Sip Posted May 17, 2003 Report Share Posted May 17, 2003 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - This disc will self-destruct in 48 hours. That is the warning The Walt Disney Co. will issue this August when it begins to "rent" DVDs that after two days become unplayable and do not have to be returned. Disney home video unit Buena Vista Home Entertainment will launch a pilot movie "rental" program in August that uses the self-destruction technology, the company said on Friday. The discs stop working after a change in color renders them unreadable. They start off red, but when they are taken out of the package, exposure to oxygen turns the coating black and makes it impenetrable by a DVD laser. Buena Vista hopes the technology will let it crack a wider rental market, since it can sell the DVDs in stores or almost anywhere without setting up a system to get the discs back. The discs work perfectly for the two-day viewing window, said Flexplay Technologies, Inc., the private company which developed the technology using material from General Electric Co. Chief Executive Alan Blaustein told Reuters he was also in conversations with other companies to use the self-destructing discs. The technology cannot be hacked by programmers who would want to view the disc longer because the mechanism which closes the viewing window is chemical and has nothing to do with computer technology. However, the disc can be copied within 48 hours, since it works like any other DVD during that window. Buena Vista did not disclose pricing plans but said the discs, dubbed EZ-D, would be available in August in select markets with recent releases including "The Recruit," "The Hot Chick," and "Signs." WOW! ... Link to article on yahoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted May 17, 2003 Report Share Posted May 17, 2003 That is way too cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted May 17, 2003 Report Share Posted May 17, 2003 so what happens after 48 hours. you throw this away? As if there was not enough trash in the landfills now we are going to throw away more? This also seems like a huge threat to BlockBuster and other video rental chains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted May 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2003 I guess you could put these next to the AOHell CDs or use them as coasters Yah, I definitely hope they have some sort of recycling plan in mind for these self destructing DVDs ... I didn't even think about that! Hope they did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyebruin Posted May 17, 2003 Report Share Posted May 17, 2003 this is funny!! it reminds me of that new GE commercial with the hot looking latin? model and the computer nerd (i call it beauty and the geek!) [they call it beauty and brains] ...then they get together and have that cute cute cute nerdy baby with the glasses!!! (i think he's a professor of nanotechnology or something?...) very creative commercial!! it's like every nerd's dream come true and to a certain extent every out-of-work model's road to financial freedom!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted May 18, 2003 Report Share Posted May 18, 2003 The discs stop working after a change in color renders them unreadable. They start off red, but when they are taken out of the package, exposure to oxygen turns the coating black and makes it impenetrable by a DVD laser. Then it shouldn't be a problem to view in a vaccuum invironment , or play it in water and keep the disc in water also (the small amount of oxygen in water maynot damage it). I am sure very soon a convenient 'hack' will be found. so what happens after 48 hours. you throw this away? As if there was not enough trash in the landfills now we are going to throw away more? A solution to this would be to make the disc completely evaporate after 48 hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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