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Self-Destructing DVD's Coming Soon
BrianH writes "Looks like a close cousin of everybody's favorite self-destructing video format is making a comeback. Four years after Circuit City and its Hollywood backers pulled the plug on the self-expiring DVD concept, FlexPlay Technologies has introduced the EZ-D...a 48-hour self-expiring DVD disk. The difference? This time around you don't need a special player, and "time extensions" are no longer an option. It looks like Buena Vista has already signed on to the format, so Disney, Mirimax, and all of their other companies should be using this soon. As if that wasn't bad enough, it looks like this works for music and software disks too!" Here's an older story on these technologies.
... and then I'm sure they'll cry victim when everybody starts copying the damn things and starts giving them all out to their friends because you can't get a permanent copy of the work.
I'll tell ya, the first thing I would do with such a thing is to back it up. Or better yet, I would just return it after it expires and tell them that it never worked right in the first place. It's not like they could prove otherwise.
Like any technology it will have a a certain % failure, what will the rental place do if you come back before 48 hours with a dead disk?
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If the mechanism of self destruction is a chemical reaction between an added layer of dye(or whatever) and the Oxygen in the atmosphere (almost definitely how it works), then that means there will very likely be a stong unavoidable lifetime dependence on heat. DVD PLAYERS ARE HOT! And some more so than others....that =class action lawsuit from people who happen to have a brand of DVD player that runs particularly hot and whose "EZ-D's"(puke) are viewable for a much shorter time than the average.
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No really. If it's a software thing, shouldn't be too hard. If it's physical, like reacting to a catalyst, there is most likely some way to treat the discs so that they will remain usable longer...
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I dont get your response, where does it say anyweher that the point of this system is to foil dvd copiers? It isn't and it doesn't. As for people paying good money and dont "get" the movie, isnt the same thing true for a rental today? This is designed to be similar to a video shop transaction.
Down the street from me is a big vending machine/kiosk type thing that purports to rent DVDs. I havent been able to try it because it seems to require a discover card and the signup cards never seem to be there. But from looking at it it seems to have 20 movies or so available 24 hours a day for a 3 day rental.
I am guessing that is the type of thing they want to do with expiring DVD's. If they sold 48 hour dvd rentals at airports or hotels i'm sure i would use the service from time to time. And the company and the buyer dont need to worry about where they will be in 48 hours to return it. Takes all the difficulty out of running a vending machine based rental service.
Of course it doesnt seem like a good replacement for blockbuster, i agree with many posters that said the last thing we need is the entire world throwing out every movie they rent. But then again there are disposable cell phones for sale that serve a niche but we arent all throwing away our telephones after every call.
Actually, if these self-expiring cars cost 1/4 what an equivalent non-expiring car would cost, sign me up. That is what we are talking about here.
Well, I'm wondering just what reaction they use.
"After 48 hours of impeccable play, the DVD will no longer be readable by the DVD player". 48 hours of impeccable play implies that the reaction takes 48 hours to even get started. Somehow, I suspect that the quality will degrade rapidly as the deadline aproaches. And if it does, will we be able to claim false advertising? If the reaction is really air based, then what happens if the air has a high concentration of the reactant? That would make the DVD drcay more quikly. Would we be able to sue for our remaining few hours?
If it reacts with a gas in the air, it's probably oxygen. No vacuum necessary... Just open it in a chamber full of N2. Completely non-reactive and very cheap.
.3mm and .5mm vertical dev. Translation: as long as you get an even coat, it should play nicely (unless the acrylic is permeable to O2 or has a chemical that itself reacts with the disc).
Then cover it with a layer of clear acrylic spray. There may be some vertical deviance, but most players are made to correct for up to somewhere between
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Aw crap, why'd you have to go and say that?? Now if it fails FlexPlay Technologies will blame it on DVD rippers, and it'll be another reason for makers of DVD-copying software to be sued, and somehow the RIAA will stick their big nose in.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Would be samples of games for various systems. If they can get / keep the price down low enough (say under $5), this might work. See a new game for you PS2/XBox/GameCube/PC, but aren't sure you'll enjoy it enough to warrant dropping $40+? By the trial disk. You now have 48hrs to try the game. Probably wouldn't work as well / at all for the PC, as all I need to do is copy the disk, and then find a no-CD crack for it, and I never need to buy it, but might work for the consoles. However, for movies? No way. I thought DivX (the Circuit City one) blew chunks, and am glad it died a (fairly) quick death. Unless you either sell me these disks for under $2, OR give me a VERY large discount AT THE REGISTER when I buy a non-expiring copy of the same movie, I would not buy ANYTHING in this format. As I said, NO mail-in rebate crap, as I would not want to wait 3-4 months for a rebate. Jason A.
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...i agree with many posters that said the last thing we need is the entire world throwing out every movie they rent.
I'm not exactly an environmentalist, but everything is going throw-away it seems. Swifter-type one-use dusters and mops, paper plates (don't recall the brand) now advertising that you have more time for family if you use their product and throw it away--this commercial complete with a shot of Mom doing dishes and looking over her shoulder to Dad with two kids laughing over a game or similar group activity. Disposable DVDs...sheesh.
I remember when Compact Discs first came out; one of the promotional ideas was that it used less plastic than LPs (that's "vinyl" or "records" for you young 'uns) and cassette tapes, yet they packaged them in jewel cases several times the CD's thickness and large boxes over twice the height of the jewel case. WTF? I guess they were afraid of them being stolen. The boxes eventually shrunk but the large jewel cases are still prevalent.
Come to think of it, my Mom made my sister and I do the dishes while she and Dad had all the fun.
>Imagine a game that requires a CD that expires
>in 48 hours.
I imagine someone will buy it. If it is perceived as cheap ($2.00-$5.00 each time instead of $60.00 one time, works better in some people's reasoning). I wouldn't touch such a game.
>How about a copy of Windows where the install
>disk fries itself after install?
Whoever chooses to buy such a thing brings the consequences on himself. I'm not sure I see a problem really. In a way, I wish Microsoft hadn't been so willing to enable copying from the beginning. Had they made it difficult to copy windows install discs, we might have seen more competition in the OS market since 95. I often wonder if more people have Windows installs that are afoul of the license, than have completely legal installs. Some days I actually wonder if one person in ten who runs Windows even has an original install CD.
There are alternatives to Windows, but most people don't know it. If they can't afford Windows, they know they can get it free. If Microsoft actually made an effort to stop them getting it free, they would start to understand the value of the alternatives.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
>This is designed to be similar to a video shop transaction.
Okay, lets assume this isn't a hamfisted attempt to push DRM down the throat of Joe Sixpack. While all these useless DVD discs pile up in the local landfill, someone out there is getting a pizza delivered.
I wonder what's best for the long-run? A peapod-like video store or 48-hour DVDs? You still have to drive out to the store to buy the DVD in the first place.
Also, video stores makes a lot, if not most of, their money off late fees. I wouldn't expect these things to be that much cheaper than the offerings at your local video store.
Also, where exactly is the market for this? People too lazy to goto the video store AND who also don't have pay-per-view AND don't want to subscribe to NetFlix? Yeah right, I'm sure these 800 people are going to love DRM-DVD.
Will it last longer in a low pressure environment like in the mountains?
A few things can be assumed. First off, the estimate of 48 hours is probably just that. If the movie only lasts 48 hours, or if it happens to last 80, then it was all just chance one way or the other.
I'm guessing they probably say 48 hours, because that is the minimum it could last. The point behind the movie is that it does decay, and it's not so much a matter of how long that decay actually takes.
Next, if the reaction happens actually because of contact with air, then it's safe to assume that it actually NEEDS constant exposure to that air to react. If that's the case, no problem. Gloss clearcoat will easily prevent the air from reacting and can be purchased in a spray can at any hardware store. I'm suspecting that if you buy one of these movies and place it label down and give it an even, clean, and complete cover of clearcoat, the reaction will probably stop.
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Actually, they seem to support recycling: http://www.flexplay.com/recycle.html
also in their FAQ: http://www.flexplay.com/faq.html#recycle
It was me, I did it, I moved your cheese
Yea, if you mail the disk to a recycler Missouri. Using your own envelopes, stamps, time, effort. Yea, that will happen quite a bit around here.
However, if I can toss the disk in my city recycling bin that might not be too bad...
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A lot of people are speculating that exposure to air is what will cause these disks to cease working. My hypothesis would be an exposure to light.
.02
After being exposed to light, the disk then takes approximately 48 hours for the chemical agent to cure. It's probably some derivative of silver nitrate (used in photographs) and will opaque the disk, and the laser will then be unable to read it.
Just my
Well recycling is a nice idea, but not always a good one. Most of the time, people say "recycling" when then really mean "downcycling": reusing a material after it has gone through a process that drops its quality.
For instance, when you melt down plastic bottles, you are mixing different plastics together and introducing impurities into the "new" plastic. You now have crappy plastic. You often add some fresh material to the "recycled" material to make it usable. Overall the process is expensive, and often the chemicals used aren't terribly environmentally friendly, and you really don't know if the recycled plastic is healthy - will it off-gas into your food?
This is true for metal and paper recycling as well - any recycling where the material hasn't been designed to be cleanly extracted and recycled.
The best "recycling" is simple reuse. To not chuck the product, but to either refill or otherwise reuse the product.
It does appear we are in a worsening trend of products that are designed for short use. These are poor quality products with clever marketing. My crappy plastic containers become "single use!" and now I can sell a boatload of them.
I won't be buying disposable DVDs any time soon.
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