This DVD Will Self-Destruct In 48 Hours

Not. This. Again. A German company, Einmal-DVD, has introduced a disposable DVD that can be viewed for 48 hours, then thrown away. The discs incorporate a self-destruct chemical coating to render them unreadable after the time period. The process begins as soon as the discs are removed from vacuum-sealed packaging.
This is hardly a new idea, as five years ago here in the US, Flexplay (marketed as EZ-D) introduced pretty much the same thing. Never really getting beyond the test market phase, the concept never caught on with consumers. Before Flexplay, you may remember DIVX (not Divx-the codec) which was heavily promoted by Circuit City at the 1998 CES supposedly as a lower cost option to buying DVDs. The technology behind DIVX required a connected DIVX-equipped DVD player that would authorize playback of discs you already 'purchased.' After the initial 48 hour viewing period included in the $4.99 'purchase' price, subsequent disc viewings would be charged to your credit card. DIVX went under in 1999, leaving anyone who had bought into DIVX with a library of worthless, unplayable discs since 2001.
I don't see how Einmal-DVD can market essentially what amounts to Flexplay all over again, but unless German consumer sensibilities are different, the idea is doomed to failure as American consumers have spoken time and again on these weird limited-play versions of DVD.

read more | digg story