Disney has sneakily shared info with a couple companies about its plans for "Keychest."
Keychest, comparable to Sony's Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE), would mean consumers buy a key code for a movie which gives them access to that movie on various platforms such as iTunes, video on demand, online, etc.
This eliminates the need for carrying around DVDs or storing heavy files on the computer as content can be accessed anywhere since it will be available on multiple platforms and stored on a remote server. It's comparable to Sony's Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) and Google Docs.
Kind of like an iTunes+, it will probably get more people to actually pay for movies since they're so easily attained and available. Because so many people get their movies online, DVDs are a declining source of revenue, falling as much as 25% at some studios.
Because of Steve Jobs/Apple's relationship with Disney, they will probably be on board with the project.
It's to be announced next month, though Bob Chapek, head of home entertainment at Disney, doesn't expect Keychest to generate profits for five years.
While this doesn't say anything about entirely abandoning DVD manufacturing, it seems only inevitable that they will fade away in time much like VHS tapes and other hard copies in favor of immediate universal access. This means they will lose out on impulse buys based on DVD packaging (how I recently picked up The Good German, which I have yet to actually watch), discussed in the context of video game shopping on Nicole's blog. This will also mean the loss of cover art related jobs.
With everyone already buying music online/on iTunes instead of shopping for CDs or vinyl, stores like Tower Records. Could the rise of simply buying rights to watch a movie anytime online mean a similar fate for stores like f.y.e.?
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