DIVX promo tape- 1998
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This is a VHS tape you could have sent to you to learn more about DIVX, which was a pay-per-view variation on DVD which was only on the market for 9 months (September 1998 til June 1999). Movies sold for $4.49 but could only be played for 48 hours, after that you could pay $3.25 for another 48 hours or pay about $15 (on some titles) to unlock the disc for unlimited viewing. The players kept track of all this with a modem, which sent info to the billing system about what movies were played and appropriate charges were made to the customer's credit card.
After DIVX was discontinued, the billing system remained online until June 2001 so movies could still be watched and paid for. Refunds were given for discs converted to unlimited play, as they stopped working after the billing computer went offline- players still had to call into that to keep the discs authorized.
It's funny how DIVX has mostly been forgotten by now- during the brief time it was out, there was intense hatred for it on the internet. If this had taken off, some movies might have been released this way only. Though it was marketed as an alternative to rentals, it was a threat to those of us who preferred to BUY our movies. There were many titles available on DIVX but not regular DVD, Paramount and Fox even supported DIVX for a few months before they released anything at all on standard DVD.
DIVX was a division of Circuit City, which ended up hindering the format's growth as other retailers would not carry it since it would be helping their competitor. If you went into a Circuit City store when this was being sold, you would inevitably get a very hard sell on it- store employees were basically ordered to push DIVX harder than anything else they had sold before.
After DIVX was discontinued, the billing system remained online until June 2001 so movies could still be watched and paid for. Refunds were given for discs converted to unlimited play, as they stopped working after the billing computer went offline- players still had to call into that to keep the discs authorized.
It's funny how DIVX has mostly been forgotten by now- during the brief time it was out, there was intense hatred for it on the internet. If this had taken off, some movies might have been released this way only. Though it was marketed as an alternative to rentals, it was a threat to those of us who preferred to BUY our movies. There were many titles available on DIVX but not regular DVD, Paramount and Fox even supported DIVX for a few months before they released anything at all on standard DVD.
DIVX was a division of Circuit City, which ended up hindering the format's growth as other retailers would not carry it since it would be helping their competitor. If you went into a Circuit City store when this was being sold, you would inevitably get a very hard sell on it- store employees were basically ordered to push DIVX harder than anything else they had sold before.
