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Microsoft Invents A 'Play-Once Only' DVD

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the they-called-this-divx-didn't-they? dept.

auckland map writes "Microsoft has developed a cheap, disposable pre-recorded DVD disc that consumers can play only once." From the article: " Buying an ordinary DVD of a new film costs between £15 (E22, $26.40) and £20. Microsoft's new disc will enable the studios to release a "play-once, then throw away" copy for as little as £3, much the same as renting a video or DVD. But unlike a rented DVD, the new disc allows consumers to decide when they watch films and there is no need to return it. The new generation of DVD disc will spearhead a fresh assault by Microsoft on the home-entertainment market." Update: 10/06 03:38 GMT by J : Kinda important to read the followup story.

22 of 740 comments (clear)

  1. Here we go again... by Kelson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Haven't we gone through this already? How many times have businesses floated this concept over the last couple of years? What on earth makes them think consumers will want self-destructing DVDs this time?

    1. Re:Here we go again... by stoolpigeon · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's like watching a fly repeatedly run into a glass window. I can only guess that these companies can't help themselves any more than the fly.

      --
      It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    2. Re:Here we go again... by PoprocksCk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Great! We give an undesirable product to the consumers, *and* we create more waste for our communities! Two birds with one stone! Thank you, Microsoft, once again you've come up with a practical, *innovative* solution that works well for everyone. More power to the consumer.

      By the way, I'm *being* sarcastic... (well duh!)

    3. Re:Here we go again... by IWorkForMorons · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Uh...so what happens when you want to rewatch that last part because the phone rang? Or you forgot the popcorn? Or because your roommate was talking through that last part? Or because you missed something at the beginning that was really important to the ending? Or you watched the movie but your roommate wants to watch it when they get home from work? I can do all that if I rent a movie...

    4. Re:Here we go again... by bluephone · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I think you're missing the point. It's not that Microsoft is or is not stupid, it's that self-destructing DVDs have been made before, and flopped each time. They allowed the consumer to chose WHEN they watched it, but still only worked for a very short period of time, and were to be disposable as well. It didn't work not because it wasn't Microsoft, it didn't work becaus epeople didn't WANT it. The market said "no thanks". And frankly, MS is not the world's smartest company. They have good PR, and deep pockets with which they can engage in a war of attrition against their competitors to win with inferior products. The issue here is that if people don't buy disposable DVDs to start with, there's no market for MS to take over.

      And I'll go ahead and be redundant here too. This is just ANOTHER case of MS taking someone else's idea, slapping the word "innovation" on it, and thrusting it out the door, and a few people think it'll fly THIS time because MS is behind it.

      --
      jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
    5. Re:Here we go again... by AaronCampbell · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not to mention, how many people rent a DVD, watch it, and then tell their friend "That was a GREAT movie...you HAVE to come over and watch it." They then procede to watch the DVD a second time. Something you can't do with a Self-Destructing DVD.

      And what about this. You get a call on the phone mid movie...get up and get the phone, and forget to pause the movie. Now you want to re-watch the part you missed. Can you?

      What about special features? Such as deleted scenes, gag reels, games, etc? How many times can you watch those? I know some DVDs like National Treasure have quite involved little games on them.

      What about a power outage? The power goes out 1/2 way through a movie. What happens? Is the thing dead? Does half of it still work?

      Seems to me that they still have a lot of questions to answer.

      --
      Surviving America
    6. Re:Here we go again... by badasscat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But netflix takes time. I sent my movies back yesterday, and I won't have my new ones until tomorrow. If you want the movie today (or don't want to subscribe to a service or sign a blockbuster rental agreement), the disposable disc is a good option.

      Gotta explain that one to me.

      First of all, how many DVD's can you watch in a day? Unless you don't work or go to school (in other words, you just sit on your ass all day), I can't see how you'd watch 3 movies in one day and then have nothing left to watch. I (like most people) am lucky if I get through 3 DVD's in a week! And I just send them back as I watch, so I always have one or two new DVD's on the pile.

      Second, the point of Netflix isn't speed, it's convenience. Sometimes people mistake one for the other, but they are not the same thing. I can put a DVD into my mailbox and magically, through the wonders of the US Postal Service, another one appears there in the same spot 2 days later. I don't need to go one inch out of my way or spend one single minute downloading or otherwise dealing with my movies. The whole point is I don't have to go out and buy or rent anything. Otherwise I'd just go to Blockbuster in the first place, so a disposable disc isn't going to help me any.

      I'll stick with netflix, but some people will be better served by this method.

      "Some" people will be served by almost anything. But what is your definition of "some"? Is three people a "some"? Is that enough to sustain a business? What about 10,000? 50,000? 100,000?

      It doesn't matter that there are "some" people out there that would like this. I think it's been proven time and time again that most people have decided that they don't, or wouldn't. There are not nearly enough people interested in this to make it viable.

      That's not even taking into account the fact that rental stores have no incentive to carry these things because they cut out a major source of revenue (even BB's "no late fees" promotion really has late fees... you pay $25 or whatever for the movie if you keep it out too long, then a restocking fee if you finally return it), and force them to continuously buy new inventory. Retailers that deal in sales only have little incentive either because the margins are so low. Would you rather sell discs that carry a profit of $5 per unit or discs that carry a profit of 50 cents per disc? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

      And of course, there's the incompatibility thing, which basically makes the whole format a non-starter to begin with.

      This is at least the third time this has been tried and both previous attempts (that I know of) failed utterly and spectactularly.

      (Any other attempts would also have been failures; I just don't know about them if they occurred.)

    7. Re:Here we go again... by el+americano · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That was my first thought before RTFA too.

      "The revolutionary product could be on the market as early as next year, with the new DVD players needed to view them."

      Sounds like your PC won't be able to play-it-once(TM). The protection is a DRM that requires a special player and probably an internet connection to their servers to get it started. So, as if this wasn't a bad enough idea, now there's the cost of a new player to offset the cheaper DVD advantage. I think MS knows that people won't be thrilled to have a DVD that isn't broken or worn out, but just crippled by our entertainment overlords. However, that shouldn't stop them from selling it to Hollywood. (Sammy baby, it'll be huge. It's the next big thing!)

      I also think they want to get there DRM solution out there as quick as possible.

      They've said, "...only Microsoft could solve [Hollywood's] piracy problem by making its DRM software a standard across every home entertainment playback and recording device."

      Sound familiar? Control the standard and you lock in the revenue. Here we go again, indeed.

      P.S. If you want a cheaper, limited-use DVD now, just buy one, watch it, and sell it on Ebay! Who needs Microsoft for that?

      --
      Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others. -Groucho Marx
  2. Already here by robertjw · · Score: 5, Funny

    Already got this - it's called Netflix. You just throw it away in any mailbox.

    --
    Find coupons in Greeley
  3. Another kind of assault... by soft_guy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The new generation of DVD disc will spearhead a fresh assault by Microsoft on the home-entertainment market.

    Not to mention the fresh assault on our landfills that this disc format will make!

    --
    Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
    1. Re:Another kind of assault... by Sri+Ramkrishna · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We should make companies who make disposable products to pay a tax for clean up. Encouraging customers to throw shit away into land fill is irresponsible. One day we will pay for it.

      sri

  4. wait.... by DanGroom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    consumer: "hey, so you can make DVDs for £3. Why are the rest £15?"

  5. Dealing with waste? by Vaevictis666 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The new generation of DVD disc will spearhead a fresh assault by Microsoft on the home-entertainment market.

    So how environmentally friendly are these? If MS is going to be trying to put rental places out of business, do they have a plan for millions of now-useless single-play-DVDs and the associated packaging?

    1. Re:Dealing with waste? by mysqlrocks · · Score: 5, Funny

      do they have a plan for millions of now-useless single-play-DVDs and the associated packaging?

      Yes, they're going to resell them to AOL use to then send out their software on the re-formatted discs. You'll be able to throw the same disc away twice.

      --
      Bradley Holt
  6. Re:"Revolutionary" by SydShamino · · Score: 5, Insightful

    *Watching start of movie*

    *Kid screams out in pain downstairs, having tripped and fell, or been punched by brother, etc.*

    *Run downstairs and deal with them for 30 minutes*

    *Return to view movie again, to find it unable to play again*

    Doh

    --
    It doesn't hurt to be nice.
  7. Re:Play once ? by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hush, hush, Don't tell them!

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  8. obviously... by Gogo0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft Invents A 'Rip-Once Only' DVD

  9. 50 years later... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft developed a "view once" neural movie format that will erase the corresponding contents of your memory after you play a video. This way you won't be able to remember what you saw and copy it to the unprotected and forbidden physical media.

    Microsoft expects to ship its "Amnesia(TM)" DRM technology by the next year. However, the first people who tested it complained that their enjoyment experience was erased too. Microsoft is currently working on a bugfix.

  10. Meanwhile, back in reality-land... by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Microsoft Denies Single-Play DVD Plan

    On Tuesday, Microsoft refuted earlier reports that it plans to introduce single-play DVDs aimed at curbing music piracy. A Microsoft representative told me there is no single play DVD initiative at the company, denying a report that first appeared in "The Business."

    "It appears there is considerable confusion coming from [the] article in The Business about features within Windows Media DRM that allow for single-play of promotional digital materials," a Microsoft spokesperson told me. "This has been an option for content owners to use for some time with the Windows Media format--but not for the MPEG2 format found on DVDs. Windows Media DRM technology allows for a wide range of business models and scenarios, but it's important to realize that this is at the discretion of the content owner to implement and that the market will dictate whether or not these features are compelling enough for consumers to make a purchase."

    --
    "Sufferin' succotash."
  11. Slashdot article WRONG, Microsoft isn't doing this by Overly+Critical+Guy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Surprise, surprise. Sure would be if fact-checking was a requirement of being an editor around here.

    Microsoft Denies Single-Play DVD Plan

    On Tuesday, Microsoft refuted earlier reports that it plans to introduce single-play DVDs aimed at curbing music piracy. A Microsoft representative told me there is no single play DVD initiative at the company, denying a report that first appeared in "The Business."

    "It appears there is considerable confusion coming from [the] article in The Business about features within Windows Media DRM that allow for single-play of promotional digital materials," a Microsoft spokesperson told me. "This has been an option for content owners to use for some time with the Windows Media format--but not for the MPEG2 format found on DVDs. Windows Media DRM technology allows for a wide range of business models and scenarios, but it's important to realize that this is at the discretion of the content owner to implement and that the market will dictate whether or not these features are compelling enough for consumers to make a purchase."

    --
    "Sufferin' succotash."
  12. Why? by t_allardyce · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That second trip to the rental shop to return your DVD is very important for their business. They want you to come back and see something else you want to rent, so why exactly would any rental shop support a product that not only removes that extra trip but also must be replaced all the time, for every bloody title that the shop carries, every time someone rents it. This could only be useful for postal DVD rental which is going to be dead soon. I won't even get started on one-play = one-rip.

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  13. One-Time Viewing by Finsterwald+P+Ogleth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh, yeah, I'm really looking forward to that.

    Me, who sometimes falls asleep watching one..."You mean I have to buy ANOTHER disc?????"

    Ah, and the wonderful coordinating of family viewing times, especially if both you and your spouse want to see it, but can't quite get your schedules worked out. Oh, and one or both falling asleep right about 2/3 through it.

    Oh, yeah this technology will just fly off the shelves. I can't wait...