[opendtv] Re: Burn your own DVDs at legal kiosks
- From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 14:51:52 -0700
There seems to be a disconnect here. Let's take Humphrey Bogart's first
film appearance -- in 1920's-era "Men Are Such Fools" (directed by Busby
Berkeley, but with no dancing sequences.) It's hard
If a digital copy of this got out in the wild -- I saw the film on XETV in
1978 -- maybe 1000 people around the world would be interested, even if it
were available on a p2p network.
Compare that to the market interest in "Blades of Glory."
Having the first title available for download without CSS, I suspect that
more people would pay for it than would be interested in a DVD copy with
CSS. The CSS encoding would seem to diminish the commercial prospects
versus one without it; the exact opposite of "Blades of Glory."
I can only conclude that someone is lying here, and I don't mean 'Bert.
John Willkie, who routinely looks for a listing of "Men Are Such Fools" to
see how inclusive a film database is.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2007 4:22 PM
Subject: [opendtv] Burn your own DVDs at legal kiosks
> Prospects heat up for 'download and burn'
>
> Dylan McGrath
> (04/16/2007 9:00 AM EDT)
> URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199000704
>
> A highly anticipated technology that promises to lighten the burden on
> retail outlets stocking DVD titles, as well as to make older and more
> obscure content available in DVD format, is expected to hit stores later
> this year. Using a model similar to one-hour photo service, retailers
> would offer "download and burn" kiosks that would dramatically expand
> the range of available titles and fill customer orders in roughly 15
> minutes.
>
> The concept has been kicking around for several years. The biggest
> obstacle was the content-scrambling system (CSS) used to encrypt DVDs,
> according to Jim Taylor, senior vice president and general manager of
> the advanced technology group at Sonic Solutions, a provider of software
> and applications for DVD authoring and content delivery. The major
> Hollywood studios finally agreed to amend the CSS early this year to
> support download-and-burn.
>
> The vast majority of DVDs sold today are either new releases or titles
> that have gained enduring popularity. Customers seeking older or less
> common titles are often unable to find them in stores, though some are
> available through Web retailers.
>
> According to Taylor, retailer feedback indicates that as many as half of
> customers who enter a store in search of a particular title walk out
> empty-handed. "It's clear there is a huge need here," he said.
>
> But retailers cannot afford to stock all available titles. And aside
> from the most popular classics, most films produced before the DVD era
> have never been made available in the format, because demand levels
> don't justify mass production.
>
> According to Taylor, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. has roughly 6,600
> movies in its catalog, yet only about 1,300 have made it to DVD. Major
> retailers today might have a maximum of 500 DVD titles on hand. But a
> download-and-burn kiosk initially would offer about 5,000 titles and
> eventually provide many more.
>
> "It's like having the Internet in the store, in the sense of being able
> to get everything," said Tom Adams, founder of Adams Media Research
> (Carmel, Calif.).
>
> Sonic's Taylor spearheaded the effort through the DVD Forum to amend the
> CSS licensing agreement and gain the studios' approval. "It took a while
> to get everyone to agree and to make sure the studios were comfortable,"
> he said.
>
> Some studios have been more accommodating than others, he said, noting
> that Time Warner Inc. chairman and CEO Richard Parsons announced late
> last year that the media giant would make films and TV shows available
> to download-and-burn services during 2007. New titles would likely be
> made available for download-and-burn on the same day the mass-produced
> DVDs hit stores.
>
> In January, Sonic Solutions (Novato, Calif.) announced Qflix, a
> technology-licensing program designed to enable the secure and legal
> burning of DVDs playable on standard-definition players. The company
> demonstrated the technology at the Consumer Electronics Show. Program
> participants range from drive manufacturers, disk-publishing technology
> companies and media solutions providers to Walgreens, the largest U.S.
> drug store chain.
>
> Indeed, Walgreens may be the first retailer to roll out
> download-and-burn. Taylor described the chain as "extremely interested"
> and said its digital-photo kiosks could be modified to provide the DVD
> service. Sonic is also working with kiosk manufacturers such as
> TitleMatch Entertainment Group Inc. (Commack, N.Y.) and MOD Systems
> (Seattle). Taylor estimated new standalone kiosks in stores would cost
> $15,000 to $35,000 each.
>
> The download-and-burn concept extends beyond kiosks. Wal-Mart offers a
> service that lets consumers download films formatted for portable media
> players and PCs. Industry watchers expect Wal-Mart and others to offer
> download-and-burn via PCs and broadband.
>
> The concept is also being billed as a custom-DVD-manufacturing solution
> for Web retailers. And, according to Bob Saffari, senior director of
> marketing for chip maker LSI Corp.'s advanced video products, cable
> set-top manufacturers are taking steps to incorporate DVD burners into
> their products. Despite the popularity of DVR services such as TiVo, he
> said, "people do like to put their hands on something they think they
> own." LSI last week introduced video IC family for the professional
> market (see story, page 53). Targeted apps include download-and-burn
> kiosks.
>
> "We are bullish about packaged media long term," analyst Adams said.
> "Even with the delivery of anything you want, people will still be
> buying disks. People like packaged media. People love to shop."
>
> All material on this site Copyright 2007 CMP Media LLC. All rights
> reserved.
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
>
> - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
>
> - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
