19th May 2003
Self Destruct DVDs, not a good idea
According to this article on CNN.Com, Disney
is going to start renting DVDs that become unplayable after 48 hours.
You don’t have to take them back. A chemical reaction makes the DVD unreadable.
This strikes me as wasteful. Those who are inclined to copy the DVD can still do so in the first 48 hours, so it’s not as if they are addressing any sort of DRM. It’s too much in the “disposable mentality, everything ends up in landfills” direction for my taste.
A quick skim of the slashdot thread gave me this idea: Every DVD you rent has a $15 deposit. If you don’t bring it back, you own it. Simple.
Apple gets it (iTunes, Apple Music Store). Disney doesn’t. In a few years we’ll be downloading movies from Apple.
