Video Asylum

Posted by TA (A) on November 14, 2002 at 10:39:36

From dvdfile:

I suppose fans of the superspy James Bond are no strangers to explosive gadgets, but a self-destructing DVD!? MGM sent out over over 5,000 promo discs this week as a preview for the upcoming Bond flick Die Another Day, but there's a catch. If you want to check out the 25-odd minutes of cool material included on the DVD, you may want to stand back after you put it in your player. As the tag on the mailer warns, "Once removed from its packaging, the DVD will self-destruct in 36 hours!"

Flexplay Technologies' special self-immolating DVD technology employs special coatings when creating discs that, after being exposed to air, become unusable within a preselected time period. As a DVD player's laser is extremely sensitive to any changes in a disc's surface and coating, even the slightest change can affect a disc's playability. Depending on which coatings are used, the discs can remain operational anywhere from 8 to 60 hours. Sounds just like a Bond movie!

If visions of Circuit City's failed DIVX technology are dancing around in your head, you're not alone. Flexplay has been pushing their technology for over a year now, but has so far achieved only moderate success with noncommercial industry and promo titles, mostly music videos. But industry sources say the upstart's real goal is to entice the major Hollywood studios to use the technology to create "single-view titles," providing a workable way to take back rental revenues currently lost to VHS erosion. Potentially even more attractive to studio interests is the elimination of the video store altogether, as these single-view discs would severly reduce the need for return trips at all. With "rental" titles now readily available at any retail outlet across the country, the majority of the profits on these "rental" discs could then go directly to the studios.

Many of the same issues raised with DIVX - namely the environmental consequences of so many throwaway discs, and possible consumer confusion - are likely obstacles to mass acceptance of the Flexplay scenario. And, of course, this 007 DVD is just a promo. But as they say at the end of every movie, James Bond will return...