EZ-D 48-hour disposable DVD releases

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

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

I find this hard to believe. I'm sure the chronic late movie returners laugh at the fact they just can't seem to return videos on time and they are constantly confronted with late fees to pay them. I'm sure a lot of people try to talk their way out of the late fee, blaming the dog or some "Act of God" or something.

I think you're right about people not admitting to personal faults, but I don't think most consider returning movies late to be a "fault" or "character flaw" or anything.

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)

Now, this I can hear people saying already....

(humans, BY NATURE, are vastly against change)

I think you're right about this and this is REALLY unfortunate, considering DVD is a change that everyone here is "ok" with and more and more people are opening up to. However, a LOT of people here seem to be so "content" with DVDs current incarnation that future advancements in the technology are sometimes "fought". This is a strange phenomenon.

Peace...

[McGuit]

A couple of points. This is a product of greed pure and simple. Disney is hoping to sell the DVD to you over and over again. Unfortunately, they just can't stand getting into your pocket once.

How do I know this?

Simple, I was a senior level executive for Disney for close to 10 years (when I left to go work for the Fox)

Now, as a current Disney stockholder, I am averse to them going in this direction for a couple of reasons: First, R&D costs and the money they will pour into a format that will not bear fruit with the public at the price point announced. If they wanted to make the price point feasible, why not charge $1.00 - $2.00 for the concept and go the Apple download model. Now America might get on board.

Second, this is going to create more bad word of mouth than the whole DIVIX fiasco caused for their strategic partners. And bad word of mouth is something Disney does not need right now.

But, knowing my former bosses, they will cheap out the shrink wrap and the discs will become exposed to air while sitting on the docks. People will call customer service and hear, "Your call in very important to us, please hold for the next 3 hours and the one customer service representative will answer your call in order of .........

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by McGuit

A couple of points. This is a product of greed pure and simple. Disney is hoping to sell the DVD to you over and over again. Unfortunately, they just can't stand getting into your pocket once.

What studio doesn't produce DVDs to make as much money as possible? We would like to think they do it for "purist" reasons, but they produce DVDs for business reasons first and foremost.

Simple, I was a senior level executive for Disney for close to 10 years (when I left to go work for the Fox)

Cool.. can you hook me up with a copy of Finding Nemo?

Now, as a current Disney stockholder, I am averse to them going in this direction for a couple of reasons: First, R&D costs and the money they will pour into a format that will not bear fruit with the public at the price point announced. If they wanted to make the price point feasible, why not charge $1.00 - $2.00 for the concept and go the Apple download model. Now America might get on board.

I can see why you're concerned as a stock holder, but I don't think the "download" option would "fly" as the people who can't return a video or DVD on time probably don't want to or aren't able to download MPEG video to watch on their computer screen or _try_ to burn to a DVD they can watch on their "big screen" TV.

But, knowing my former bosses, they will cheap out the shrink wrap and the discs will become exposed to air while sitting on the docks. People will call customer service and hear, "Your call in very important to us, please hold for the next 3 hours and the one customer service representative will answer your call in order of .........

Now THIS definitely would suck and seal the fate of doom of this very quickly.

Peace...

[tomdkat]

Has anyone actually seen one of these EZ-D DVDs yet?

Peace...

[Derb]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

Has anyone actually seen one of these EZ-D DVDs yet?

Peace...

Nope, & I think thats a good sign, don't you?

[larphillips]

Originally Posted by Derb

Nope, & I think thats a good sign, don't you?

I think Tom was shouting out for any of the folks who might be in the current test market. An article posted previously in this thread listed the test market areas, and Tom was looking for a first-hand account.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by larphillips

Tom was looking for a first-hand account.

Yep... Since I'm not in one of the test markets, I can't give this a try myself and I was wondering if someone else here had seem one of these DVDs to comment on how the packaging "works", how the disc looks, etc....

Peace...

[PolloDiablo]

At blockbuster I actually had a customer tell me he couldn't wait untill these disposable DVDs come out so he wouldn't have to pay his "damn late charges" anymore (he were a bit irate about some late fees). I tryed to explain to him how utterly silly & pointless the whole concept was and he claimed that it didn't matter to him and sounded like a great idea. We may actually be in for a bit of a surprise here, I mean I expected EZ-D to go the way of Divx (the original divx), but I guess we can never really anticipate the complete idiocy of the average joe.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by PolloDiablo

I tryed to explain to him how utterly silly & pointless the whole concept was and he claimed that it didn't matter to him and sounded like a great idea.

I don't think EZ-D DVD is a great idea, but I don't think it's a stupid idea either. Let's see how it "works" first then we can make a more accurate assessment.

Previously in this discussion, larphillips pointed out that this is complimentary to current DVD rental avenues and not competitive. It should be interesting to see how this "fits" in with our current DVD buying/renting behavior, if at all.

Peace...

[reapersaurus]

http://www.wired.com/news/technology...w=wn_tophead_1

Two-Day DVDs a Slow Sale
By Katie Dean

02:00 AM Oct. 28, 2003 PT

Disposable DVDs have been on store shelves for a little over a month and, for the most part, they seem to be staying there.

Four states are serving as test markets for the 48-hour DVDs, called*EZ-Ds. The product is vacuum-packed; once opened, the disc will play for two days before a resin on the DVD reacts with the atmosphere, rendering it unplayable.

Flexplay, which manufactures the EZ-D, touts the product as the "no return, no late fee movie rental" on its*website. The company markets the EZ-D to movie enthusiasts who want to avoid rushing back to the video store to meet a deadline. Instead, customers can choose to throw the disc away or recycle it.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a division of Disney, is testing the market for the format in Illinois, Texas, South Carolina and Kansas at grocery and convenience stores and electronics retailers.

A Buena Vista official had no comment on sales of EZ-Ds, but a survey of stores that sell the new product reveals that the EZ-Ds are not appealing to many customers.

"They haven't sold very well yet," said Tom Mullen, the store manager for*Cub Foods in Peoria, Illinois. "We've got them up front in a prime location right by the check-out lanes."

In more than one months' time, the store has sold around 15 to 20 of the EZ-Ds, he said.

"I think the biggest reason is the price. It's a tad bit too high," he said.

Cub Foods sells the EZ-Ds for $7 and offers about 10 titles, including Sweet Home Alabama, The Hot Chick and Shanghai Knights.

"Too expensive," said Tom Tow, who manages the Cub Foods 40 miles away in Bloomington. "That's the most echoed comment I've heard."

Customers aren't interested in paying more than $6 for a limited-play DVD when they can pay $2 at the video store. Even with a $2 late fee, it's cheaper than buying a disposable DVD, Tow said.

"I don't think they like the idea that it self-destructs in 48 hours," he said. "I think a lot of them are worried about the quality of the DVD for that price. Seeing as how it self-destructs, can it really be that good?"

Tow said the cardboard display is still full of EZ-Ds, and that less than an eighth of the movies in stock have been sold.

In Charleston, South Carolina, one*Winn-Dixie store has also had trouble getting customers to buy the disposable movies.

"They think it's ridiculous," said Joseph Pellegrino Jr., manager of the Rivers Avenue store in Charleston. "They won't pay that type of money for something that's going to vaporize."

Pellegrino said the company made a mistake when it chose to sell EZ-Ds at his store because it's located in a low-income, inner-city area, and his customers are very price-conscious.

"Probably in a yuppie market it would do excellent," he said.

Pellegrino said he hasn't seen one customer purchase an EZ-D, though some of them have been shoplifted out of the store.

"The good thing is that they tear them out of the packages and they don't realize that they've started (the EZ-D's) disintegration," he said.

Susan Ghertner, environmental manager of*H-E-B, a grocery chain in Texas, said that response to the EZ-Ds is mixed: Some stores report the product is selling "fairly well," and in others, the EZ-D is "not selling so well."

"That could be the product or it could be because there's not that much of a selection," she said.

An October article in*Video Business surveyed several retailers in Austin and found that customers gave the EZ-D movies a look but were hesitant to plunk down their money.

One Kansas electronics store reported that the titles are selling steadily and a handful of customers asked about the limited-play DVDs even before they had arrived in the store.

"People are grasping the concept and think it's a good idea," said Shane Pohlman, manager of media at*Nebraska Furniture Mart in Kansas City. "It's convenient for the customer."

Convenient perhaps, but environmentalists are angry that the product even exists, as DVDs can be re-used multiple times anyway. They see this limited-play DVD as a sure-fire way to create more junk for landfills.

Environmental groups have vigorously protested the EZ-D since it was first introduced. In August, volunteers staged a phone protest and dialed Disney CEO Michael Eisner to complain about the product. The*Texas Campaign for the Environment has also mailed over 1,000 postcards to Eisner and local retailers to urge them to stop selling the EZ-D.

"We want to send a clear message from our organization to the community that this is a product that is wasteful and we don't want it in our community," said Eleanor Whitmore, a spokeswoman for the Texas Campaign for the Environment.

The EZ-D website lists four options for recycling the old EZ-Ds: bring the used DVD to a local collection point, request a postage-paid mailer or print a prepaid postage label to send the EZ-Ds to a recycler, or participate in an incentive program. The incentive program awards a free EZ-D to those who mail back six expired EZ-Ds.

GreenDisk is handling the recycling for Flexplay. GreenDisk founder David Beschen would not reveal how many EZ-Ds have been mailed back.

Instructions to mail back the EZ-D are included on the package. However, several of the retailers selling the EZ-Ds did not know the name of a local collection point for the obsolete EZ-Ds.

"If they included an envelope, and you could drop it in the mail when you get done, that would definitely be an improvement for the environment, anyway," said Cub Foods' Mullen. "If you don't make it easy for (the customer), they won't do it."

[tomdkat]

Thanks for the update!

I wonder what's going on at FlexPlay right now... I wonder if anhy "heads will roll" over this....

Peace...

[Enzian]

If a company goes bankrupt, does that connote "rolling heads"?

[greatfoxmusic]

Hmm, now I'm a little paranoid about this:

Do these discs look the same as normal DVD's? What if I went into a used store and picked out a used DVD, and I take it home and it expires in a day or so (assuming the person who bought it new opened it a day ago)? I can see people trying to sell these things as normal used DVD's to get their money back. Or do the discs and packaging have obvious marks on them that say EZ-CD? The used stores will have to be paying attention on this one.

[Dr. Shrinker]

Here's a link to another story about this debacle...

http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2003/mf...urce=mpmftlist

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Dr. Shrinker

Here's a link to another story about this debacle...

http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2003/mf...urce=mpmftlist

Thanks for the link... I love the URL...

Peace...

[Damian]

IMDB's Story from Today (Oct. 30th)

Consumers Not Disposed To Disposables


Disposable DVDs are not moving off store shelves in markets where they're being tested, according to Wired News. Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment is conducting the tests in Illinois, Texas, South Carolina and Kansas, mostly in grocery and convenience stores. One Peoria store manager told the magazine: "They haven't sold very well yet. We've got them up front in a prime location right by the check-out lanes." But today's (Thursday) online edition of The Motley Fool observed that the six movies currently available in the test markets -- they are rendered unreadable 48 hours after they are removed from their packaging -- may be unappealing, since they were originally released as conventional DVDs earlier in the year and are no longer in demand at video rental outlets either. Also, there's the matter of price. As The Motley Fool observed, "Why pay $6.95 for a two-day disposable when rentals are $4 or less?

I'm all for new technologies and such. But a business model like this just kinda stunk from the get-go. The fact that they are testing it with movies that have been out for awhile and pricing it higher then a standard rental just makes me laugh now that it is failing. (like we all predicted)

[reapersaurus]

Originally Posted by tomdkat

I know several people who just aren't into buying movies since they don't watch the same movie more than once. I have a friend who used to ring up double-digit late fees regularly.

This doesn't sound as "far fetched" as most of you think it does....

Let's give this a chance before we start making judgments....

What makes this idea so idiotic? This idea might be problematic, but that's a different statement

I never could tell if tomdkat was saying it would fail or not....

[manigrasso]

It ain't dead yet, but there's another nail in that thar coffin.


_______________________________________________________
Stores Nix Disposable Flicks By Katie Dean
Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,62083,00.html

02:00 AM Jan. 29, 2004 PT

A Texas grocery chain has decided to stop selling disposable DVDs, a product that outraged environmentalists and apparently didn't sell too well, either.

About 20 H-E-B grocery stores in the Austin area sold the EZ-Ds, vacuum-sealed movies that, once opened, play for 48 hours before a chemical reaction on the surface of the discs renders them unplayable.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a division of Disney, has been test marketing the product since September. More than 30 movies are now available in the disposable format, including Chicago, Freaky Friday and The Waterboy. The discs sell for about $7.

H-E-B stores will stop selling the EZ-Ds in the next two or three weeks, according to Susan Ghertner, environmental affairs manager for the grocery chain.

Ghertner said the decision was not made for environmental reasons; rather, company officials "made the decision strictly on sales."

"It just wasn't a good fit for us," she said. "It didn't turn out to be an item that our customers were looking for."

A Buena Vista representative declined to comment.

Environmentalists cheered the news. "We consider this a big victory," said Robin Schneider, executive director of the Texas Campaign for the Environment, which has protested outside stores that sell the EZ-Ds. "We are calling on other retailers to follow the lead of H-E-B."

"There are clearly less-wasteful alternatives to marketing movies than disposable DVDs," she said.

Flexplay, the company that manufactures the discs, has touted the product as a solution for those who find renting movies inconvenient and are sick of paying late fees. "Make it EASY on yourself," the EZ-D website reads.

The disposable movies are currently available in three other markets around the country: Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri; Charleston, South Carolina; and Peoria and Bloomington, Illinois. Stores that sell the movies include 7-Eleven, Walgreens, Winn-Dixie, Sam Goody and Cub Foods, among others.

Last October, Wired News surveyed a handful of stores that sell the EZ-D and found that the product hadn't really caught on with shoppers.

Buena Vista and Flexplay offer several options for those conscientious customers who want to recycle their expired EZ-Ds. Movie fans can mail old EZ-Ds to GreenDisk to be recycled, or they can drop off the useless DVDs at drop-off sites listed on the EZ-D website.

Customers also can participate in the EZ-D Incentive Program, which awards a free disposable DVD to customers who send back six expired movies.
_____________________________________________________


What I like most is the Incentive Program. OK, so you're creating a format for people who like to pick movies up on the go, at convenience stores where they're getting beer and soda and chips and king size Snickers bars & Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey. People who would be buying these discs on a spur-of-the-moment basis, so they won't have to return them. YOu really think these same people are going to bother in an incentive program? Even taking the time to ENROLL in an incentive program?

Another example of trying to be something for everyone and appealing to nobody. No clear target consumer.

Also another example of the WONDERFUL decisions Disney's been making of late, to be in cahoots with this nonsense.

[Damian]

Hopefully this will finally make companies realize that you can't go up against DVD right now, or at least try to confuse the consumer who is so readily adopting the new format. They tried with DIVX and Circuit City paid a heavy price. (I think they lost something like thirty million dollars with DIVX).

And it really is dumb to try and push a product that is meant to stop people from having to return a rental, then say they can always bring it to a recycle center if they didn't want to just throw it away. (It would be funny if one of the recycle bins was looked outside a Blockbuster video )

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by reapersaurus

I never could tell if tomdkat was saying it would fail or not....

I never said it would fail or not, but only I didn't think it was a "stupid" idea, like most others did. It's not necessarily the best idea but might be of use to those who think along those lines of convenience.

Personally, I think current DVD technology is a bit too "quirky" to make this kind of idea really fly and it looks like people, generally speaking, aren't interested in the convenience disposable DVD can provide to them.

Peace...

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Damian

Hopefully this will finally make companies realize that you can't go up against DVD right now, or at least try to confuse the consumer who is so readily adopting the new format.

How does disposable DVD "compete" with the DVD format? Disposable DVD is still the same DVD format people enjoy today.

And it really is dumb to try and push a product that is meant to stop people from having to return a rental, then say they can always bring it to a recycle center if they didn't want to just throw it away.

I think the recycle center part was more of an after-thought than anything else. We've got recycle bins at my office for cans and paper, etc., and I often find cans or plastic bottles in the trash even though the recycle bin for those items is less than 5 feet away from the trash can and in plain view.

If disposable DVDs were available in my area, I would certainly give them a try. I think one of the confusing points with regard to the consumer is the "purchase rental hybrid" concept. When you say "purchase", you think own. When you say "rent", you think return. Even though you pay to rent, it's not the same as purchasing something. So, the consumers just might not really understand what's going on with disposable DVD.

Peace...