« BYOB Again | Main | A "So What" For Adults... But Someone Should Be Fired For Stupidity »
April 16, 2008
The Digital Copy Thang
I ran into two firsts this week regarding digital copies made available with DVDs.
First, I got a copy of Sony Home Entertainment's direct-to-DVD title, Diamond Dogs, starring Dolph Lundgren. Prominently placed on the cover, which is also tricked out with a 3D image, it says, "INCLUDES BONUS DIGITAL COPY."
This is, as far as I can tell, a first for Sony. I have seen it, as noted here, with WB in the past, including the last Harry Potter... which didn't work on iPod/Phone/Touch. And of course, Sony is pushing their PSP, so this download, which you can make to your PC, doesn't transfer to Mac, and apparently will not work on iPod/Phone/Touch.
One movie that will absolutely work on your iPod/Phone/Touch is Juno. The Blu-ray copy of the film comes with a second disc expressly intended as a digital download for PC, MAC and specifically, the "i"s.
This is the future... a purchase will be a purchase to all formats, becuase that is what the public wants.
I gather in regular Juno DVDs, there is a premium price to get a download. I think that's fair. $7 is not realistic. But bring it down to the cost of a DVD rental and it becomes a viable premium.
Posted by poland at April 16, 2008 11:17 PM
Comments
FYI, standard DVD Juno 2-discs come with the digital copy. The one-disc has a sizable amount of extras, but the 2-disc has more extras AND a digital copy. Standard DVD.
Know your facts.
*Hope everyone noted my AP level transcription skillz, as 2-disc as a modifier uses the digit, but "one" traditional gets spelled out no matter what the case.
Example #271 that English major and professional genius Lex is probably smarter than you.
Posted by: LexG
at April 17, 2008 01:14 AM
You work as a transcriber.
Posted by: jeffmcm
at April 17, 2008 02:36 AM
Actually not at the moment, haven't done so in a year or so, but curious about the bluntness of that statement. Are you somehow insinuating that's a job that's beneath you?
A job that pays 30-60k guaranteed, stable income, stable living, etc.?
Maybe your observation was simply innocuous, but considering you bounce around here clinging to my every syllable with some disdain, excuse me if I'm suspicious. Are you saying that a solid middle class job is somehow ripe for ridicule? As opposed to, what? Waiting for post-production jobs to fall out of the sky, with no security?
I'm not asking that mockingly... actually, I'm really not. In my decade plus in LA, it's a constant dilemma... selling out to make a steady, white collar paycheck, or playing the STARVING ARTIST. I'm assuming you opt for the latter. If you can pull that off, mad props... but really, wouldn't it be easier to just clock in to some 9 to 5 and collect a solid income? (If not now, at some point?)
On topic... er, what IS a digital copy? I'm so behind the times. Not even sure what that implies. A second disc for portable media players? I don't get it.
Posted by: LexG
at April 17, 2008 02:47 AM
This is, as far as I can tell, a first for Sony.
They've been doing it on a kinda-sorta-experimental basis since the beginning of the year. The hitch is you had to buy the movies at Wal-Mart and the digital copies are set to "expire" after a few months.
Posted by: Bob Violence
at April 17, 2008 02:55 AM
I'm not sure why people should be expected to pay a premium for a digital copy of a movie they just purchased. The logical next step (which I know already exists, but hasn't become as widespread yet) would be software that can rip a DVD like iTunes can CDs, allowing people to digitize their movies and put them on any device they want. People are paying for the use of the copyrighted material, and not the piece of plastic (or so the studios and music companies have asserted for as long as it served their interests), so it should be their right to do what they will with it, as long as it remains only in their personal use and not for distribution. Putting digital copies on their dvds allows the studios to have some say of control over this process and is better for them than it is for the consumer, hence they shouldn't be trying to charge a "premium" for it.
Posted by: Me
at April 17, 2008 05:39 AM
Me: DVD BOB actually came up with such software, that got him in trouble. The problem of course with ripping a DVD, stems from the rather trippy way they are configured. The movie has one file. There is a read me file. There is a file for the extras. While I believe there's even a file for the different audio tracks. So, yeah, ripping DVDS is a huge gosh darn hassle. The thing with the JUNO DIGITAL COPY is this... it got me a free shirt from Circuit City and the 2-disc has more feature. So it's worth a premium price for a shirt and a t-shirt!
Posted by: IOIOIOI
at April 17, 2008 06:54 AM
IO, well yeah, because cool extras are worth paying more for.
I know there are plenty of pieces of software that let you rip a DVD to an AVI or DIVX or whatever is, which work fine. From there, I imagine it's pretty easy to use a Roxio package or whatever to convert the AVIs into whatever plays on the iPod (I think that's what my copy of Roxio keps crowing about).
Posted by: Me
at April 17, 2008 08:06 AM
Lex, does working as a transcriber allow you to sleep with hot actresses and models? Perhaps I've misunderstood you in the past, but if not, then it is indeed a worthless job.
Posted by: Eric
at April 17, 2008 09:23 AM
The thing is, its really easy to rip a DVD to your hard drive, to make another copy or to convert to whatever format you choose, more specifically to play on your Ipod. The ripping process can take 10-15 minutes tops with no noticeable loss in quality, even more so if you don't want any extras and just the film.Converting to an Ipod format can take 30-45 minutes and it'll look fine on your little screen. If these programs were to become mainstream then the process can be shortened even more on a higher end PC.
Posted by: harosa
at April 17, 2008 10:36 AM
"A job that pays 30-60k guaranteed, stable income, stable living, etc.?"
Am I the only one surprised to find "stable living" in the Lex(G)icon? I'd expect that to be no part of his vocabulary, let alone his persona.
Posted by: Blackcloud
at April 17, 2008 10:40 AM
harosa, exactly. The thing that kind of surprises me is that Apple hasn't already rigged their iTunes to do exactly that. One would think it'd be a natural extension of what they did for cds.
I can only think that they don't want to rock the boat with the studios as they attempt to become THE place for legit downloading of movies. Hence why these programs will probably stay underground for a while.
Posted by: Me
at April 17, 2008 10:46 AM
There are no us based software companies that sell software to rip dvds. Some people give it away but or it's donateware but nothing for sale. Apple would gladly do it if they could but they can't. But Sony's arrogance by bypassing Apple is incredibly. I rarely see any kids with PSPs but they all have ipods... Sony lost that war long ago.
Posted by: tfresca
at April 17, 2008 08:56 PM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)