Disposable DVDs: Instant Waste, or Cynical Cash-Grab?

Disney is preparing to release a new disposable technology: DVDs, available for sale for around the cost of a rental, which self-destruct after 48 hours. So far, the idea isn’t garnering much positive response. Viewers don’t see the point; environmentalists are furious about the unnecessary waste material; and at some point, you’ve got to figure that consumers are going to wonder why a DVD with a chemical erasing agent embedded in it is less than half as expensive as the exact same DVD without a self-destruct mechanism.