We mentioned back in May this was coming. In the interim they seem to have addressed the disposal problem:
- Set to roll out in September with eight titles in four markets, Disney's new EZ-D DVD self-destructs 48 hours after the purchaser opens the special airtight package. The disc is composed of a Lexan resin co-polymer developed by GE Plastics. The General Electric Company owns a minority stake in Flexplay Technologies, the company that owns the underlying process and has licensed it to Disney.
Once the product is exposed to the elements, a chemical clock starts ticking, turning the disc black and making it unreadable by a DVD player's laser after the designated time has elapsed. Until that happens, the disc can be played as often as desired. Employing a chemical rather than software process to disable the disc is meant to ensure that the process will work with any DVD player. And like any standard DVD, the discs can have software copyright protection that would deter a user from copying them onto the hard drive of a computer or onto a blank DVD that would not self-destruct.
Disney hopes that the purchase price of $5 to $7 will be close enough to the cost of a typical DVD rental that many customers will consider it an easy impulse buy.
....There is nothing magical about the 48-hour life span of the disc. The manufacturing process can be adjusted so that the disc will expire anywhere from 8 to 60 hours after opening the wrapper. And enterprising consumers may find that they can extend the life even further. Staff members of New Scientist, a British publication, were able to slow down the chemical process and keep an opened EZ-D disc in a playable state for at least 96 hours by placing it in a sealed container and storing it in the refrigerator.
Article comments
1 - Aaron
Didn't they already try this? I can't remember what it was called, but when I first got a DVD player there was some system like this. Needless to say, since I can't even remember what it was called, it didn't last.
2 - Aaron
Ah yes, DivX.
3 - visualsimplicity
ummm... I'd rather do the netflix thing. I have a co-worker who does the netflix thing, seems like it's well worth it. 20 bucks a month, 3 dvds at anytime (you can keep it for as long as you want till you return them), free shipping, back and forth. No need for gas and no waste-causing non reusable dvd discs. Sounds like this has the proponents for wider success than EZ-D.
4 - Sal
These things went nowhere fast, huh?