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It's Now Microsoft's Turn To Offer Self-Destructing DVDs That No One Wants
from the haven't-we-seen-this-before? dept
It's self-destructing DVD deja vu all over again. The idea, first popularized by Circuit City and their failed DIVX idea has been re-attempted numerous times over the past five years... and each time, the company involved thinks they've come up with something brand new, despite a history littered with failures. There were no name companies and big name companies like Disney that all attempt self-destructing DVDs... and all failed miserably. All of them. Miserably. In some cases, it was so bad that store owners were literally throwing them away to clear the shelf-space for something that actually sold. Yet, here we go again -- this time from Microsoft. Rajesh submitted this story talking about Microsoft's new DVD technology that would offer only a single play and then stop working. The article calls it a "revolutionary" product that would somehow "prevent copying and digital piracy." Yeah, the only way it would do that is because no one would actually bother to buy such limited DVDs. They never have in the past (and they've had many, many opportunities), so it's hard to see why they would suddenly start scooping these self-destructing DVDs up. At what point does the industry realize that the solution to the unauthorized copying issue is giving users more of what they want, rather than less by limiting them and treating them as criminals.
Reader Comments
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Seriously
Who in their right mind would buy one of these? Would pay $20 for a movie that you can only watch once. What about a CD? From what I see, this serves no purpose whatsoever. The only possible use would be for an install, but what happens if your computer reformats?
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Re: Seriously
"Would pay $20 for a movie that you can only watch once."
No but I'd pay a dollar. Mmmmmaybe 2.
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Trying for a rental price DVD without the return t
Okay, I'll play Devil's advocate and say that they are aiming for the
people who want to pick up a video but do not want to make a return
trip to the store. Parents of young children would be one example.
They are really trying to compete with rentals. If the price is competitive
with rentals, this would make sense. Disney thought they could charge an
extra $4-5 to eliminate the return trip.
The Netflix solution works because most people pass by a mailbox everyday...
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Re: Trying for a rental price DVD without the retu
...and that's why every single one has failed. Like almost everything in the market, disposable DVDs would sell like hotcakes... if they were priced right.
Ask yourself: would you pick up a disposable copy of that movie you were going to rent anyway if it cost exactly the same as the rental? Why would you not? If it were cheaper? If it were free?
Folks who expound on how they would never buy a disposable DVD are really saying "I would never buy a disposable DVD if it's overpriced," which really isn't all that strong a statement. We can, however, all put odds on the likelyhood that _this_ iteration of the disposable DVDs will continue to be overpriced and not deliver enough value to warrant its continued existence.
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Re: Trying for a rental price DVD without the retu
You are right. In a trial of these at a grocery chain in Texas they were selling the things for 5-6 dollars. No way... But a $1-1.50 price range? I'd sure consider it... Minus the potential damage to the landfills if millions of others started snapping these up.
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No Subject Given
I'd think it would be just an extra reason to hack the DVD and make a (permanent) copy...
I for one would never buy it.
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Actually if Micro$oft is going to
Actually if Micro$oft is going to distribute software this way, they're headed in the right direction. Maybe if they put a couple billion more into research, they'll be able to come up with a DVD that can't be played even once.
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Environmental Carelessness
Surely throwing out consumable digital media is going to create a -lot- of unnecessary rubbish.
This is an age where we should be looking at more environmentally conscious product.
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