Has CD Quality Control Slipped?

morris57 asks: "In the past few months, I have had at least 3 brand new compact disks or DVDs not work right out of the box. I don't mean that any sort of copy protection on the disk prevented me from using them; they were simply defective disks. I was able to exchange my DVD of 'The Matrix Reloaded' at Best Buy for a working copy, but some disks I got for Christmas I just recently opened and they are either unplayable or garbled. It is not a hardware issue, either. I've tested the disks in several types of players: new, old, component, computers, etc... It seems to me to make a very good case for downloadable media files, although I know these tracks are not available on iTunes or audible.com. So, I guess I'm wondering if the Slashdot community has noticed a decline in quality control of CDs/DVDs. What can be done (individually or communally) to not get burned by defective disks?" The solution for this particular type of problem boils down to simple consumerism. If you get a defective product, return it! If manufactures notice a high rate of return (and they should), they'll hopefully address the quality of what they ship. Has anyone else noticed an increase of non-working DVDs or CDs?

Comments

Re:I haven't noticed much

[Vokbain]

This happened to me with my Predator 2 DVD on my Powerbook. The dumb thing is that I exchanged the DVD, and the new one had the exact same problem at the exact same spot on the DVD.

I'm not sure if that's a problem with the DVDs, or if my DVD player is extra sensitive to the defects, or who knows what. I've never had any other problems with any DVDs before.

Stating the Obvious

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

"The solution for this particular type of problem boils down to simple consumerism. If you get a defective product, return it!"

Does this really need to be said? I mean really, who gets a DVD or CD that doesn't work and simply keeps it?

Re:Stating the Obvious

[Mattcelt]

It's a shitty policy, but this is a perfect example of how a few bad apples can ruin it for everyone.

No, it's not. Let's make this clear: the RIAA et al. are not afraid of people. They are afraid of technology. If they had their way, they would make a technology illegal even if it were impossible for more than one person in the world to use.

What is is a perfect example of how the realization by many corporations that they can piss a lot of customers off while still making money has changed the way they do business.

This is no different than being unable to return a software package which has licensing terms with which you don't agree. If they make the barrier high enough, most people won't bother, and the companies get to keep their money, despite irritating their customers.

yup.

[Garfunkel]

My parents got the Indiana Jones trilogy for Christmas. I tried to play Raiders on my laptop DVD player with mplayer, and it froze up after about 1-2 minutes while it was displaying the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" title. I thought it was odd and tried again. Died in the same spot. Odd. Put in my parents' console DVD player and at the same spot everything went blue, sound quit and then after about 2-3 seconds it kept going. Definitely a defective disc. Couldn't convince them to take it back though, they decided they could live with that little glitch.

I thought it was just videotapes...

[Anonymous Coward]

I noticed this with recent purchases of videotapes. The older ones worked fine, so doesn't seem to be the fault of any of my machines. I wondered whether the quality deterioration was intentional to push people towards digital, or just not caring anymore (people left for digital, not the same profit/volume in videotapes). So, I'm actually glad to hear this quality deterioration isn't limited to just tapes.

Hey, maybe it's a conspiracy so people will buy downloaded services :)