The DVD Dump

Just when I thought Blu-Ray was going to be the standard in ridiculous new DVD features, the DVD format surprises me with TellX Active-Video. This new (d)evolutionary technology in needless interactivity works almost as a mini Blu-Ray submenu. Except for the fact that with Blu-Ray you can still watch the movie with the submenu up. In other words, you stop the movie so a dinky menu can appear and offer up extras. According to TellX’s website, here are the ‘key’ benefits.

1. TellX embellishes and extends traditional movie storytelling for directors and audiences alike with on-demand compelling interactive information relevant to the scene being watched.
2. A TellX enabled DVD answers viewer’s questions about anything they see or hear whenever they see or hear it!
3. TellX is available “On-Demand” at the point-of-interest and never gets in the way or distracts from the viewers enjoyment of the movie.
4. TellX is embedded along with the movie on a standard DVD and requires no new player and no new format discs just a standard DVD player and remote control and the excitement of being able to “Touch The Movie” with TellX!

Did you get all that? Unless you’re a SUPER creepy movie geek of the highest/lowest geekdom who really wants to know the EXACT location where a movie was filmed, there is NOTHING of interest here. If they really wanted to show off this new technology, it would’ve helped to have it on a movie you’d actually care about rather than a DTV movie like The Code. Not to mention there is NOTHING new about this point-of-interest technology. It floors me how this technology that’s been floating around for almost a decade is seen as new and revolutionary. What’s even more pathetic is that back in the early 2000’s point-of-interest interactivity was just a gimmicky toy on DVDs like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and AKIRA. Yet I see it touted like incredible technology on new DVDs like The Dark Knight.

To all DVD manufacturers, STOP MAKING FOCAL POINT-OF-INTEREST EXTRAS! If I want to see the featurettes on the disc, I’ll watch the damn featurettes. I’m not going to sit through the movie and watch the featurettes when YOU tells me to. What kind of messed up logic is that?

Besides, why would I want to TOUCH a movie? Do they even read what they write on their website?

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