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Disney's Disposable DVDs Deemed Duds
An anonymous reader writes "It looks like disposable DVD's are headed the way of the dodo bird. Consumers (ahem, customers) in several markets are rejecting the $7 self destructing flexplay discs. Some stores have decided to stop selling. According to the stores, 'Customers aren't interested in paying more than $6 for a limited-play DVD when they can pay $2 at the video store. Even with a $2 late fee, it's cheaper than buying a disposable DVD.' and 'he hasn't seen one customer purchase an EZ-D, though some of them have been shoplifted out of the store.'"
For those who missed the DivX fiasco the first time.
Agreed, DIVX, Circuit City's ill conceived, crappy limited-play DVD format - that offered inexpensive DVDs that could be watched for 48 hours from the initial viewing. There after you could pay to watch it again, or buy lifetime on the disk. However, even it you had lifetime on your disk it was tied to your player, so a friend with a DIVX player would have to pay to watch your disk.
What I really hate about Disney DVD's is how they force sub-titles on so you have to read the crappy songs, well that and the fact that they pull titles from the market, so they can re-release them years later.
First off, what video store costs only $2?! Its more like $4-5 here in Boston.
And second, I don't see how any of these models (rental, disposable for $6, etc) can compete with Netflix, other than if you happen to need the movie right away (and how often is that the case?) Right now I average about 12 movies per month on Netflix, all for $20! And the foreign and independent selections is *far* better than at local video stores.
Ok, I'm a fanboy...
my religion lies somewhere between buddhism and super monkey ball - pamphlet?
From the website: How Does it work?
Party?!? What kind of party is this? Where's the damn keg?
Virtus Junxit Mors Non Separabit
I love it when stupid crap like this fails in such a humiliatingly fatalistic fashion. It makes me think maybe we aren't turning into a nation of sissies after all. Since when did renting a movie and returning it to the video store become such a traumatic experience?
They'd probably do well if they were 99 cents instead of $7.
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
That's because you go to Hollywood and Blockbuster.
Go to a mom and pop next time.
They need your rental love more than Blockbuster's "popular titles only" does.
actually that's not true. The degradation is caused by a chamical reactuion with oxygen in the air, not by the read laser, so they can be watched as much as you want, for about 2 days.
It depends on your DVD player if you can skip them or not. You aren't supposed to be able to, but certain players ignore parts of the DVD Standard.
Software players are the best at skipping non-skippable content. In Windows I use PowerDVD and it will skip over the FBI warnings, Previews, and damn near anything except menus.
In Linux I use Xine, and it will skip over EVERYTHING. I can fastforward through animated menus if I want to.
I wouldn't buy a 'disposable' DVD because it's disposable. We don't need millions of disposable DVDs ending up in landfills like so many AOL promo CDs. It wouldnt matter if they were recyclable, cause nobody bothers, and they definately aren't compostable. (everthing is biodegradable, given the correct environment. even plastic.) Corporations don't make good citezens.
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One thing that a lot of people may not realize is how these were set up in the test markets. In Austin, they were in the supermarket, right next to the candy and magazines in the check-out line. When you rent from Blockbuster, netflix, etc., you say "I want to rent a movie, what should I get?" The retailers of the EZ-D were counting on the blind impulsiveness of the american consumer, who says - "ooh, shiny! Whats anther $7 on top of my $200 of corn dogs?" Fortunately, we weren't that stupid.
"What the masochist doesn't know can't hurt him."
Well not exactly true. You do get to watch it as many times as you want, during the "good disk" period. But after that, you just throw it away.
Now that all being said, I think that the EZ-D format had it's place. It allowed places like the gas station to sell disks. HOWEVER, they were on the pricy side. Make them $5, and then you might have something. I think it was not a horrible idea, just one that was not quite done right.
It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
1) There is still a "digital divide". Not everyone has or wants a computer with web access at home; unfortunately this is usually for financial reasons. Netflix is not a viable option for them.
This is true, but the numbers you'd be talking about are exceedingly small and getting smaller all the time. Everybody has access to a computer somewhere, even if it's at their local library (even that's extreme, though; most people have PC's at work, at least). And Netflix is very low-maintenance once you've used it the first time - you seem to be under the impression that you need to be constantly picking out movies. You don't. Even new releases can be ordered months in advance (often while they're still in theaters), and Netflix will just ship them to you as soon as they get them.
2) People want to be able to pick up a movie on the way home from work on Friday night. They don't want to have to plan spontaneous movie night a week in advance (to account for shipping time).
I can tell from this that you haven't used Netflix. If you want a particular movie on a particular date, then yes, you have to ask for it in advance. But the whole point of Netflix is that you always have movies to watch. They send you three, you watch them whenever you want, you send them back whenever you want and they instantly send you more depending on what you've queued up. The only time you get stuck without a movie on the weekend is if you're too lazy to drop your already watched discs in the mailbox - which is less effort than going to Blockbuster on Friday.
For most working people I know, this means they watch a couple movies on the weekend, send them back on Monday, and usually by Wednesday they have new movies to watch, without doing anything at all but opening up the cover of a mailbox and dropping a couple envelopes in.
3) New releases can be had the day of release at Blockbuster. With Netflix, you're lucky to get it a week later. Not a big deal for the patient, but some people want it ASAP.
More like a day later. Which means the same weekend, since new releases generally come out on Tuesday. I've never had a problem getting any new release I want from Netflix (granted, I'm not usually big on new releases; I don't really care that much... so I'm not saying you'd never have a problem, just that I haven't personally).
4) Not everyone rents enough movies every month to make the $20 worthwhile.
This is really the only thing you've mentioned that I think would be valid for any real quantity of potential customers. But I don't think those people are really better served by Blockbuster anyway, because they're not the kind of people that make it a habit of going to the video store - which means they'll probably rack up late fees on any movies they do rent. This is what ultimately convinced me - I'd rent like one movie a month and rack up the rental fee ($4.32 with tax) plus usually about $10 in late fees. I figured, one movie for $15, I may as well either just buy it, or go with Netflix and spend another $5 to get 10-15 more movies. I now watch a hell of a lot more movies and pay hardly any more money.
It's no coincidence, I think, that Blockbuster's really losing money lately while Netflix has turned profitable. It's really a great service that works exactly the way I'd want a DVD rental service to work. And it made EZD's obsolete before they even hit the market.
It's well-documented. Frequent renters get throttled back when selecting rarer ("more expensive") discs. Google is your friend.
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(Be forewarned: IANAL.) Thou are buying a license to watch for 48 hours, no more. You do not own the DATA -- simply the right to watch it.
So, yes... your backup would be legal -- provided you only watched the movie off of it during the 48 hour period. Otherwise, you are not legally in possession of the right to watch it.
I'm pretty sure PowerDVD doesn't let you skip FBI warnings by itself - but if you're running something like DVD Region Free then you can skip anything you like in any player (and, unless you were really unlucky in your choice of DVD-Rom drive, play any region DVDs without a region change).
I'm pretty sure PowerDVD didn't let me skip the FBI warnings until I installed Region Free ... but I could be wrong, it was a long time ago..
"Why are you watching the washing machine?"
"I love entertainment, as long as it's clean"