Disney Disposable DVDs debut today

[gmatov]

When you do run it, check to see if it is macro'd, or whatever protection scheme they might have used.

Tight as they are, why pay the quarter or whatever if it dies in 2 days.

I think that red is supposed to turn black, sometime after 48 hours. I mean it has to last at least that long, if it's a 48 hour license.

If you're allowed to copy a backup for your owned disks, but not to decrypt them, if they're not encrypted we're home free, at 7 bucks for new releases, if they are new releases.

George

[gmatov]

Sorry to post again, but I type slow.

That would be like saying you can't back up your VHS tape and use it if the original tape breaks. Gotta throw them both away.

Hell, the DVD Gestapo knocks on your door, show them your original, act surprised it no longer works.

Probably won't save your ass, but worth a try.

George

[leebo]

The advantage to the disposable DVD format known as EZ-D is that such discs can be sold anywhere and never need to be returned, potentially making any retailer a competitor with Blockbuster Inc.

The advantage for who? Unfortunatly (for Disney) most people don't purchase items because of it's advantages to the store.

And to answer someone else's question: No, they don't ever learn when greed is a factor.

[LanEvo7]

So then whats the point of a backup? A backup, by definition, is made incase the original becomes un-usable...

I think the point of the backup is so you use the backup, not the original. So if you screw up the backup, you just burn a new back up. Of course you are only legally allowed to have one backup for each title you own.

[dvdnew]

www.ez-d.com, while an actual website, does not yet have anything on it about these disks. Apparently the folks at msnbc.com did not check this before putting it in their article.

If I go to www.ez-d.com then I'm forwarded to http://video.movies.go.com/ez-d/ and there is a FAQ, titles available, places to buy, recycle centers, etc.

[FOO]

The one I got has CSS
dunno about Macrovision

[mkelley]

To play devil's advocate here to the thread I started, I think the idea is that most of the test market places don't want to deal with returns and the whole overhead of the rental business (credit card and ID verification, etc.). This way they can get into the DVD business easily.

The one problem with this scenerio is the price -- as others have noted here, DVD prices are often at the $10 mark or so, and rental prices are often way below this target price. This thing *might* have a chance in hell of working if they had priced it at, oh, maybe $1 or so. That might have even seriously hurt rentals.

As it is I suspect the biggest thing we'll see is a whole lot of retailers giving up after the public (who, let's face it, are dumb as dirt) start returning these things when they no longer play. How many people will realize these disks self-destruct? Is this *prominently* marked on the DVD? (And I mean in big huge honking red letters about the warning state of getting cancer or radiation). Otherwise the hundreds that cause headaches to the stores will cause this to go down the tubes much quicker than Divx.

But I have zero interest in these things -- even at $1 they would never be a thread to Netflix, the only rental scheme I enjoy.

[The village idiot]

Damn! I wish I was near a test market.

I wonder how much you could get by selling it on Ebay.... After the time runs out.

[spiderman2k1]

DIVX was a better idea. Then this 48 hour DVD's. It would be a better Idea to lower the price down to $4.00 buck's then it can take off. The only way I would buy one of these DVD if some thing was not out on real DVD. And I do have a right to make one back up if I own it.

[Skynet107]

DIVX was a better idea.

eeeesh if Divx was a better idea then that does not bode well for this project.

[CrustyCurmudgeon]

Available at:
Austin, TX
7-Eleven
FYE
Hastings
HEB
Sam Goody
Suncoast
Toys R Us
Walgreens

Peoria/Bloomington, IL
Cub Foods
CVS
Pamida
Sam Goody
Speedway
Toys R Us
Walgreens

Charleston, SC
BI-LO
Circle K
CVS
FYE
Phillips 66
Sam Goody
Toys R Us
Walgreens
Winn Dixie

Kansas City, KS/MO
Circle K
Dillons Food Store
FYE
Kwik Shop
Nebraska Furniture Mart
Pamida
Phillips 66
Sam Goody
Suncoast
Toys R Us
Walgreens


Titles:
The Recruit
Signs
The Hot Chick
Frida
25th Hour
Equilibrium
Heaven
Rabbit-Proof Fence

[Alan69]

Can't wait to see this one cracked..

Anyone know what the reaction is for sure yet? Will be great if you can stick it in a bag, add your favorite chemical for a little shake and bake to make a different compound, and have a DVD that will no longer degrade or at least last for years. Whatever it is has to be clear enough to start with, and readily forms the darker compound with oxygen. Somewhat likely something else it would react with that wouldn't turn black.. I think it's time to go hunting on the patent servers.

Or a reader that can see into the blackness, a 'normal' player not reading means little if the dots can still be gotten somehow.

Won't be surprised if it takes off. $6.99 retail, even at $5 it'll be some competition because if you're in Wall Mart it saves a trip to Blockbuster and return trip. Drops to $1.99 en masse and it'll likely kill video stores, don't know if they'd let it go that far might even hurt the box office then.

I HOPE it takes off, no doubt there will be some way to get around the 48 hour limit even without making a backup. Heck shave the disc all the way to the dots themselves and read it as surface specular reflection even if the black is all the way through. There will be some way to read it, and you bought it so you own it. No way they can say 'It's illegal for you to spill mustard on this disc and interfere with our right to make it become unusable.."
Of course no doubt the DMCA says it is already. You did all notice the part about no longer being able to distribute carbon dioxide molecules freely? Every time you exhale you're breaking the law, if they catch you you'll never be released from prision..

Alan

[ebenton]

www.ez-d.com, while an actual website, does not yet have anything on it about these disks. Apparently the folks at msnbc.com did not check this before putting it in their article.

If I go to www.ez-d.com then I'm forwarded to http://video.movies.go.com/ez-d/ and there is a FAQ, titles available, places to buy, recycle centers, etc.

You're right! That's where the link took me today on my PC at work. Last night, at home, the same link took me to one of those sites that sells domain names, and my browser address window read, "http://www.ez-d.com". Go figure.

[ebenton]

www.ez-d.com, while an actual website, does not yet have anything on it about these disks. Apparently the folks at msnbc.com did not check this before putting it in their article.

If I go to www.ez-d.com then I'm forwarded to http://video.movies.go.com/ez-d/ and there is a FAQ, titles available, places to buy, recycle centers, etc.

That's weird.. If I click on your link which reads,"www.ez-d.com", I get forwarded to the site you mentioned. But if I click on the link in the original post, which reads,"http://www.ez-d.com" I go to a site that sells domain names..

[ebenton]

OK, I figured it out. The original link in you_are_alive's post somehow had the period at the end of the sentence as part of the link. This is a bad link and takes you to the site that sells domain names.

[FOO]

I think it's stupid to price these things at $7 for 2 days when
a rental costs half and lasts for a week.

The next experiment is find a way to remove the coating.

[bayaraa_us]

This whole idea sounds like "Weapons of Mass Destruction" or "Chemical Weapon".

I would never buy these for my own and my families safety.

[FOO]

The only thing at risk here is your financial safety

[mkelley]

Foo,

I still think that since you're participating in this experiment, you ought to try returning that disk you bought once it stops playing. Say something like "Hey, this disk is defective and I want my money back!" and see what happens.

Truly I believe this will be the death knoll for this stupid scheme -- as a grandfather I can tell you for certain kids won't understand why they can't watch the movie they've already seen 20 times in the last three days again. Unless they actually make you sign something that says you understand it won't work after a few days I don't see how any disclaimer is going to prevent the mass anger from parents and other unaware adults.

[FOO]

I'm not sure I could keep a straight face.
I ought to be tried because there is nothing on this package
that obviously indicates "no return after 48 hours"

What's going to happen is that the clerks will know but will have a problem
proving it without explicit statements. The stores will frequently
accomodate crazy customers just because it's easier.

[leebo]

Foo, would you mind scanning the package (both sides) and posting it?

[The village idiot]

You try returning maybe after polish and whatever else happens

Red color and turns black with oxygene. Have to do some digging later. Sounds like an iron compound, but that would kind of get in the way of the light. Got to be more of a dye like color change.

OK, who here is a a good University. Maybe with a friend in the Chemistry program? MAybe someone that has access to a spectrophotometer, and a few other tools.

I remember reading that one of the schemes used a substance to way applied with a coating. And that you could re-enable the disk by putting new "stuff" on it. And I thought they said it had a red color to it, and then turned black with O2. There is a link somewhere in the old thread on this subject.

[FOO]

OK

I guess you need to tell me how to load an image. I read and
executed the instructions in front of my face here with a 39K jpg
and nothing happens.

[digitalmaster]

Sounds like an easy way for them to make money. You are at the supermarket and the kids are getting on your nerves, and you do not want them spending an hour in blockbuster deciding what they want. So you grab a kids movie or 2 right there for 5 or 10 dollars and you are all set. For at least a few hours. Since rentals at the blockbuster by me are 4 dollars or 3 for 10, it is definitely worth the two extra bucks, instead of struggling with the kids for another hour at blockbuster.
Another scenario: You worked late and Blockbuster is closed. You stop at the 7-11 for something to eat and a DVD.
Also, this way a store can have rentals without having a rental section and being called a rental store, and not have to deal with people complaining about them not having a movie or getting them to return the movies.

[leebo]

If I understand correctly, type . Then click the Browse button and direct it to your pic. Then click submit.

[Dj Petro]

It definitely would seem more of an impluse buy than anything else. You know... right up in the front by the register. Oh, The Recruit, I haven't seen that yet and I don't wanna go to (insert movie rental place here) and spend time looking there. I will just get it here.

I don't see people seeking out them on the shelves in the store. I figure they may sell as an impluse buy if they had just new releases up at the counter.

Then what about ratings? "Hey I'm sorry kid, you can't buy that girls gone wild DVD here at the Walgreens". Obviously you couldn't sell R rated movies to the youngsters. So the clerks would have to check even more IDs. Soon everyone will have to have their ID checked before they leave the store with anything.

7 bucks is just too short for such a small lifespan. How many times have you stopped a movie and finished it up a few days later. Can't with those disks... you better watch it all at once or you will miss the ending.

Lets see that artwork...?

[FOO]

[FOO]

...and the other side

[FOO]

Doesn't scan well due to reflective nature.

[i_am_dave]

How about snapping a quick picture and posting so we can all look at it?

EDIT: Nevermind, you beat me to it!