The End of The DVD and How It Will Save The World

The internet is an amazing, incredible thing. Despite what some blowhards might think (big hat tip to FireJoeMorgan for doing us the favor of tearing this to shreds so we don’t have to) it is amazing that every one of us has equal opportunity to say our piece and has equal ability to read what others are writing. It has the potential to enable massive political and cultural change, far beyond anything we’ve seen before.
The potential for the internet to truly enable real democratic growth and participation in society is one of the reasons I’m so passionate about Network Neutrality. I also think that the internet will help us enjoy many of the things we love without destroying the planet we all share. One way this can happen is through a massive shift in how we obtain and consume media.
Michael Bay has a wild and crazy theory that seems to me to be dead on. We’re currently in the midst of an epic battle between the next great media formats. There are two camps, the BlueRay group and the HD-DVD camp. Both make discs which play video with higher resolutions than current DVDs. Both come on discs strikingly similar to the first generation DVD and CD. Microsoft has been one of the largest backers of the HD-DVD format and Michael Bay thinks he knows why.
What you don’t understand is corporate politics. Microsoft wants both formats to fail so they can be heroes and make the world move to digital downloads. That is the dirty secret no one is talking about. That is why Microsoft is handing out $100 million dollar checks to studios just embrace the HD DVD and not the leading, and superior Blu Ray. They want confusion in the market until they perfect the digital downloads. Time will tell and you will see the truth.
He’s right. There’s no call for a new DVD format. It’s in fact destructive to make a major move to a new optical media format. Never mind the huge piles of electronic garbage created when everyone throws out their old DVD player to get that slick new HD-DVD player. Let’s talk about the disks themselves. Each CD/DVD produced and delivered contributes a kilogram of carbon dioxide to global warming. Then, when the disk is too scratched to play, it joins the 100,000 pounds of optical media thrown out each month.
Via Earth2Tech:
The chemical used in jewel cases, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), is especially damaging to the environment. It often contains a variety of additives, including lead, making it is the least recyclable, and least recycled, of the major plastics. The EPA estimates that less than one percent of post-consumer PVC is recovered or reprocessed. That means the remaining 99% either ends up in landfills or is incinerated, a process that releases damaging dioxins into the air.
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Every $100,000 spent on commercial software reproduction creates the global warming potential of approximately 29 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents as well as 38 kilograms of toxic waste. This estimate does not include related materials such as printed manuals, nor does it include the impact of shipping, etc. required for distribution. There is no reason to assume that in-house software reproduction would have a lower environmental impact, and in fact, would likely be higher due to less efficiency in shipping, batch processing, etc.
Were there to be a shift towards digital delivery of all media we would all be better served. The increased efficiency would allow for more money to go to artists and prices to fall all without cutting into profits. There would also be a positive environmental impact and I’d be able to watch Superbad the day it comes out on DVD without getting off my duff and eventually adding to the pile of 5.5 million jewel cases thrown out each year. Yep, if Michael Bay is right, the garbage he directs will never become trash.

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