WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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You’ve heard of disposable cameras!

00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:04.080
You’ve heard of disposable diapers!

00:00:04.090 --> 00:00:06.920
How about, Disposable movies?

00:00:06.920 --> 00:00:11.129
For this video to make any sense, I’m gonna
need you to imagine a world in which Netflix,

00:00:11.129 --> 00:00:13.160
Amazon Prime video, Disney+

00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:14.560
(trying to future
proof here)

00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:16.320
and all those other streaming services

00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:17.720
don’t exist.

00:00:17.720 --> 00:00:22.980
It’s a desolate landscape, I know, but thankfully
video rental stores existed to help you through

00:00:22.980 --> 00:00:24.650
these trying times.

00:00:24.650 --> 00:00:30.000
And, well actually Netflix did exist at this
point but they were still only mailing DVDs to you.

00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:30.960
How quaint.

00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:33.460
But ya know what’s annoying about video
rental stores?

00:00:33.460 --> 00:00:35.730
You have to take the disc back to them.

00:00:35.730 --> 00:00:37.620
Or, mail it back.

00:00:37.620 --> 00:00:38.620
What a hassle!

00:00:38.620 --> 00:00:41.180
I mean, needing to go back to the store?

00:00:41.180 --> 00:00:43.920
And giving them the thing which I borrowed
back?

00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:44.920
How inconvenient!

00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:48.359
I mean, it’s not like I’m gonna just go
back and rent another thing.

00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:52.149
Now I have to go out of my way to return my
copy of Shrek 2.

00:00:52.149 --> 00:00:52.720
Eugh.

00:00:52.720 --> 00:00:56.620
But what if there were a way that I could
rent a movie, and not have to bring it back?

00:00:57.700 --> 00:00:59.060
Don’t you mean buy the movie?

00:00:59.060 --> 00:00:59.560
No!

00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:04.000
I mean, what if I could somehow bring home
a DVD which will only work for 2 days after

00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.530
I open it, and then it breaks itself!

00:01:06.530 --> 00:01:08.909
All the savings of renting with the convenience
of buying!

00:01:08.909 --> 00:01:10.520
I’ll take 600!

00:01:10.520 --> 00:01:13.659
This rather bizarre idea did actually happen.

00:01:13.659 --> 00:01:17.659
It wasn’t a huge success, and I’m gonna
argue that’s probably a good thing, but

00:01:17.660 --> 00:01:22.680
in the early 2000’s there was an idea to
put a clever spin [the PUNS] on optical disc technology.

00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:27.720
Some of you might be thinking of DIVX, an
earlier modification of DVD by Circuit City

00:01:27.720 --> 00:01:32.090
which was a more technical solution involving
special players that phoned in to a central

00:01:32.090 --> 00:01:36.700
server to verify whether any specific disc
could be played or not.

00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:41.369
You could then upgrade your disc at an additional
charge to be playable after the rental period,

00:01:41.369 --> 00:01:47.220
or even upgrade it to a so-called DIVX Silver
disc, at which point you effectively owned that title.

00:01:47.220 --> 00:01:49.979
Ain’t that some dystopian DRM right there?

00:01:49.979 --> 00:01:51.430
But we’re not talking about that.

00:01:51.430 --> 00:01:53.740
Instead, we’re talking about something else.

00:01:53.740 --> 00:01:58.380
After DIVX had proven itself a failure, a
little company called Flexplay Technologies

00:01:58.380 --> 00:02:04.200
decided to try that concept again and began
to market what they initially called EZ-Ds.

00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:08.770
These were completely compliant DVDs that
would work in any DVD player, but that were

00:02:08.770 --> 00:02:13.030
made with a chemical component that would
effectively destroy the disc after two days

00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:15.380
of being exposed to oxygen.

00:02:15.380 --> 00:02:19.820
The idea was that you could buy these discs
in a store for about the cost of a rental,

00:02:19.820 --> 00:02:25.160
and since they were sealed in airtight packaging, they
wouldn’t break down until you decided to watch it.

00:02:25.160 --> 00:02:29.140
You could then watch the film an unlimited
amount of times within 48 hours, after which

00:02:29.140 --> 00:02:32.020
point the disc would blacken and become unreadable.

00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:35.520
And of course I have one of these discs right
here.

00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:39.330
It almost certainly does not work but we will
try it just in case!

00:02:39.330 --> 00:02:41.130
That’s right, I haven’t opened this yet.

00:02:41.130 --> 00:02:42.900
We’re gonna do it together!

00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:44.920
I moved you a bit closer so we can do this
toge--

00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:46.040
hmmm.

00:02:46.040 --> 00:02:47.040
What's that doing here?

00:02:47.320 --> 00:02:48.780
Anyway, let’s open the package.

00:02:48.790 --> 00:02:51.640
♫ swanky music begins in background ♫
I’m using a knife like a responsible person

00:02:51.640 --> 00:02:53.200
and cutting towards me.

00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:54.560
So this is just very basic

00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:55.560
[music cuts]

00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:56.240
….

00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:58.200
[music resumes]
So this is just very basic paper packaging

00:02:58.200 --> 00:02:59.620
in shrink wrap.

00:03:00.020 --> 00:03:02.180
[sensational shrink wrap struggles]

00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:04.680
Very user friendly.

00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:09.700
And inside we find a little package with some
information.

00:03:12.540 --> 00:03:14.280
And our disc.

00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:18.760
Mmmmm.

00:03:18.760 --> 00:03:21.680
This might possibly work, but we will see.

00:03:25.290 --> 00:03:28.820
This is really, I will say, you would need
scissors to open this

00:03:28.820 --> 00:03:29.840
.. agh ..

00:03:30.880 --> 00:03:33.440
or some sharp object like a utility knife.

00:03:34.100 --> 00:03:39.460
So it looks like a normal DVD except the back
of it is a very dark red color.

00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:44.280
This may work, which would be surprising but
we’ll find out.

00:03:47.780 --> 00:03:51.040
I can’t see the TV so we’re just gonna
see what happens.

00:03:52.720 --> 00:03:55.240
[strange whirring noise from the DVD player]

00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:56.400
It’s making really weird noises.

00:03:56.400 --> 00:03:58.080
I’m gonna guess it’s not working.

00:04:00.060 --> 00:04:00.800
It’s trying again.

00:04:01.880 --> 00:04:03.480
This is nerve wracking.

00:04:03.480 --> 00:04:04.580
I don’t think it’s working.

00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:09.130
I just noticed this “For best results, open
by April 2009” which is great because that

00:04:09.130 --> 00:04:12.680
was inside the shrinkwrap so there’s no
way you could really…

00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:14.680
well I suppose on the shelf it wouldn’t matter

00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:19.970
but if you took this home you better open at least this far to get a sense of when you need to watch this.

00:04:19.970 --> 00:04:21.489
We appear to be getting nowhere fast.

00:04:21.489 --> 00:04:23.580
This is attempt 2.

00:04:23.580 --> 00:04:26.500
It really sounds like it’s trying its best.

00:04:28.080 --> 00:04:28.580
Wait.

00:04:28.580 --> 00:04:29.940
Did it get somewhere?

00:04:29.940 --> 00:04:33.360
[more disc drive noises]

00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:33.900
I have to…

00:04:33.900 --> 00:04:35.380
I have to actually look at the screen.

00:04:35.380 --> 00:04:36.240
I can’t stand this.

00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:39.320
What’s very interesting to me is that the player
hasn’t given an error.

00:04:39.320 --> 00:04:42.180
It’s just continuously trying to play it.

00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:46.770
So it’s almost like it can see something,
but not enough to matter.

00:04:46.770 --> 00:04:49.290
Well, that was an expected disappointment.

00:04:49.290 --> 00:04:53.480
Since the disc is so old, oxygen has seeped
through its packaging and has already destroyed

00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:54.590
the disc.

00:04:54.590 --> 00:04:57.930
In fact, the discs only had a shelf life of
about a year.

00:04:57.930 --> 00:05:03.040
If we were in 2008 or whenever this disc was
made we would have seen a bright red disc.

00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:05.100
And it would have, you know, worked.

00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:09.220
Now, you might think that the red coloring
is the special compound which turns black.

00:05:09.220 --> 00:05:10.270
But it isn’t.

00:05:10.270 --> 00:05:14.630
Instead it’s a weirdly forward-thinking
countermeasure against them newfangled Blu-Ray

00:05:14.630 --> 00:05:16.570
players they’re talking about.

00:05:16.570 --> 00:05:18.960
See the black color isn’t actually black.

00:05:18.960 --> 00:05:22.700
Light of certain wavelenghts could pass through
it, much like how infrared light passes right

00:05:22.700 --> 00:05:25.580
through the “black” coloring of a PlayStation
disc.

00:05:25.580 --> 00:05:30.020
And one of those wavelengths that could pass
through this is the blue-violet found in the

00:05:30.030 --> 00:05:32.290
laser of a Blu-ray disc player.

00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:37.040
Coloring the disc itself red would block that
blue light, so even if someone could manage

00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:42.730
to read DVD-data using a blue laser (which,
for the record, isn’t very easy at all and

00:05:42.730 --> 00:05:47.020
is why Blu-Ray players have a red laser diode,
too for reading DVDs)

00:05:47.020 --> 00:05:48.820
their attempt would be foiled.

00:05:48.820 --> 00:05:53.220
Are you wondering why I keep calling this
black when it’s clearly a cherry-red?

00:05:53.220 --> 00:05:59.380
Well, to make filming easier I filmed the
written portion before I actually opened the disc.

00:05:59.380 --> 00:06:01.240
Yep, it was movie magic!

00:06:01.250 --> 00:06:05.990
Descriptions and images of these discs show
that they literally turn black like a Playstation

00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:09.120
disc, but this disc clearly hasn’t.

00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:13.260
This is why I thought there was a chance the
disc may have worked when I first opened it.

00:06:13.260 --> 00:06:17.930
Either its packaging was somehow able to prevent
the disc from turning completely black in

00:06:17.930 --> 00:06:23.960
the 11 years between its manufacture and today,
or describing it as “blackening” was simply

00:06:23.960 --> 00:06:27.610
hyperbole and in fact it just got darker.

00:06:27.610 --> 00:06:31.540
If the disc does turn completely black in
the coming days, I’ll let you know and provide

00:06:31.540 --> 00:06:33.630
some pictures in a pinned comment.

00:06:33.630 --> 00:06:35.880
Well, links to pictures but you know what
I mean.

00:06:35.880 --> 00:06:39.110
So let’s talk about what this disc was actually trying
to accomplish.

00:06:39.110 --> 00:06:43.240
When you or I go to a store and buy a DVD
or blu-ray disc, we’re not really buying

00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:44.240
the movie.

00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:48.560
Instead, we’re buying a specific license
to watch that content in a private setting

00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.690
for the rest of time.

00:06:50.690 --> 00:06:55.130
Or at least, for the life of the disc, video
tape, or whatever media contains it.

00:06:55.130 --> 00:06:57.910
That’s what the FBI is always warning you
about.

00:06:57.910 --> 00:07:00.290
You didn’t buy a license to show this in
theaters.

00:07:00.290 --> 00:07:02.900
You didn’t buy a license to share this on
YouTube.

00:07:02.900 --> 00:07:07.540
You bought one license to watch this one film
in your home for your own enjoyment.

00:07:07.540 --> 00:07:10.510
But, you can watch it over and over again.

00:07:10.510 --> 00:07:13.310
And once you buy it, you’ll never have to
buy it again.

00:07:13.310 --> 00:07:17.020
Unless of course you get tired of watching
it on VHS and want to upgrade to some newer

00:07:17.020 --> 00:07:18.170
format or whatever.

00:07:18.170 --> 00:07:22.260
The cost of making the packaging and the disc
itself is almost nothing.

00:07:22.260 --> 00:07:26.800
DVDs cost pennies to make, but the movie is
expensive because of the terms of the license

00:07:26.810 --> 00:07:28.010
you’re buying.

00:07:28.010 --> 00:07:33.340
If whoever the content owner is can only make
money from you once and then possibly never

00:07:33.340 --> 00:07:38.040
again, they’re gonna charge a lot for the
option to outright own the rights to private

00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:39.560
viewing indefinitely.

00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:43.900
But, if there’s a set time limit on your
enjoyment of the film, then the movie studio

00:07:43.919 --> 00:07:46.180
doesn’t have to charge nearly as much.

00:07:46.180 --> 00:07:50.260
If they have the opportunity to sell it to
you again down the road, they won’t mind

00:07:50.260 --> 00:07:51.780
if they only make a few bucks.

00:07:51.780 --> 00:07:57.530
So, what Flexplay, and DIVX before it, attempted
to do was to sell only temporary rights to

00:07:57.530 --> 00:08:03.160
a film, and thus movie studios would only
charge FlexPlay a couple bucks per disc,

00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:04.780
rather than 10 or 20.

00:08:04.780 --> 00:08:09.090
And, since DVDs are hilariously cheap to make,
FlexPlay could simply sell you these discs

00:08:09.090 --> 00:08:14.120
for the cost of a rental (about five dollars)
and all parties involved would make their buck.

00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:17.680
The advantage of Flexplay, of course, was
that you needn’t bother returning to the

00:08:17.690 --> 00:08:18.860
place you bought it.

00:08:18.860 --> 00:08:22.770
The disc would simply become unusable and
you could toss it out.

00:08:22.770 --> 00:08:25.640
Now, while this may seem like a pretty stupid idea

00:08:25.640 --> 00:08:27.680
--after all video rental stores already 
 existed

00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:31.220
so what’s the real advantage aside
from enabling even lazier habits--

00:08:31.220 --> 00:08:33.460
it could have been pretty revolutionary.

00:08:33.460 --> 00:08:36.760
Flexplay wasn’t just trying to make a consumer’s
life easier.

00:08:36.770 --> 00:08:41.490
They were trying to enable any business to
easily get into the video rental market.

00:08:41.490 --> 00:08:46.120
Video stores like Blockbuster needed lots
of square footage of retail space to maintain

00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:50.990
their inventories, they needed to track rentals
and charge late fees, and in general their

00:08:50.990 --> 00:08:53.100
business was rather unique.

00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:57.260
A grocery store probably isn’t gonna want
to take on all those hassles just to make

00:08:57.260 --> 00:08:58.260
a few extra bucks.

00:08:58.260 --> 00:08:59.180
But, since Fle--

00:08:59.180 --> 00:09:00.080
it’s back! How did…

00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:03.560
But since Flexplay didn’t require you to
return anything, stores could simply sell

00:09:03.560 --> 00:09:05.670
them like any other product.

00:09:05.670 --> 00:09:09.310
Any retail establishment, from grocery stores,
to gas stations, to office supply stores,

00:09:09.310 --> 00:09:13.240
to hardware stores could easily get into the
video rental market.

00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:19.120
Simply set up a Flexplay display, order some
movies to sell, and watch your profits soar!

00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:21.700
Except, of course, that didn’t really happen,
did it?

00:09:21.700 --> 00:09:26.820
Flexplay discs were first tested in 2003 with
a small handful of Disney titles and the test

00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:29.170
was a resounding failure.

00:09:29.170 --> 00:09:32.570
First of all, let’s be honest, this is a
weird product.

00:09:32.570 --> 00:09:37.200
You’d think that the failure of DIVX would
have been a warning that this ain’t gonna work,

00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.070
and even in 2003 Billboard was skeptical
of the product and thought it would create

00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:43.370
a lot of market confusion.

00:09:43.370 --> 00:09:48.100
They were pretty correct, as the test ran
for only a year before the product was pulled.

00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:51.800
A large part of why it failed was due to pressure
from environmental groups.

00:09:51.800 --> 00:09:56.020
Disposable DVDs don’t sound like a great
product to catch on.

00:09:56.030 --> 00:10:00.400
While it is of course possible to recycle
the discs, for the test run Flexplay didn’t

00:10:00.400 --> 00:10:04.570
seem to be that interested in figuring that
part out, and of course needing to return

00:10:04.570 --> 00:10:08.060
to the store where you bought it to recycle
the disc…

00:10:08.060 --> 00:10:09.740
kinda defeats the purpose.

00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:15.220
The convenience aspect sold both to the business
that sells them and the consumer that buys them

00:10:15.220 --> 00:10:19.380
is pretty much lost if the consumer is expected
to return,

00:10:19.380 --> 00:10:21.860
and the business has to handle the recycling.

00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:22.920
So what’s the point?

00:10:22.920 --> 00:10:26.870
Disney is likely who caused the end of the
trial, as environmental groups were pressuring

00:10:26.870 --> 00:10:29.300
them to stop this Flexplay nonsense.

00:10:29.300 --> 00:10:32.520
And they did, for rather obvious PR reasons.

00:10:32.520 --> 00:10:36.360
But, Flexplay would return with a vengeance
in 2008.

00:10:36.370 --> 00:10:41.520
They had somehow managed to get Paramount,
Warner Brothers, Starz, and New Line Cinema

00:10:41.520 --> 00:10:45.520
to agree to licensing deals, and they
also convinced Love’s Travel Centers,

00:10:45.520 --> 00:10:51.360
Hudson News, Travel Centers of America, and notably
Staples to sell their discs.

00:10:51.370 --> 00:10:56.560
Apparently they were trying to go after the
business traveler who wanted to rent a movie,

00:10:56.560 --> 00:10:58.770
but was too busy to return it.

00:10:58.770 --> 00:11:00.050
Or something like that.

00:11:00.050 --> 00:11:04.480
To try and alleviate concerns from the environmentally
minded, they partnered with a company that recycles

00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:06.300
“Technotrash”

00:11:06.300 --> 00:11:09.800
to provide recycling
bins at places that sold the discs

00:11:09.800 --> 00:11:11.940
(which again defeats the purpose)

00:11:11.940 --> 00:11:15.290
and they also would
allow you to print out a free shipping label

00:11:15.290 --> 00:11:17.760
to return the disc for recycling.

00:11:17.760 --> 00:11:18.660
Which again.

00:11:19.180 --> 00:11:20.600
Defeats the point.

00:11:20.760 --> 00:11:22.280
And now you’ve printed something.

00:11:22.580 --> 00:11:23.980
To ship it back.

00:11:24.280 --> 00:11:25.580
To be destroyed.

00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:30.779
Apparently Flexplay did offer free return
labels during the original trial run, but…

00:11:30.779 --> 00:11:33.600
Really, the whole thing did seem rather stupid.

00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:36.980
If you’re gonna mail it back, you might
as well use Netflix and the disc can then

00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:39.440
be enjoyed by dozens of people.

00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:41.540
Rather than one.

00:11:41.550 --> 00:11:45.800
If you have to return to the store, you might
as well go to a video store and rent it there.

00:11:45.800 --> 00:11:50.020
Or, you can just throw it out and be OK with
the waste of plastic.

00:11:50.020 --> 00:11:52.400
And then of course there’s this little company.

00:11:52.400 --> 00:11:53.260
Ah, yes.

00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:54.440
That one.

00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:57.920
The product that lets retail establishments
get into the video rental business without

00:11:57.920 --> 00:11:59.650
taking on any of the hassle.

00:11:59.650 --> 00:12:03.170
Which allows its customers to return their
rentals to any of the machines, which are

00:12:03.170 --> 00:12:06.990
purposely placed in front of everyday businesses
to maximize convenience.

00:12:06.990 --> 00:12:11.210
The product that costs a small fraction to
use compared to buying a Flexplay disc, with

00:12:11.210 --> 00:12:15.620
only a small convenience penalty, or if you
were of the mind to recycle your Flexplay disc,

00:12:15.620 --> 00:12:17.460
no convenience penalty at all.

00:12:17.460 --> 00:12:19.740
But I’m sure Flexplay will do just fine!

00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:20.660
Well it didn’t.

00:12:20.660 --> 00:12:26.100
At a cost of $4.99 to $5.99, the product didn’t
make sense at all.

00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:30.220
Remember that Netflix discs were only $10
a month at this point, and that was for an

00:12:30.230 --> 00:12:32.060
unlimited number of rentals.

00:12:32.060 --> 00:12:36.180
(well, unlimited
aside for the turnaround time of mailing it back).

00:12:36.180 --> 00:12:42.620
As long as you rented just 2 things in a month,
Netflix comes at the same cost or less of Flexplay.

00:12:42.620 --> 00:12:46.260
And of course, you could keep the disc for a
week and not… ya know

00:12:46.260 --> 00:12:48.080
find that it destroyed itself.

00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:52.540
Redbox rentals were still $1 per day, so if
you wanted to go that route, you could rent

00:12:52.540 --> 00:12:56.020
a movie for one fifth the cost of a Flexplay
title.

00:12:56.020 --> 00:12:59.300
And thanks to their positioning in front of
convenience and grocery stores, you would

00:12:59.310 --> 00:13:02.500
probably have a reason to go back and return
it, anyway.

00:13:02.500 --> 00:13:06.640
Plus, Redbox does give the retail establishment
a commision for letting them use the space

00:13:06.640 --> 00:13:07.810
for a machine.

00:13:07.810 --> 00:13:13.140
So regardless of how icky throw-away polycarbonate
frisbees may seem to you from a waste perspective,

00:13:13.140 --> 00:13:17.300
it also frankly just didn’t make sense. At
all.

00:13:17.300 --> 00:13:21.779
Flexplay was pretty much the worst possible
way to rent a movie at the time.

00:13:21.779 --> 00:13:26.279
If, perhaps, things went to their plans and
loads of bored business travelers stuck in

00:13:26.280 --> 00:13:32.700
airports decided to pop for a movie from Hudson
News, then maybe this would have worked.

00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:36.940
But, I just don’t think that was really
a viable market to begin with.

00:13:36.940 --> 00:13:40.750
If it was, you’d think Redbox would be in
airports, since you could just return the

00:13:40.750 --> 00:13:42.600
disc when you get home.

00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:46.520
But maybe they didn’t want to deal with
the logistics of discs routinely going cross

00:13:46.520 --> 00:13:48.360
country or something, I don’t know.

00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:52.860
Pretty much the one sole advantage that you
could say Flexplay legitimately had was that

00:13:52.870 --> 00:13:55.290
the discs would be brand new every time.

00:13:55.290 --> 00:13:59.339
You’d never have to worry about a scratched
rental disc refusing to play, and then the

00:13:59.340 --> 00:14:01.800
hassle of returning it and getting a refund.

00:14:01.800 --> 00:14:07.040
But, this concept was already tried with DIVX
and people didn’t like it at all.

00:14:07.040 --> 00:14:12.140
Yes, DIVX was a weird product that wasn’t
even compatible with DVD players so at least

00:14:12.140 --> 00:14:14.610
Flexplay had that going for it.

00:14:14.610 --> 00:14:19.269
But the resounding failure of DIVX was somehow
brushed off by those pushing Flexplay, and

00:14:19.269 --> 00:14:21.160
honestly they shoulda seen this coming.

00:14:21.160 --> 00:14:25.720
I’ll grant it’s clever, and I remembering
hearing about it and thinking it was pretty neat.

00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:31.680
But for a commodity like video rental, a neat
gimmick means a lot less than a practical,

00:14:31.680 --> 00:14:33.030
inexpensive rental.

00:14:33.030 --> 00:14:35.430
And that’s before we even get into the waste
aspect.

00:14:35.430 --> 00:14:40.620
Sure, the production and disposal of an individual
DVD probably has a teeny tiny environmental

00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:45.390
impact, but the Tragedy of the Commons means
that as more people do it, the worse it gets

00:14:45.390 --> 00:14:48.010
and possibly without realizing it.

00:14:48.010 --> 00:14:53.050
If Flexplay had become mainstream, then imagine
a world in which 70 million households were

00:14:53.050 --> 00:14:54.670
renting one movie per month.

00:14:54.670 --> 00:15:00.560
That’s over 800 million DVDs produced each
year in the US alone, all of which will be

00:15:00.560 --> 00:15:03.640
intentionally wasted if made by Flexplay.

00:15:03.640 --> 00:15:07.370
In 2010 Redbox rented over 500 million discs.

00:15:07.370 --> 00:15:11.330
According to this website I found, the average
disc is rented 15 times.

00:15:11.330 --> 00:15:16.080
So, those 500 million rentals were only made
of about 33 million discs.

00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:20.600
Redbox accounted for nearly half the rental
market around this time, so assuming similar

00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:25.420
numbers across the board, conventional DVD
rental would require about 66 million discs

00:15:25.420 --> 00:15:29.420
per year, vs. 1 billion Flexplay discs.

00:15:29.420 --> 00:15:30.320
Yikes.

00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:34.040
So I think it’s safe to say it’s a good
thing Flexplay kinda fizzled.

00:15:34.040 --> 00:15:39.060
Yes there are probably a few billion blank
DVD-Rs floating around that will never be used,

00:15:39.060 --> 00:15:42.160
but they weren’t meant to just be
tossed.

00:15:42.160 --> 00:15:48.900
Producing a DVD with a deliberately limited
lifespan seems pretty… well of poor taste.

00:15:48.910 --> 00:15:53.000
And I think that while we seem to live in
a convenience-driven economy, there is a line

00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:54.610
that seems rather crass.

00:15:54.610 --> 00:15:56.850
And I think Flexplay crossed it.

00:15:56.850 --> 00:16:00.650
Interestingly, a thought experiment has been
floating around wondering if the environmental

00:16:00.650 --> 00:16:05.400
impact of streaming services, with their vast
amount of hard drives and servers running

00:16:05.400 --> 00:16:10.420
24/7 sucking up that sweet sweet electricity
might actually be worse for the Earth’s

00:16:10.420 --> 00:16:13.080
health than physical media.

00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:18.010
In many ways streaming services are the perfect
candidate for a Tragedy of the Commons scenario,

00:16:18.010 --> 00:16:21.589
because we can’t see the backbones that
make them work.

00:16:21.589 --> 00:16:26.600
But regardless, I think we can agree that
producing tons of single-use DVDs is definitely

00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:30.010
worse than simply renting them out the old
fashioned way.

00:16:30.010 --> 00:16:33.360
Before I close this video out, I’d like
to discuss the patent.

00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:38.300
The patent that I believe is the principle
one owned by Flexplay is incredible.

00:16:38.300 --> 00:16:44.800
Their patent was so broad that it covered basically any potential way to create a self-destructing disc.

00:16:44.800 --> 00:16:46.570
Here are just a few samplings:

00:16:46.880 --> 00:16:48.020
"In one embodiment...

00:16:54.880 --> 00:16:56.420
Another aspect of the invention...

00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:04.960
Alternatively, a timed destruction of the
data...

00:17:12.869 --> 00:17:16.699
They basically thought up as many ways to
achieve a self-destructing disc as they could,

00:17:16.700 --> 00:17:19.920
and wrapped them all up into an over-arching
patent.

00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:21.479
Pretty smart, actually.

00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:24.700
In fact, it can best be summed up in this
one paragraph:

00:17:24.700 --> 00:17:27.120
Another aspect of the invention is a composition...

00:17:58.780 --> 00:18:02.619
They even described a disc that would be chemically
altered from the light of the laser reading

00:18:02.619 --> 00:18:06.999
the disc, which could in theory limit the
disc to a certain number of plays, and not

00:18:06.999 --> 00:18:09.230
a specific timeframe.

00:18:09.230 --> 00:18:11.549
They really did cover all their bases, here.

00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:13.770
Too bad it was a product nobody asked for.

00:18:13.770 --> 00:18:17.509
As always, thank you to everyone who supports
this channel on Patreon, especially the fine

00:18:17.509 --> 00:18:19.869
folks you see scrolling up your screen.

00:18:19.869 --> 00:18:24.090
Contributions from individuals like you are
what make Technology Connections possible.

00:18:24.090 --> 00:18:27.549
If you’d like to make a pledge of your own
and get perks like early video access, occasional

00:18:27.549 --> 00:18:31.450
behind the scenes footage, and the inside
scoop on the latest projects, please check

00:18:31.450 --> 00:18:33.150
out my Patreon page.

00:18:33.150 --> 00:18:35.500
Thanks for your consideration, and I’ll
see you next time!

00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:39.460
♫ temporarily smooth jazz ♫

00:18:42.420 --> 00:18:44.019
I will be amazed if this works.

00:18:44.019 --> 00:18:48.399
And I hope it doesn’t because I already
recorded what I did earlier, so let’s…

00:18:48.399 --> 00:18:49.480
let’s try.

00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:51.909
...was to sell only temporary rights to a

00:18:51.909 --> 00:18:53.980
film, and the… no.

00:18:53.980 --> 00:18:56.980
...is pretty much lost if the consumer is respected to...

00:18:56.980 --> 00:18:57.540
Respected?

00:18:57.540 --> 00:18:59.280
Expected!

00:18:59.280 --> 00:19:01.420
...is pretty much lost if the consumer is res….

00:19:02.420 --> 00:19:04.040
(disappointed silence)

00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:05.220
Is expected.

00:19:05.220 --> 00:19:07.420
...is very hard because.

00:19:07.740 --> 00:19:08.440
Ahh!!

00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:09.380
No!!

00:19:09.390 --> 00:19:11.330
That’s not the line.

00:19:11.330 --> 00:19:12.840
The…. dibbiybede

00:19:12.840 --> 00:19:14.990
And loads of bored business travelers stuck

00:19:14.990 --> 00:19:16.710
in… eugh.

00:19:16.710 --> 00:19:19.480
I’ve completely forgot how I wrote this
line.

00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:21.030
We appear to be getting nowhere fast...