sell them in all sorts of places like corner stores and petrol stations. Basically cutting directly into the rental stores income. In fact the Blockbuster's etc. will now just have to rely on renting out older non-destructive releases.

I mean lets be fair. The Studios need to recoup all those billions lost to piracy now don't they ?

Richard.

[Joviex]

Originally posted by gigatron
"There are only two things in the world that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity." -Einstein

He said a little more than that, the rest of the quote...

"and I am not so sure about the first one."

[dell]

NO COMMENT!!:hmm:

[Linus Ericson]

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2134866,00.html

[Gentle Fury]

yes, but as was stated of the fate of the previously stated Divx "rental" system..........it failed miserably.....as will this.

this basically goes along with getting a free music cd inside specially marked boxes of Lucky Charms.....its a gimmeck.... and people DONT like disposable media.

[Nicodemus]

Originally posted by Sutekh
I think you guys are missing the angle here. It's not about stopping piracy... you're right that it will have no impact there.. it's about increasing their revenue.

Currently you want to view a movie once you go to your rental store and hire it for a couple of bucks. Now the rental store pays a liscence fee plus the actual cost of the disk but everytime a disk is rented they get the money. Now with these once off DVD's the studio's get a portion of the dough you fork out everytime you watch a new "rental"... not to mention they can now sell them in all sorts of places like corner stores and petrol stations. Basically cutting directly into the rental stores income. In fact the Blockbuster's etc. will now just have to rely on renting out older non-destructive releases.

I mean lets be fair. The Studios need to recoup all those billions lost to piracy now don't they ?

Richard.

Granted, but let them at least try and come up with an idea that won't suck. They are trying to cut out the middle man by being able to distribute more directly to consumers. As dispoable as alot of the public wants things to be we also enjoy rewatching certain movies. I just have a hard time seeing this take off.

Also, the whole more direct distribution thing was tried before. An attempt to be able to rent movies at your local 7-Eleven was an abismal failure. It seems they are trying to go that route again but they seem to be missing out on the fact that one of the main reasons that Hollywood Video has come on as strongly as it has has been the fact that you have 5 days to watch your rentals. They have been able to eat into Blockbusters market share based on that.

This idea which offers us the flexibility of picking it up anywhere and not having to return it completely over looks the fact that many people rent but it takes a few days to actually get to watch the movie. Net Flix has made a killing based on the fact that you can have the movie out as long as you want. This takes us back to a shorter time frame and does not even give the out of still being able to watch it and only have to pay a late charge if the "boss calls you in/someone gets sick/your wife goes into labor/the dog gets lost". So rather than being able to hit stop/pause you have to worry about this DVD degarding before you get to watch it. How will they handle a tear in the package which starts the time before I even get it....and do I get my money back if I only got to see half the movie????

I can understand how this might seem attractive from a marketing/money stand point. They just need to factor in life's little interuptions and the fact that while we all like disposable/fast/easy we want it to be flexible, not lock us into a short time frame that forces us to do it one way.

[digital_red]

Hey I’ve found a way around this. Since the DVD’s react to oxygen all you have to do is…

1. Find an airtight container that your DVD player will fit into.
2. Get a Co2 fire extinguisher and a length of garden hose.
3. Cut two small holes in the airtight container. One the size of a wine cork and the other the size of the hose. (You will need additional holes for power leads ect)
4. Attach one end of the hose to the extinguisher and the other end to the hole.
5. Duct tape any gaps where air could get in.
6. Now this is the tricky part. Quickly remove the DVD from its packaging and place in the DVD tray. Close the tray.
7. Seal the Lid down tightly. And activate the Co2 extinguisher.
8. Once the co2 has flushed out all the oxygen plug up the last reaming hole with a wine cork.
9. Sit back and watch you DVD.

[halo]

after you've unfrozen it ;)

[hypercube]

And then in the end you create flubber? Or is your DVD encased in carbonite?

[digital_red]

I thought about sending it to space but that seemed ridiculous. Imagine how long the cables would need to be.

[hypercube]

Wait that's it..have your home theater room be a complete vacuum, with an airlock..patch the sound into your spacesuit helmet..

[digital_red]

he he :)

It does raise an interesting point though. How are they going to seal the packages? And what happens if the seal is broken early?

Re: hypercube. I like your thinking. Ill start drawing up the plans now.
:)

[Nicodemus]

I am sure they will claim that the package was fine when you got it. It is either that or they will have to send alot to which ever retailer is carrying them. Which again....eats into those profits they were trying to make.

~L~

[MDuffy]

If the coating reacts with oxygen, it has to be on the outer-most layer. How long do you think it will take before people figure out how to buff this layer off?

Just a thought,
Michael Duffy
mduffy@ionet.net

[Gentle Fury]

Originally posted by digital_red
he he :)

It does raise an interesting point though. How are they going to seal the packages? And what happens if the seal is broken early?

Re: hypercube. I like your thinking. Ill start drawing up the plans now.
:)

whoa, thats actually a very interesting point.........wouldnt that make it easy as hell for someone to buy one, copy it and bring it to the store saying "it was black when i got it!"

i guess they didnt think of that.

and what if it only lasts 47 hours..........

i like the idea of the vacuum sealed entertainment center......could have it be like a jukebox! i mean technically you would have 47 hours to load the damn thing.....then as long as its not in contact with oxygen the errosion process should cease!

i wonder if there is some chemical compound that could stop the reaction...........

you know the day after it comes out someone will figure out a way around it ;)

[GRMac13]

No use getting all worked up over this, folks. I think Disney will find out the hard way that the public is not interested in disposable DVD's.

What I'm a bit concerned over is if these apparently unscrupulous individuals can devise a longer-lasting coating and apply it their regular "priced-to-own" DVD's. So you buy that new copy of Monster's Inc. for 20 or 30 bucks, and after a year or two it's completely unplayable, forcing you to buy another copy. That's a way to recoup revenue. If they're clever about it, they could put different coatings on every disc so that they will all have a variable life-span. That way, it'll be harder to decipher a pattern and file a class-action lawsuit.

Just some food for thought. Although I wouldn't be surprised if some companies are doing this now, or maybe DVD's are just poorly made. I can't tell you how many titles I own (and many I've rented) that skip or are "unreadable" in spots for no apparent reason. Maybe I'm better off pirating. :shrug:

[SheepFactory]

I am sure people will love it when the DVD self destructs in the middle of the movie.

Just when I think disney cant make any worst mistake than they did in the past they come up with something more stupid.

:thumbsdow

[BillB]

Much as I love the idea of freezing my DVD player (didn't people used to do that with LP's?), how about a simple spray can of laquer? Unwrap, spray quickly. Presto Sealo.

Anyone know anything about the technology they're using?

[googlo]

Oxygen levels vary from altitude, so will people in higher elevations get longer dvd lifetimes and hence have to pay more or is disney going to chemical treat the discs to be region specific? :)

They should have made it so that the coating of the DVD is impregnated with a chemical that reacts with the light from the dvd laser and that makes it inoperable after so many run throughs. That would be MUCH harder to stop people to compensate for I think, but the whole idea is wasteful and pointless in my opinion anyway.

[googlo]

I know the same technology was used for promotion purposes of the last Mission impossible movie. The whole gimmick was the disc wiould self-destruct after so many days, you know, like the MIF stuff in the movie, huk!

[iBlue]

gayest... idea... ever... :shame:

[singularity2006]

that is the most ridiculous idea i have ever heard in my life .... though that is cool for spy material.

[fattdex]

"ok theres the enviromental angle, but then everything is throwaway these days"

stupid, stupid americanS.:thumbsdow

[GRMac13]

Originally posted by fattdex
"ok theres the enviromental angle, but then everything is throwaway these days"

stupid, stupid americanS.:thumbsdow

How do you know halo's American? :rolleyes:

[iBlue]

Originally posted by fattdex
"ok theres the enviromental angle, but then everything is throwaway these days"

stupid, stupid americanS.:thumbsdow

hey shut up! dont lable every american because disney is a bunch of retards, im american, did i say it was cool? :annoyed:

[fattdex]

eh i should reword that to disney and that guy are stupid, stupid americans, on re-reading it :thumbsdow

and i thought it was in his/hers profile it said LA, but i must have clicked the wrong one, so now i can only assume :p anway...

[Ed Bittner]

I'll tell you what, if they were smart, (which I agree they are NOT), what they aught to do is sell these self-destructing discs at the movie theater at the time of the films release. Now, just wait a minute, think of it. People come out of the films showing and would like to see it again. So, for $25 or so, take it home. Money goes directly to Disney with no charging you $10 for 10 cents worth of popcorn, and you can watch the movie maybe only once. Not as many people will burn it to their computer as we probably think, but I know my home theater set-up has MORE sound per square foot than any cracker-box movie theater at a place with 30 other movies playing. And I'll bet you, people coming out of a film they are really jazzed about would pay it. After all, how many people can you fit into YOUR home theater to comfortly watch a DVD? ( You could even charge your buddies to get your money back). Eh?
Ed

[Nicodemus]

Intersting idea Ed....only problem with it is they would have to take a risk without gurantee on return. If the movie bombs they will lose out and they like to go with sure things. With the present set up they can ship units based on interest in the movie/how well it did at the box office.

Some movies start out strong based on the marketing they put behind it but fizzle after opening weekend. That would leave them with even more money lost if people go to see it...hate it....and refuse to even think about buying it as they leave the theatre.

~L~

[victor throe]

a small house with many occupants that smoke, situated on the top of a moutain would get a bargain






will they still sell the dvds for keeps aswell as the short life span ones?

[pgp_protector]

Just 2 ideas about this.


1) If you get one, when finished Return it to Disney so they can despose of it correctly / recycle it.

2) A Great use for these DVD will be to place them on Cerial boxes so the Kids will get a "free" prevew/movie that comes with there cerial, get hooked, and cry to mommy & daddy to buy the movie when the "Free" version no longer works.


I also like the idea of the movie house handouts.

[googlo]

pG,

Yeah the cereal idea doesn't sound 'quite' as bad because it's more of a promo thing (still have issues with the waste though - but i guess it would be limited).

I don't think they would offer recycling centers for their dvd's because it would defeat the whole 'new paradigm" they are trying to push with disposable dvd's, it's not that much different than having to bring a rental back somewhere, plus it's added costs.

[halo]

i am not american:surprised

[pgp_protector]

I know they dont want to "set up" recycling, and just expect us to throw them away (Sorta like AOL disk) Im just thinking of the waist, and if we all send them back to disney, let them deal with disposing of 10,000s of disk or more each year :)

[paultheplumber]

Don't forget, the DVD isn't the only waste, the packaging is also useless once the DVD is dead.

IMO though, they shouldn't be allowed to put "The Hot Chick" on any DVD that lasts *longer* than 48 hours...

[halo]

so you recycle all those aol and cds that fall out of mags then?

[FabioMSilva]

danm u disney for Making plastic! thats a waste 4 our planet ya know?!

it´ll take a thousand years to fully destroy one of those DVD´s! meanwhile what will we do? send them to the moon or mars?

lol , myabe i´m exagerating a little bit(quite alot actually)

:p

[pgp_protector]

Originally posted by halo
so you recycle all those aol and cds that fall out of mags then?

In a way :) I use them as costers for my styrofoam cups :)

[halo]

there u go then...:)

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