Hey Tom,
Maybe we should clue this angry reviewer on to our thread here. His article from DavisDVD follows:
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Nevertheless, the disposable DVD is on its way. Let me first bring you up to speed on the EZ-D, just in case you hadn't heard of this great "innovation." Developed by Flexplay Technologies, the EZ-D is a no frills movie-only rental DVD which, once removed from its packaging, can be viewed for only 48 hours. The disc - you see - undergoes a chemical reaction once exposed to air and becomes unreadable by a DVD player's laser beam. And just so you know your disc has gone "bad," it conveniently turns from red to black. Then you just throw it away.
So why futz with the good old DVD format? Well, apparently some seem to think that renters hate returning their movies and that the best way to skip this part of the renting process is to make the disc self-destruct. Buena Vista Home Video bought into this, and they will begin rolling out the first wave of EZ-Ds on Tuesday.
To me, this just smells like Divx all over again. You remember Divx, don't you. Developed by Circuit City and a California law firm, Digital Video Express was a bare-bones DVD that was usable for 48 hours, after which it locked up. Further two-day viewings were possible by unlocking the disc with a charge on your credit card. Thankfully, Divx died a miserable death. Now we have the EZ-D and more crap to clog up landfills. Flexplay says that the EZ-D can be recycled, but if someone is too damn lazy to return a movie, are they really going to make the effort to recycle a disc? The DVD format has been a monster success, so leave well enough alone. Settle on a high definition DVD format instead of wasting your time developing a throw-away disc."
