wessman
November 16th, 2002, 10:44 AM
Comment: Another waste of plastic.
I can see the pros of this venture: no more video rental late fees; no more renting scratched up and dirty DVDs. But the cons are far greater: video store make the most profit off those late fees, so watch stores close; 8 hours is fine if you plan to watch the movie once, but what if you rent a movie that you'd like to watch several times over the course of two nights?; just another absolute waste of plastic, adding yet another non-biodegradeable piece to the jump pile; and frankly, if accepted by the naive majority, it is a dangerous path straight to media companies controlling what and how we what movies and listen to music, hence soaking even more money from our paychecks, forcing us to hack more and buy less, forcing more legal wrangling, and continuing the damn vicious cycle.
In Stores Soon: Perishable DVDs
from the CONSUME dept.
posted by michael on Thursday November 14, @08:53 (music)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/11/14/1246214
Makarand writes "Technology that renders optical media useless after a short lifespan will soon find its way [1]into stores in the form of perishable DVDs. Retailers in the Southern United States will soon start giving a sample DVD to buyers of a CD (by Nappy Roots, a hip-hop group). This promotional DVD from Atlantic Records will work for only 8 hours. This promotion is aimed at finding if music fans would be interested in buying a package with both audio and video instead of just plain audio. A special dye sandwiched between the layers of the DVD will interact with air making it opaque and unreadable later. If this media catches on you may not have to return your DVD rentals in the future." We noted this [2]2.5 years ago.
Links:
1. http://nytimes.com/2002/11/14/technology/circuits/14disc.html
2. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/01/20/1229205&tid=97
November 14, 2002
The Perishable DVD as Musical Taste Test
By DAVID J. WALLACE
A MAJOR record label will give music fans a chance this month to judge whether music DVD's might become the medium of choice over CD's. But listeners will need to make up their minds in a hurry: like the taped orders in "Mission: Impossible," the DVD's will self-destruct - or be rendered useless, anyway - soon after they are played.
In the promotion by Atlantic Records, retailers in the southern United States will offer a free sample DVD to buyers of a CD by Nappy Roots, a hip-hop group. Once the packaging is opened, the disc will work for only eight hours before being made unreadable by a dye sandwiched between the DVD's layers that interacts with air, leaving it opaque.
The limited-use technology was developed by a New York company, Flexplay. With a maximum life span of 60 hours, such optical media has been a solution in search of a problem. Originally envisioned as a way to protect software, the technology was then offered to movie studios and other users concerned about piracy. This year, such discs were given to the press at the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America in Miami and to promote the James Bond movie "Die Another Day."
As a promotional device, said Alan Blaustein, Flexplay's chief executive, the self-destructing discs may have found their niche - while more generally establishing the potential of DVD's. "By getting the consumer away from thinking of music as a three-minute single but thinking of it as a whole package that includes audio and video, they get the customer to purchase the DVD-oriented format," he said.
The 10-minute disc is intended to pique the listener's interest in a 47-minute DVD, "The World According to Nappy," which includes performance video, interviews, links, selections from the group's CD "Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz" and two additional tracks. The DVD has a list price of $14.98 but is available on the Web for $9.99.
Sales of music DVD's are far below those of music CD's - and, like the Nappy Roots effort, they are largely intended as a complement to a CD release rather than as an alternative format. But as record companies try to find ways to revive lagging album sales, consumers can expect to see DVD's become more prominent, said James Lopez, vice president for urban marketing at Atlantic Records.
"There's a long way to go to close that gap, but slowly and surely the industry will," he said.
But the promotional disc's limited life span may upset consumers who have definite ideas of ownership and unlimited use once they buy CD's, DVD's and other software, said P. J. McNealy, research director of the consulting firm Gartner G2. Consumers also are adept at distinguishing top-quality content from material not good enough for the finished product. "Unless there's stunningly tremendous additional content," Mr. McNealy said, "consumers may not warm to it."
Another issue that may inhibit producers from taking advantage of the limited-use discs is the absence of digital protection. For the disc's life span, its contents can still be copied and reproduced.
Flexplay's main competitor, Spectradisc of Providence, R.I., is focused on the movie business. Nabil Lawandy, its founder and chief executive, said the limited-use discs might serve as an alternative format for movie viewing in hotels or airports by travelers who don't want to deal with returning rentals. Consumers might also welcome a tiered approach to rentals, with cheaper, single-viewing sessions, he said.
Copyright The New York Times Company
I can see the pros of this venture: no more video rental late fees; no more renting scratched up and dirty DVDs. But the cons are far greater: video store make the most profit off those late fees, so watch stores close; 8 hours is fine if you plan to watch the movie once, but what if you rent a movie that you'd like to watch several times over the course of two nights?; just another absolute waste of plastic, adding yet another non-biodegradeable piece to the jump pile; and frankly, if accepted by the naive majority, it is a dangerous path straight to media companies controlling what and how we what movies and listen to music, hence soaking even more money from our paychecks, forcing us to hack more and buy less, forcing more legal wrangling, and continuing the damn vicious cycle.
In Stores Soon: Perishable DVDs
from the CONSUME dept.
posted by michael on Thursday November 14, @08:53 (music)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/11/14/1246214
Makarand writes "Technology that renders optical media useless after a short lifespan will soon find its way [1]into stores in the form of perishable DVDs. Retailers in the Southern United States will soon start giving a sample DVD to buyers of a CD (by Nappy Roots, a hip-hop group). This promotional DVD from Atlantic Records will work for only 8 hours. This promotion is aimed at finding if music fans would be interested in buying a package with both audio and video instead of just plain audio. A special dye sandwiched between the layers of the DVD will interact with air making it opaque and unreadable later. If this media catches on you may not have to return your DVD rentals in the future." We noted this [2]2.5 years ago.
Links:
1. http://nytimes.com/2002/11/14/technology/circuits/14disc.html
2. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/01/20/1229205&tid=97
November 14, 2002
The Perishable DVD as Musical Taste Test
By DAVID J. WALLACE
A MAJOR record label will give music fans a chance this month to judge whether music DVD's might become the medium of choice over CD's. But listeners will need to make up their minds in a hurry: like the taped orders in "Mission: Impossible," the DVD's will self-destruct - or be rendered useless, anyway - soon after they are played.
In the promotion by Atlantic Records, retailers in the southern United States will offer a free sample DVD to buyers of a CD by Nappy Roots, a hip-hop group. Once the packaging is opened, the disc will work for only eight hours before being made unreadable by a dye sandwiched between the DVD's layers that interacts with air, leaving it opaque.
The limited-use technology was developed by a New York company, Flexplay. With a maximum life span of 60 hours, such optical media has been a solution in search of a problem. Originally envisioned as a way to protect software, the technology was then offered to movie studios and other users concerned about piracy. This year, such discs were given to the press at the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America in Miami and to promote the James Bond movie "Die Another Day."
As a promotional device, said Alan Blaustein, Flexplay's chief executive, the self-destructing discs may have found their niche - while more generally establishing the potential of DVD's. "By getting the consumer away from thinking of music as a three-minute single but thinking of it as a whole package that includes audio and video, they get the customer to purchase the DVD-oriented format," he said.
The 10-minute disc is intended to pique the listener's interest in a 47-minute DVD, "The World According to Nappy," which includes performance video, interviews, links, selections from the group's CD "Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz" and two additional tracks. The DVD has a list price of $14.98 but is available on the Web for $9.99.
Sales of music DVD's are far below those of music CD's - and, like the Nappy Roots effort, they are largely intended as a complement to a CD release rather than as an alternative format. But as record companies try to find ways to revive lagging album sales, consumers can expect to see DVD's become more prominent, said James Lopez, vice president for urban marketing at Atlantic Records.
"There's a long way to go to close that gap, but slowly and surely the industry will," he said.
But the promotional disc's limited life span may upset consumers who have definite ideas of ownership and unlimited use once they buy CD's, DVD's and other software, said P. J. McNealy, research director of the consulting firm Gartner G2. Consumers also are adept at distinguishing top-quality content from material not good enough for the finished product. "Unless there's stunningly tremendous additional content," Mr. McNealy said, "consumers may not warm to it."
Another issue that may inhibit producers from taking advantage of the limited-use discs is the absence of digital protection. For the disc's life span, its contents can still be copied and reproduced.
Flexplay's main competitor, Spectradisc of Providence, R.I., is focused on the movie business. Nabil Lawandy, its founder and chief executive, said the limited-use discs might serve as an alternative format for movie viewing in hotels or airports by travelers who don't want to deal with returning rentals. Consumers might also welcome a tiered approach to rentals, with cheaper, single-viewing sessions, he said.
Copyright The New York Times Company