From: Andrew Veliath <vel...@frontiernet.net>
Subject: to kill DIVX, urge rentals of NORMAL DVDS (even buyers)
Date: 1997/09/16
Message-ID: <wkpvqaw1mi.fsf@frontiernet.net>#1/1
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Newsgroups: alt.video.dvd


...and continue to buy normal DVDs.  If what I understand is closer to
the truth now, DIVX is competing for the rental DVD market with what I
think is deceptive logic.  I will iterate this again: comparing the $5
cost to a normal DVD seems cheap, but comparing the $5 cost to renting
a normal movie now, or probably a normal DVD is dumber than I can
imagine (IMHO)!  Not to mention having to have a phone line near my
entertainment system (which I may say that out of all the people I
know none of which have a phone line situated in a convenient location
to their entertainment systems, or at least which won't require some
$$ for modification).

This seems logical to me: think about it, Circuit City is telling the
consumer, IMHO:

	Pay a $100 premium on a special DVD player, then
	you pay about 2-3 times as much to rent these
	special movies for your special DVD player (even
	over the normal DVD rental, which you really don't
	even know about), then you pay us to store the 
	movie.  If you dispose of it, you pay a penalty 
	and have to buy it again.  Of course, that's fine
	with us since you must pay for your misdeed of 
	throwing out your old rentals.  You must pay us to 
	manufacture the disc you would like to rent.

	Oh yes, we won't tell you, but our new systems is
	more complicated than renting normal DVDs, but we
	don't want you to know that.  Furthermore, you must
	pay us later for viewing what you physically own,
	since we, umm, we really like to hear from you. *

	* further viewing periods are charged to you less
	the manufacturing cost and a fudge factor... 
	of course, you could rent a normal DVD for probably
	less than even this, but we want your money and don't 
	want you to know that...

Of course, you could avoid this plague and urge video stores to carry
normal rental DVDs now which should hurt acceptance of DIVX, and
probably help DVD in the process (that is, if you agree with the
above).

-- 
Andrew Veliath <vel...@frontiernet.net>
Computer Systems Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute