Circuit City DIVX commercial #1

[tdrewman]

Disney was one of the pushers of this technology. The felt it was more secure, they love ideal that the movies could not be shared (if you got the 4.99 movie and upgraded to the unlimited views) . I jumped for joy when this format failed. The movie studios have learned or still learning there is no secure format. They learn this lesson again when the security on Blu Ray was cracked.

[layzergun]

FUCK YES A DVD THAT DELETES ITSELF!

THE FUTURE IS HERE!

[eyeh8nbc]

@layzergun That would've been Flexplay, which made DVDs that came in air-tight plastic sleeves then intentionally became unplayable after 48 hours. They attempted those a few times but looks like they've finally given up as their website is no longer up. I have a few of their discs, which I copied to non-expiring discs!

[Draknfyre]

@layzergun

As already answered, that was a different product. These lasted for as long as the disc lasted, and could be played over and over again, except it would charge you $4 each time. You could "buy" the movie for $20, and it would give you unlimited views.

[OneEyeWonderWeasil]

ah circuit city, I worked for them back just before they liquidated. A real failure of a company.

They did SO many stupid things those last 10 years, this ranks right up with cutting appliances and axing commission (driving away all their top salesmen)

[Ibhenriksen]

holy shit. i have this exact dvd player still

[eyeh8nbc]

I have 2 of these (both found at thrift stores)- I have the instore DIVX demo disc, but neither will play it- I also get error messages when I try any DIVX movie discs (I bought a few of those when they were being cleared out for a buck each after it died.) I'm thinking it gets confused after not being able to call the home computer.

A unique thing these can do is play audio CDs BACKWARDS! Sadly they won't read CD-Rs though.

[josehartTV]

@Ibhenriksen dont be embarassed thats a good thing unlike most people you take care of your things

[BoredVAChick]

@eyeh8cbs Actually, the man in the commercial is Juan Conde. He's a radio DJ turned/news anchor at WRIC-TV Richmond, Virginia, the same town as Circuit City's former headquarters. There was a big stink about this commercial in the local press because it was still running for months after he took the TV news job.

[cubcadet2]

no one has a old divx any more hahahahahahahah

[MrCopyrightViolator]

I'm so glad this is up on YouTube! I very clearly remembered some guy in a red shirt saying "Make sure you choose one with DIVX." Probably because it was so ridiculous, and that he'd look like an idiot not too long after.

[eyeh8nbc]

Circuit City employees were ordered to give this a REALLY hard sell to anyone they talked to. There were a lot of flat-out lies such as telling customers the Star Wars movies (or any other mega-popular title that wasn't on DVD yet) would be available on it exclusively. They were threatened with being fired if they said anything negative about DIVX.

[devinpolk90]

@eyeh8nbc thats fucked up

[kingdean2008]

Sites like fightdivx sure put a stop to this dumb format.

[DrRobert909]

Divx was a good idea, but just to early for it's time. You spend the same amount renting or from Blockbuster or Netflix. It's also like ON DEMAND.

[TR47]

Divx was only good for the greedy studios. The idea of a pay-per-view movie format itself isn't the problem; forcing limited functionality & proprietary hardware (vs open format DVD) on buyers is. You had to pay for each subsequent viewing after the initial 48 hour time window elapsed, and the disc could not be played in another Divx machine. It also required the unit to be hooked up to a phone line in order to function. This fiasco is one of the major factors that led to its current demise!

[eyeh8nbc]

They actually could be played on any DIVX machine, but each one would be billed separately. Some movies had an option to pay about $20 for unlimited play (since disabled after the system shut down, those who opted for that could request refunds) but that applied only to one machine and it would be charged if played on any other. Yes, this was one of the dumbest ideas ever to actually make it to market.

[Watcher3223]

Divx was really not a good idea.

Even if Divx had been successful, it would've been KILLED by better on demand services, such as iTunes where you can download a whole movie for a 24 hour viewing period instead of having to go out and buy a disc for limited viewing time.

Anyone also remember those DVDs that, when you opened the packaging, the disc deteriorated in about 2 days? That also didn't last too long.

[Watcher3223]

The thing was that, when people buy a physical disc, they expect it to last and for their contents to be accessible any time someone wants to watch.

Divx and the EZ-D disposable DVD were ideas that went against this expectation, which was one reason why Divx and EZ-D died.

[Watcher3223]

I see that EZ-D is, in fact, NOT dead. But it doesn't seem to be that popular.

[Segasmith]

Consider their marketing of Divx in '99 as the start of the downfall for the reputation of the company that now has them on the verge of Chapter 11, the company I'd like to call Circuit Shitty!

[ultimateanim]

DivX Has now changed you can get it free,

[eyeh8cbs]

The video codec called DivX was named as a jab at this.

[gedaman]

Really? That is awesome! After all this time using DivX I never even knew that. I thought that "DIVX" was the same exact thing as DivX. I guess that the people who did DivX actually got the concept right... pirates! yeah! LOL

[Beerduck]

DivX has always been free.

[whocaresnow2]

@ultimateanim you're an idiot, perhaps retarded

[AVerbene]

what the hell is divx

[Watcher3223]

Divx, short for Digital Video Express, was a pay-per-view, videodisc format, similar to DVD.

You purchase a disc from a participating retailer and you play the disc on a Divx player, which calls the Divx HQ and authorizes a 48 hour viewing period.

After this period expires, you must pay to view it for another 48 hours.

You can pay more to upgrade to view indefinitely, except you can't play the same disc on another player as you'd have to pay for 48 hours on the different player.

[Watcher3223]

Divx service required an open phone line to connect the player to Divx HQ, just like you need a phone line for a digital satellite receiver for DirecTV service.

Divx is not to be confused with a computer video codec of the same name but slightly different spelling (DivX, note the uppercase X).

[cubantoro]

DIVX... another consumer flop!~ Next?  Blue Ray? or DVD HD?

[leatheraprons]

and???