Sidebar: DVD disconnection

Sidebar: DVD disconnection

The Web DVD Holdup
Despite a lot of early hype and high expectations, the Web DVD has yet to materialize in a truly meaningful way. Hollywood movie studios were among the first to jump in, staging ambitious online chat events to unite users who bought a DVD movie title and used it on an Internet-connected PC. But even that level of activity has died down, with few titles making innovative use of connectivity beyond the requisite Web links.

The reason? Despite studies showing that as many as one-fifth of purchased DVD-Video titles are actually viewed in DVD-ROM drives, there seems to be little evidence that consumers are demanding online features. "Consumers could seem to care less about Web DVD," says LaBarge. "I've sold titles with Web DVD and several without, and it doesn't seem to me that sales are any better or worse. I get more support calls for Web DVD, because people are trying it out, but I haven't seen a huge number." LaBarge acknowledges that consumers may buy discs for added DVD-ROM functions, but says the industry is probably "a year or two away" from Web DVD consumer titles being a profitable endeavor.

One recurrent bugaboo is the lack of cross-platform compatibility for PCFriendly, which is probably the most-used Web DVD creation system. When The Matrix was released on DVD-Video, it was a touchstone for both sales volume and the quality of special features accessible through DVD-ROM. Mac owners weren't invited to the party, however, because there wasn't a usable API that PCFriendly could hook into.

Apple's DVD player does support some Internet functionality. For example, a Web browser can be opened during DVD playback. The situation had improved somewhat with the arrival of Applescript capabilities for DVD playback that were incorporated in a revised version of InterActual's DVD player. Unfortunately, InterActual had implemented the scripting commands through Web browsers, and Netscape, in its newest version, no longer supports LiveConnect, essentially eliminating that option.

There's some irony, producers say, in Apple's splashy show of support for DVD creation on high-end G4s, given the state of Mac-based DVD playback. "Even with Apple releasing those great tools, they do nothing on the playback side. There are flaws in the implementation, very limited scripting support, and no QuickTime API to do anything with DVD playback," LaBarge says. The newly released OS X, which went on sale March 24, doesn't support DVD playback at all, although a fix has been promised soon.

"From my standpoint, Web DVD has really hit a brick wall," Graboyes says. "The fact that you can't make a cross-platform [PC and Mac] Web DVD disc almost eliminates it as a possibility for 85 percent of my clients." Graboyes can tick off a list of clients who got cold feet over the Mac incompatibilities. One Web DVD project went to 4,000 people internally at the consumer electronics retailer Circuit City, but when Graboyes suggested pressing more and distributing them to consumers, the company balked because the discs wouldn't play on a Mac.

Zuma also created a Web DVD kiosk application for the flagship Kenneth Cole clothing store in New York City. "We suggest putting the discs on their clothes as hang-tags, and as soon as the Mac issue comes up, we're stopped dead. A lot of people fall back on CD-ROM, like Guess did, because of that issue. A year ago, we had arguments about the installed base [of DVD-ROM drives]. Now they ask if it's Mac-compatible."

It all leads to frustration for producers, who are expected to deliver true cross-platform applications, even though Mac users make up only a small percentage of the market. The issue even impacts Zuma's Active DVD tool for embedding DVD content in PowerPoint presentations, which is a tougher sell because the PCFriendly-based application can't be ported to the Mac. Graboyes notes that he has a Mac laptop that he can use to author, multiplex and play back DVD content-but he still needs to carry a PC with him in order to work in PowerPoint or with Web DVD applications.

Asked about the future of Web DVD support on the Mac, Mike Evangelist, senior product line manager for Apple's DVD products, reiterated that only Apple doesn't discuss its future plans. "Rest assured that we are aware of the issues, and their importance is not lost on us," Evangelist said.-B.F.

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