Yet Another Company Tries Disposable DVDs, Despite A Looooong List Of Failed Predecessors
from the anything-different-this-time-around? dept
Lots of folks may remember DIVX, the massively overhyped self-destructing DVDs from Circuit City that failed back in 1999. But what fewer people realize is that this terrible and wasteful idea shows up every couple of years. And each time, it fails miserably. In 2001 some no name company claimed that it was doing disposable DVDs correctly, claiming they had learned from the failures of DIVX. Turns out, they hadn't. Then in 2003, Disney acted as if the idea was entirely brand new and got everyone excited about disposable DVDs that would self-destruct. Guess what? That failed too when no one bought them (amusingly, Disney duped a Reuters reporter into claiming there was "exploding interest" in disposable DVDs at the same time that stores were literally throwing the discs away). In 2005, Disney sold off the technology to some other company who insisted that they were going to do it "right" and there would be a huge market for these discs. Heard anything about them since? Me neither.So here we are in 2008, and reader Nick Burns alerts us to the news of a German company excitedly entering this market with a product that sounds almost identical to the Disney version (using a chemical that renders the content unreadable in 48-hours). Somehow, even with a German accent, I don't see this latest attempt having much of a chance. It's not too difficult to understand why: nothing about a disposable self-destructing DVD adds value for the end-user.
![Hide This Hide this](https://ii.techdirt.com/s/t/i/topclose.png)
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: disposable dvds, divx, germany, self-destructing dvds
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Do it right.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This would only benefit a few people.
It's a very easy thing to do, if you know where to find the tools. Most people don't do this because they either don't have the technical skill to properly use the tools, or simply don't know where to find them.
So yea, it'll fail again.
EtG
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I'm working on a chemical myself...
Just kidding. How many times to people have to fail at this before they realize that nobody wants it?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Iceland has 'em
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DivX
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: DivX
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That way they can add to the plastic bottle armada.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I thought they were disposable
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Maybe
For example, using them as a promo would be an effective DRM.
If they wanted to sell directly, anything more than a netflix rental or on demand download is a non starter.
They could make a living from these by but a paradigm change NO.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Do it right.
P.S. Mike, I thought that the DIVX DVD's were DRM'ed, in the way that we all dread thinking about today, to specific players that could handle the disks and that you had to get a confirmation code to play them more than the set number of times. It's been almost 10 years but I don't remember truly disposable DVD's becoming a reality until around 2003 or so.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Maybe
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Waste...
Instead of arguing whether this technology will work or be accepted, let's argue about how bad it is for the environment. As much as people may hate Blockbuster or Netflix, at least their customers recycle DVD's by returning them to the rental company.
I think we should boycott any company that promotes "disposable" anything. Instead, we should be encouraging companies who promote re-usable products.
As an aside, downloadable movies and TV shows are even better for the environment since there's not even a disc involved!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Waste...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Self destructive?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
It would work...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Yeah.. $1.00
[ link to this | view in thread ]
destroyed by chemical?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No market for disposable movies
[ link to this | view in thread ]