Page 1 of Got a Brand New Conspiracy Theory - Wanna Hear It?

After DivX and RCE, how about BIO? Built In Obsolescence. I bought a Grundig GDV210A about nine months ago after a brief flirtation with a Matsui. It was love at first sight. The Grundig did everything needed of it effortlessly and played every disk from the Matrix to Young Frankenstein that I cared to throw at it. Rarely did it falter, and not once did it fail to play a disk. Until the beginning of November. Suddenly disks started appearing that my Grundig couldn`t handle - Gladiator, Wallace and Gromit, the Toy Story extras disk. I fully expect more disks to pop up that are incompatible with the LSI logic chipset that drives the Grundig (and the Wharfie and the Proline), and it`s set me wondering. Is it only coincidence that the GDV210A has been superseded by a new machine? There`s also a new Wharfie variant and a Proline. Could it be that the disks being produced are deliberately coded so as to be unplayable so that we punters go out and buy a new machine to replace the perfectly good machine we bought only twelve months ago? Argh! It isn`t Region Code Enhancement, it`s Manufacturer`s Warranty Enhancement!

Of course, a more level head would say this would infer a greater level of collaboration between the manufacturers of the disks and those of the machines. Then again, The Truth Is Up There!

(Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo - hums Mark Snow`s X files theme in high falsetto)

Mark,

what are you on?

I want some :))))

Hi Mark,

Personally I think its just crap quality on region 2, all the disks you mention quite correctly are showing up in all the forums as having the problems listed, but only on the region 2 disks.

I have all the disks you mention but in R1 and have seen none of the problems.

Yet again we get stuffed in R2.

Chris

I think a big part of the blame can be left at authoring houses not testing discs on popular players. Although I think all the discs you have mentioned were authored in the US, hence maybe why they don`t these units to test on.

Very good point, RJ. It`s a thought that could have done with being around in that Watchdog hatchet-job that Anne Robinson did on the Wharfie 750 tonight. Dixons deserve frying for selling that piece of crap the Matsui 110, but I felt sorry for that bloke from Tesco getting the weakest link treatment from the Ginger Bitch Queen Of Hell.

I saw that! Man she was actually being a complete bitch! She didnt seem to know that other players cant play the gladiator disc either, such as my dear beloved proline. Yeah she was only slagging tescos when she should have had a go at comet too, to be fair. Not that her argument was any good.

Hmm yes all electronics hardware is built to break, not too last. I always give the good example of this: The game controllers for the nintendo 64 console only lasted a few months before the analogue stick got shafted and you had to buy some more. This way nintende probably made more money on replacment controllers than they did on consoles,seen as you hade 4 controllers per console.

Its a big bad cruel corporate world out there.

Anne Robinson was completely barking (literally!!!!) up the WRONG BLOODY TREE!!! She should have brought in Columbia Tristar Execs and asked them why the f*ck have you created sub-standard over-priced DVDs that the inventors make a flat £3.00 profit on? Tesco had no idea that Gladiator Disc 2 would be crap manufactured!!! It`s like blaming PC World for a sh*te piece of software from Microsoft.

Oh yeah - and there`s another thing! HOLLYWOOD!!! B*stards!!! They are trying to bring out protection on DVDs which can defeat ALL BRANDS of DVD player that have been region hacked!!! What NONSENSE!!!! Imagine what it would be like if Audio CDs were Region Coded!!!?? To buy a music CD in the US or NZ, and find because that piece of plastic and aluminium has been "Region Coded" you cannot hear your music.
PHOOEY!!!!! I think it`s time to bring on the "Human Rights Act" and show these people that if it wasn`t for the "Joe Public Consumer" we wouldn`t be buying anything of theirs. It just annoys me like crazy!!

What do you say ??????

In that case, you ain`t gonna like DVD-A when it arrives because they have been talking about applying regional coding to it, plus SACD and even possibly, yes, you guessed it, CDs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In fact, there is already a move to regionalise CDs. Sainsbury`s are fighting a bitter battle with the record industry already. They have been importing chart CDs from Europe and selling them at £9.99 instead of £16.99, which they think is the "proper" price, because the record companies would not supply them with UK CDs if they sold them at £9.99.

Now, the record industry is bringing out their chart CDs as "UK Specials" which have different tracks to the ones sold on the Continent. This means the ones Sainsbury`s wanted to import are useless in the UK market.

"Europe san frontieres" and a "Free Market", but not in rip-off Britain, guys.

Anyone noticed how the majority of the UK press always takes an anti-European line and is owned by non-European residents who don`t want the EU`s laws on monopolies and free trade agreements restricting their world domination and huge profit margins?

Now there is a conspiracy theory for you. ;-)

But aren`t most of them Colonial boys, the ones who own this country`s media and politicians?

So that`s alright then. Isn`t it? :))