Movies on a flash drive not apt to boom anytime soon

by Darren Murph, posted Feb 23rd 2008 at 6:07PM

Earlier this month, we disagreed that HD movie downloads would trump HD DVD / Blu-ray disc purchases in the not-too-distant future, and now we've got yet another clever alternative on deck that just doesn't have the makings of a winner. While it seems that consumers still prefer something tangible when purchasing movies, we can't help but agree that flicks on flash drives just wouldn't work. Aside from the prohibitive cost to pop out a standard DVD on a flash chip versus a disc, the idea of having customers flock to some sort of movie download kiosk to refill memory cards with new releases just seems absurd. Sure, we understand how this could sound marginally appealing from the sidelines, but we just can't imagine all those DVD cases at your favorite big box retailer getting swapped out with movie-filled SDHC cards anytime soon.

Filed under: Industry, Other formats

Tags: film, films, flash, flash-based movies, Flash-basedMovies, movies

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Papytendo @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:01PM

Where did you find that Micro SD card or is it fake?

Neutral

JeffDM @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:13PM

I'm pretty sure it's called Photoshop.

Highly Ranked

Killer @ Feb 24th 2008 9:59AM

It's a real SD card...

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/sandisk-crams-12gb-onto-a-microsdhc-card/

No Photoshop used.

Neutral

Mr. E @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:03PM

I can see some sort of solid state format possibly gaining traction eventually, but I can't picture it within at least the next ten years. I personally feel that 1080p, lossless audio Blu-ray will meet my home theater needs for the indefinite future.

Neutral

Ken @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:10PM

Well, for one, what are the costs of write-once vs. ultra-hi-speed rewritable cards designed for cameras?

Isn't Kodak trying to push out 1GB SD and CF cards for $5 (retail price) as 'film' that you could buy at the zoo, Disneyland, etc. if you run out of room?

But no matter, a 32GB card is not going to be cheap (read: $1-2) for a while unless there is a big technological jump.

Neutral

kevin @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:49PM

I'm pretty sure that if anyone inked a deal with Disney where the big D charged $5 for the memory card, it would mean Kodak's only selling them for about 25 cents. Anything more, and Disney would be charging more like $20-25.

Highly Ranked

tcrone @ Feb 23rd 2008 8:52PM

Once the capacities of these cards increases and cost comes down, it becomes a viable option. I'd take this over BlueRay.

Neutral

JeffDM @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:19PM

By that time, you can just do digital downloads. Blu-Ray discs cost $2 a piece in volume to press & package, right now. Even an 8 GB read-only card has to be a LOT more than that.

Neutral

jesusRvd @ Feb 23rd 2008 9:06PM

that would be kinda cool tho.altho u would need a tv (or watever) to have like ten inputs and then pik wich u wanna see. but id rather have to repair scratches then drop the lil card everytime i wanna get it out hahah

Neutral

Doc @ Feb 23rd 2008 9:18PM

It's a shame that the companies that make these don't try to push for cheaper higher capcity cards because think of the size of the player that would use this, it could be the size of an ipod with no moving parts!!! They don't have to be a micro card either, but any small card would be nice. My only question is can these cards produce the same quality as disks? If they can't then i'll stick with disks, but I do like the smaller size and no moving parts so my battery in my notebook would last longer too!

Neutral

Mr. E @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:04PM

Hypothetically, if you could have a flash memory card that held 50 GB at the right price, you could have identical quality to Blu-ray. The problems are dual: A 32 GB SDHC card is going for around $700 right now. Second is that data on a flash drive will have a shorter life span than data stored in an optical format like a BD.

I think there will have to be some new form of solid state storage developed before this is even a possibility. Personally, I'm holding out for the Babylon 5-style "data crystal".

Highest Ranked

Killer @ Feb 23rd 2008 9:55PM

There is only one reason (besides the development of 50 GB SD cards) why this wouldn't happen. It's not because of the idea, it's who owns what. Seeing that for example SanDisk owns the patents, etc. Why would Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung etc...want Sandisk getting all the royalties? They wouldn't. It's all about the money, if SD cards could work, it would never get off the ground because companies like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba and Samsung would get less of the pie. Money royalist drive the development of new formats, Plain and Simple.

Neutral

mitch @ Feb 24th 2008 1:09AM

Another big reason why it will take a while; there are a lot of different formats of memory cards. Which companpy will get the royalties off all the memory card sales?? Can you say format war times 4.

Neutral

Mark @ Feb 24th 2008 12:53PM

The days of physical media are over. I just wish I wasn't the only one who thought that.

Neutral

kcjones @ Feb 25th 2008 2:17PM

The idea of flash cards being used by rental companies such as Blockbuster or Netflix is intriguing. Imagine buying an SD card and filling up the card at a kiosk in the local 7 Eleven or gas station. Creating a viable DRM would be key. Otherwise, it would save rental companies millions of dollars, and give customers more accessibility to the latest Movie releases.

Steve Harris hints at the future of the reborn EGM Micro-transaction model a possibility for WoW The first video of N+ dev's 'Robotology'	RunPee goes mobile with a new iPhone app Flickr2Twitter: Twitpic killer? Did OpenBitTorrent just become The Pirate Bay 2.0?
Give us your tired, your poor, your best iPhone fireworks pix and videos New MBP offers top display quality, but some beg to differ Get Astraware Solitaire and some free fireworks	The week in preview: Focus returns to earnings: Alcoa, Chevron, Family Dollar The Iraq War was fought for oil -- now we have none of it Earnings highlights: General Mills, Apollo Group, H&R Block, Sealy ...
Celebrate July 4th with adorable Kodu fireworks Gears of War 2's Title Update 4 now live Metanet: N+ next week's Xbox Live deal	EDITORIAL: Attention Wall Street Journal - Ford does not use Toyota's hybrid system! MotoGP: Autoblog tours the Yamaha garages REPORT: Toyota plans to manufacture up to 30,000 plug-in hybrids in 2012
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood DLC coming to PC Epic's "CliffyB" found id's acquisition "shocking" Rumor: Windows 7 going gold next week?	McNair Investigation Focuses on Woman Jeff Fisher: 'This Is a Tragic Moment for Anyone Who Knew and Loved Steve' Sahel Kazemi Identified as Second Victim In McNair Tragedy