EZ-D 48-hour disposable DVD releases

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by larphillips

I prefer these discussions where no one is 'right' or 'wrong' and where the chasim of difference slowly begins to close.

See, there you go again... why can't you see my point? Why can't you just admit you're wrong and I'm right?

I'm just joking... Don't take me seriously...

Peace...

[larphillips]

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."

[Derb]

The Ez-d 48 hour discs should have a piece of c4 attached to them so after they are played & one presses eject on their player BOOOM!! That will show those people for not actually buying the real thing.

[larphillips]

See, that's the thing though, and it is something that Tom and I discussed. There is a market out there for people who don't want to own it. They want to see the movie, on their own schedule, in a portable format, and they don't want to have to worry about it. I don't get the hatred of the format... it doesn't affect our life now, and it may never. It's just another option.

If you drink soda a lot and you love Coca Cola, does it matter at all that Coke introduces a new flavor of Sprite? Will it affect your love of Coke any less? No. Will you try the Sprite? Maybe. Will you like it? Maybe. But the point is you still have your Coke. So why deny or deride the people who have been clamoring for that new flavor of Sprite. They might love it and find that it's what has been lacking in their life. They might hate it, but at least they got a chance to try it. And they might find that as refreshing as that Sprite is, maybe they can identify something lacking in their life... something that only a nice Coke will fulfill.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by larphillips

See, that's the thing though, and it is something that Tom and I discussed. There is a market out there for people who don't want to own it. They want to see the movie, on their own schedule, in a portable format, and they don't want to have to worry about it. I don't get the hatred of the format... it doesn't affect our life now, and it may never. It's just another option.

Exactly. Very well stated, larphillips.

I'm surprised by this comment by the reviewer:

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?

I do believe when garbage makes it to "way stations" (at least), there are machines that "filter out" recyclables from the other garbage to help maximize what we recycle. I don't think these machines do this in an automated fashion or anything. In other words, just because a recyclable item is thrown in the trash it doesn't necessarily mean it won't be recycled at some later point.

Additionally, people who don't return rented DVDs on time aren't necessarily "lazy" in all cases as they might be out of town a lot, etc.

I had no idea EZ-D DVD was _this_ close to actually coming out. I'll have to see if I can find one and try it out.

Peace...

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

I do believe when garbage makes it to "way stations" (at least), there are machines that "filter out" recyclables from the other garbage to help maximize what we recycle. I don't think these machines do this in an automated fashion or anything. In other words, just because a recyclable item is thrown in the trash it doesn't necessarily mean it won't be recycled at some later point.

Additionally, people who don't return rented DVDs on time aren't necessarily "lazy" in all cases as they might be out of town a lot, etc.

I had no idea EZ-D DVD was _this_ close to actually coming out. I'll have to see if I can find one and try it out.

Peace...

Yeah, there is a dirty little secret right now in the world of recycling. The way the system is set up right now, more time, money, resources and energy are used to recycle than to not. I agree it is the way to go, but even if you have trash separation at home (one bin for garbage, one for 'recyclables',) a lot of times they wind up in the same landfill.

I didn't realize that the product was so close to launch either. The only thing that the package mock-up (or is it real?) is missing is a hook for the peg that I'm sure these will be displayed on. Hey, if nothing else, it will be fun to watch the red disc turn black.

Tom, you know what surprised me? How shrill and frantic the reviewer sounded in his article. It made me appreciate the civil and well thought out discussions that occur on this board.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by larphillips

Tom, you know what surprised me? How shrill and frantic the reviewer sounded in his article. It made me appreciate the civil and well thought out discussions that occur on this board.

Yeah, I was rather surprised at that as well. We try to have civil, yet sometimes heated, discussions here but we're not always successful.

Peace...

[Enzian]

That's what I thought too; shrill... the reviewer must have just finished a rant about the evils of EZ-D on his favorite message board, and then proceeded to ctrl-C and ctrl-V it to his editor. Heh.

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by Enzian

That's what I thought too; shrill... the reviewer must have just finished a rant about the evils of EZ-D on his favorite message board, and then proceeded to ctrl-C and ctrl-V it to his editor. Heh.

So you have to wonder why these sites aren't recruiting us for some work... hell, I'm sure we'd ALL love the free review discs.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by larphillips

So you have to wonder why these sites aren't recruiting us for some work...

I know I would NOT make a good reviewer as I would not be objective enough.

Peace...

[Moonraker]

Down with EZ-D!!!!!

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

I know I would NOT make a good reviewer as I would not be objective enough.

Peace...

That's the beauty of doing reviews... there is no need for objectivity. They are all opinion, and if the writer is good enough, your opinion.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by larphillips

That's the beauty of doing reviews... there is no need for objectivity. They are all opinion, and if the writer is good enough, your opinion.

Maybe if we're talking movie reviews, but I think DVD reviews do need objectivity since a DVD reviewer shouldn't "slam" a dts audio track just because they don't like dts. Of course, I know this does happen, but that doesn't mean it's "right".

Peace...

[larphillips]

Well, in that case you are right. You need to be even tempered enough to at least hold your tongue, unless the DTS track is all fucked up.

[Enzian]

That's beside the point, Tom - free review discs!!

You guys know how "objective" I can be... But, for free review discs, I think I could try really hard.

ANyway, I just read a "DVD Review" of The Twin Towers. It was horrible! There were no mention as to the video or audio quality! I mean, what's the point!? It was a 1/3 page slam of the disc because all the extras were meaningless advertising. The guy even went so far as to bring up Tolkein's socialist background, and how the excess commercialism was appalling.

It was in my local newspaper, so maybe I can find a link, but ofen they outsource reviews to the AP or Reuters. I know they get Ebert's reviews from the Sun-Times...

[larphillips]

*shouting towards the heavens, waving arms wildly*
"We are a rich, untapped source of talent here... GREEDY talent!!!! "

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Enzian

That's beside the point, Tom - free review discs!!

Excellent point... Hmmmm... Yeah, I could be a DVD reviewer...

Peace...

[Enzian]

I should've known you guys were at it! I go to edit my post, and there are two, newer posts already... posted.

That's a lotta posting. And a flagrant abuse of the word "post"

[JeffHanawalt]

My habits are these-

I collect movies (over 330 now) so I wouldn't be interested
in EZ-DVD.

I use Netflix, so I wouldn't be interested.

As a collector, I try to see a film I have interest in as soon
as it is released, so I wouldn't be interested.

Part of my collecting hobby is to have the bells and whistles
with the movies on DVD, so I wouldn't be interested.

If it's true that these EZ-DVDs are in the fullscreen mode, I
wouldn't be interested.

If you have to pay more money than a regular rental fee to
get a semi-release of a film, I don't see how anybody would
be interested in EZ-DVD.

I was surprised to read that rental stores collect more than
10 percent of their revenue on late fees. Hey America- get
off your lazy asses and return the movies on time and don't
give your money away to these rental chains! If you rent a
movie, watch it! If you aren't sure if you can find the time
to watch it, then don't rent!

This EZ-DVD will only appeal to the very casual movie fan
who, because of no spare time due to families and schedules,
can only watch one or two movies per month. Most avid film
fans and collectors will not give this format the time of day.

[SephirothClone]

After reading through this whole thread I suppose I have a few opinions:

- I will start to purchase these EZ-D's if their catelogue is bigger than what Blockbuster has. I hate going to the video store and not being able to find the foreign films I want to watch. (Blockbuster is the only video store in my town).

- Obviously the DVD reviewer's will be a tad upset if the studio's start sending EZ-D's instead of normal DVD's.

- I personally will not purchase any of these because I know where this product will end up at, look at Divx. I enjoy buying real DVD's and collecting them. Not some $7 bubblegum card.

I suppose the only real need this will serve is as an alternative to rentals, if I recall thats exactly what Divx's goal was.

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by SephirothClone

I suppose the only real need this will serve is as an alternative to rentals, if I recall thats exactly what Divx's goal was.

Remember though that Divx was set up as a competing format with incompatability built right in.

[Notoriousaurus]

Originally Posted by larphillips

Remember though that Divx was set up as a competing format with incompatability built right in.

Change "incompatability" in your post to "idiocity" and you would be even moreso correct!

[Enzian]

was surprised to read that rental stores collect more than
10 percent of their revenue on late fees. Hey America- get
off your lazy asses and return the movies on time and don't
give your money away to these rental chains! If you rent a
movie, watch it! If you aren't sure if you can find the time
to watch it, then don't rent!

Hey, as a perpetual late-fee accrue-er, I kinda take offense to that! If you can't afford the late fees then return the movies on time! Don't tell me how to waste my money!! :p

Anyway, that's why I switched to Netflix.

[larphillips]

From Video Store Magazine:

But will it play in Peoria?

Consumers there and in three other American markets will get a taste of a new DVD Tuesday, but just a taste — because the eight titles on vacuum-sealed EZ-D disposable DVDs entering the marketplace in a test will become unplayable 48 hours each disc is unsealed.

Questions abound about the product. Will consumers embrace discs with no bonus features that expire in two days? Will they pay the suggested retail price of $6.99? Will they recycle the discs, as Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Flexplay, the companies testing the product, hope?

Packaging for the titles in the test — The Recruit, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Frida, The Hot Chick, 25th Hour, Heaven, Equilibrium and Signs — is labeled in several places, including a bright yellow seal, to alert consumers that the disc will degrade after 48 hours.

Although the companies behind the test have tried to keep the test markets quiet, newspapers in the markets were disclosing the tests last week. The discs will appear in Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Mo.; Charleston, S.C.; and Peoria/Bloomington, Ill., according to the Austin American-Statesman. A Buena Vista spokesperson told the Statesman the Peoria/Bloomington market was chosen because of its high percentage of renters.

Industry skeptics have been vocal about the test since it was announced last May.

“It just seems to be a gimmick that Disney has come out with to make money. It doesn’t seem to be supported by any other studios. With the price of DVDs as low as they are, I just don’t see the point,” said Ron Epstein, moderator of the Home Theater Forum.

But by his own admission, Epstein is a DVD collector — not the consumer Buena Vista is targeting. Buena Vista president Bob Chapek has said he hopes to reclaim former renters who stopped renting because of late fees and return trips. Most of the stores set to test the product are in the food, drug and convenience space, including H-E-B and Cub Foods markets, CVS and Walgreen’s drug stores and 7-Eleven and Kwik-Shop convenience stores.

“Consumers today want convenience more than ever. It’s a question of how each individual customer in each individual market responds,” said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “Ultimately, our industry is about selling time, literally. If this addresses the definition of convenience for many consumers, it could be viable. It’s not enough to serve what the customer wants. You have to identify what the customer doesn’t know they want and offer that.”

But some entertainment specialty stores — including FYE, Hastings and Movie Gallery — will also offer the product in the four- to six-month test.

“We’re thrilled to be launching this product with the folks at Buena Vista Home Entertainment. We look forward to consumers and content providers enjoying the ease and convenience of the EZ-D,” said Flexplay CEO Alan Blaustein.

Since announcing plans to test the format, Buena Vista has worked to overcome some of the initial criticism. In all four test markets, the supplier has worked with local recycling organizations to build on what was the sole recycling option, a company called GreenDisk in Columbia, Mo. Although the local recyclers must still send the discs to GreenDisk because the chemical composition of optical media requires special recycling, Buena Vista worked to ensure consumers would have multiple and local options, a spokesman said. The recyclers who accept EZ-D will also accept other optical storage discs like Internet shareware and CDs.

Consumers will have three options: send their discs to GreenDisk, visit the Web site EZ/D.com to get a postage-paid return envelope, or take the discs to the local centers that accept them along with other recyclables.

“The fourth phase is an incentive program,” the spokesperson said. “We are offering people an incentive program to log onto EZ/D.com and register. They are encouraged to take six EZ-D purchases, mail them to us, [and] we will then mail them back a seventh EZ-D for free.”

Nonetheless, not everyone is thrilled. The Wisconsin-based Grassroots Recycling Network is ready to mobilize activists with an editable form letter to Disney CEO Michael Eisner posted on its Web site.

Analysts, too, are skeptical about the possibilities for the product.

“I don’t consider the self-destructing discs to be a significant market share. They will vanish without a trace,” said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst with Forrester Research.

[Dr. Shrinker]

As opposed as I am to this stupid concept, one potentially lucrative market might be travellers...since many of us have DVD drives in our laptops now, a kiosk at the airport or hotel lobby offering recent hit movies that we don't have to return might be attractive.

Of course, if they really want to be successful, they should offer porn...

[larphillips]

Mmmmm..... porn....

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by larphillips

Consumers will have three options: send their discs to GreenDisk, visit the Web site EZ/D.com to get a postage-paid return envelope, or take the discs to the local centers that accept them along with other recyclables.

“The fourth phase is an incentive program,” the spokesperson said. “We are offering people an incentive program to log onto EZ/D.com and register. They are encouraged to take six EZ-D purchases, mail them to us, [and] we will then mail them back a seventh EZ-D for free.”

Well, this basically negates the "convenience" factor as now I'm back to having to deal with the DVD when I'm done with it. Given the above options, why not just use Netflix today?

Peace...

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

Well, this basically negates the "convenience" factor as now I'm back to having to deal with the DVD when I'm done with it. Given the above options, why not just use Netflix today?

Peace...

Of course this is just Disney trying to assuage the feelings of the environmentalists. They know as well as anyone that the unspoken fourth option will be just pitching them in the trash (or chucking them out of the window.)

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by larphillips

(or chucking them out of the window.)

of a fast moving vehicle, perhaps?

Peace...

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

of a fast moving vehicle, perhaps?

Peace...

If you go really fast, and the light hits them just right, it's like that scene from Tron!!! (or so I've heard... )

[tomdkat]

SO, I guess EZ-D DVD was released today in the test markets. Does anyone live in one of the test markets larphillips referred to in one of his posts above? If so, are you going to try this out and see how it works? I would but I don't live in one of the test markets.

Peace...

[Frank Gunn]

The whole damn thing is going to degrade in about 48 hours.

I don't think I've seen two issues addressed-

1) Does the disc degrade in exactly 48 hours from opening, or is it approximately 48 hours? What happens if you sit down to watch one last time your 90 minute movie at the begining of hour 46 and it starts to become unreadable before you finish?

2) How soon until some kids realize the havoc they can cause with some pushpins poking holes into the sealed packages and starting the 48 hour countdown?

[cardaway]

On the environmental side of things... how is this any worse than the AOL discs sent out via mass mailings? How many of those are thrown away... almost all of them. This new DVD format may never catch up to the number of AOL type discs thrown away.

[mikenyc]

This is about money, and what it costs to see a movie.

There is no rental fees and ancillary charges and costs, for the copyright holder, to collect from third parties who broker the rental, for the consumer, and the consumer owns it.

You own it. Even if it's for 48 hours...you own it.

No lines at film rental stores, no GOING to film rental stores, and no dealing with moron film rental store employees. No film rental stores.

The copyright holder/distributor, can sell these DVD's at your local Piggly Wiggly, or 7-11, or Bloomingdale's, for that matter. WHEREVER you shop for things, or conduct business transactions, other than videos, where you already shop, for....whatever.

No mailers. No posting the mailer with the video. No keeping track of the videos you want to see.

CD music is next. That in itself...NO MORE Best Buy's or Circuit City's...is a public service, Michael Eisner, should be givien the Freedom Medal for !

[Damian]

A local rock station I listen to on the way into work each morning talked about them this morning. They all agreed it was a dumb idea, mostly because of the cost. At 7 bucks a pop they said it didn't make any sense. Especially since for an added 10 bucks (approx) you can own the movie.
They all agreed that to make it work the movies needed to be less then or at least equal to the cost of a rental.

I certainly do hope that once this fails it will be the last time a company tries to mess with something that already works. Leave well enough alone, Disney is already making tons off DVD sales and rentals. Stop being greedy.

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by mikenyc

This is about money, and what it costs to see a movie.

There is no rental fees and ancillary charges and costs, for the copyright holder, to collect from third parties who broker the rental, for the consumer, and the consumer owns it.

You own it. Even if it's for 48 hours...you own it.

You make a very strong point here. It used to be, the home video companies made a tidy buck selling their tapes to rental stores. Most new release VHS tapes sold for $50 - $100 and had a nice long windown before they went to sell-through. Since DVD, that has all been eliminated and now there is no window prior to sell-through. The rental stores were still charging the same fees, and making the same profits, while the home video companies saw their numbers take a big nose dive in their rental sales. This is a way for them to squeeze out the middle man and keep that money in their pocket. Smart business move.

And cardaway your are absolutely right about that. People are making a lot of noise about the potential environmental effects of this product, yet it seems that very little is said about AOL.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Damian

At 7 bucks a pop they said it didn't make any sense. Especially since for an added 10 bucks (approx) you can own the movie.

I know several people who just aren't into buying movies since they don't watch the same movie more than once. The real question is what is the cost of buying an EZ-D DVD vs renting a DVD and paying the late fees if the DVD is say, 2 days late or 5 days late. $7 and no late fees, if one is just bad about returning rentals, might be cheaper than a $3.50 rental and $5.00 in late fees times each rented movie (at least in the case of the late fees). I have a friend who used to ring up double-digit late fees regularly.

As for the "when does the 48 hrs start" question, I believe the 48 hrs starts when the package is opened. If you open the package and don't watch the movie for 48 hrs, you've wasted $7. If you leave the package sealed, you're in business. So those with frantic schedules should just leave the packages sealed. If they don't have time to finish a started movie, then they could be ass out and that could be VERY frustrating since at least with late fees you can finish the movie when you have time.

Peace...

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by larphillips

Since DVD, that has all been eliminated and now there is no window prior to sell-through.

Actually, this really wasn't the case as BlockBuster was pushing for rental pricing for a while and then backed off. If you search on "rental pricing" in this forum (Soapbox) you can find previous discussion on BlockBuster's position on this.

Fortunately, rental pricing of DVDs never took off and we've been able to enjoy sell-through pricing all along.

Peace...

[reapersaurus]

this is one of the silliest consumer ideas I've ever heard.

Newsflash:
Typical renter (Joe Public) will say, "So it's almost twice as much $ to buy this than my normal DVD? Screw that - Oh, late fees? I'm not late returning movies, damn sure not every single time late, which seems how this is priced." (what marketing idiot thinks that people admit their faults in today's society? Most people who habitually bring back rentals late are in denial of the fact - they'd never embrace their faults this way, it's human psyche 101)

Also "I only get 48 hours? Damn - I usually get 5 days!" (many rentals are 2 days, yes - but he'll remember the longest duration he thinks he should get)

And "Man - this is really weird - just gimme my normal DVD and I'll be on my way." (humans, BY NATURE, are vastly against change)