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DVD Commercials? Do they need to give us more reasons to hate them?
ArcSyn
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
IBM applies for patent for unskippable DVD commercials
I can understand ads on the free "missed an episode?" online content. It's a small screen, it's free, it's online, and mostly it's free.
However, if I'm RENTING a movie (in which case money is usually involved) or especially if I'm BUYING a movie, I will not stand for having commercials (skippable or not) interrupt my movie. I hope movie directors get upset about this because it's their work that will suffer. We put up with commercials on TV movies because it's free, not for any other reason.
Perhaps if a FREE rental service came with commercials, then I'd see some support. Netflix for free? Yeah, I'd give it a shot.
The other problem is that it'd have to be for new formats as it would need to dial home and see if you paid for commercial-free movie or not. Unless they print separate DVDs for the service.
I already hate the unskippable commercials before the menu (which I thought was going to go away when DVDs were introduced - boy was I wrong - now you can't even fast forward or skip some of them..), but this is just ridiculous.
Imagine this scenario. You've just received the latest Hollywood blockbuster in the mail from the DVD rental service of your choice. You've popped the popcorn, poured a tall glass of your favorite beverage, and settled back to watch the film on your flatscreen TV. 15 minutes or so into the movie—right as the action is building to a crescendo—the movie fades to a commercial. For the next minute, you're forced to watch the commercial as the fast-forward button has suddenly stopped working. The unhappy experience is repeated two or three more times before the movie ends. The only way to avoid the interruption is to pay another buck or two to the company you rented from.
That's the scenario envisioned in a patent application filed by IBM (and dug up by Zatz Not Funny!). When DVDs are inserted for playback, the disc would check to see if the viewer had purchased the ad-free version or the (presumably) lower-priced version with unskippable commercials. If it's the latter, the disc player would phone home to an online service to download commercials or play ads embedded on the discs themselves.
From the standpoint of motion picture studios, the patent looks like pure genius. It would give them another source of cash in an era where DVD sales are down and traditional sources of revenue are under pressure. It could also become a way to get back-catalog, niche movies onto DVD, as embedded, unskippable commercials could shore up the business case for cracking open the vault.
Budget-minded consumers might not mind discs with ads, either. That $3.99 new release rental might be just $1.99 or even free if you're willing to sit through a few minutes of ads (another way in which the home theater experience can be more like going to the cinema).
While it might be difficult to implement the patent in current DVD players, the HD DVD spec requires players to have an Ethernet port for online connectivity. While the connectivity is intended for things like software and firmware updates as well as interactive content, there's no reason why it couldn't be used to download car commercials in 1080p.
The debut of network "catch up" services like that of ABC which allow TV fans to watch full episodes of their favorite series online with embedded, unskippable commercials proves that consumers are willing to watch ads in an unfamiliar venue if it means free content. That said, I think I'll pass on the $9.99 Lord of the Rings Presented by McDonald's box set, should it become available.
I can understand ads on the free "missed an episode?" online content. It's a small screen, it's free, it's online, and mostly it's free.
However, if I'm RENTING a movie (in which case money is usually involved) or especially if I'm BUYING a movie, I will not stand for having commercials (skippable or not) interrupt my movie. I hope movie directors get upset about this because it's their work that will suffer. We put up with commercials on TV movies because it's free, not for any other reason.
Perhaps if a FREE rental service came with commercials, then I'd see some support. Netflix for free? Yeah, I'd give it a shot.
The other problem is that it'd have to be for new formats as it would need to dial home and see if you paid for commercial-free movie or not. Unless they print separate DVDs for the service.
I already hate the unskippable commercials before the menu (which I thought was going to go away when DVDs were introduced - boy was I wrong - now you can't even fast forward or skip some of them..), but this is just ridiculous.
ArcSyn on
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Though hopefully this will be outright shut down before inception.
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But then I have software that skips unskippable screens, and things.
This is why I buy Criterion, you get what you pay for.
Irritating the consumer is a poor way to encourage them to consume.
I see what you did there.
To me, it will be worth it if this actually happens.
Not every film gets a Criterion release, nor does every film deserve it.
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Believe me I can only be pretentious to a point.
Rashomon is great and all, but goddamn if I don't adore Independence Day
However, posts like this:
are not the way to discuss this. Let's try this thread again in the right forum and without the piracy endorsements.