Premium on Disney’s microSD films

Disney Japan plans to package blockbuster movies on microSD cards and sell them with DVDs, but at an added cost.

The idea is that consumers will be able to stick the card in their mobile phones or other devices and watch the movie on the go without breaking the law. Panasonic will provide the cards.

Reuters reports that the microSD movies, packaged together with a DVD, will cost 4,935 yen, or $53. That’s roughly $11 more than the DVD alone — and Ars Technica notes that Amazon.jp sells Pirates of the Caribbean, one of the movies slated for the program, on DVD for 1,118 yen, or $12. Clearly this is not a value proposition.

The microSD and DVD combo will be available in Japan this November, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a test run of sorts for other regions. Disney told Reuters that it’s hard to make a sales forecast because the company hasn’t paired the two formats before, but if the combination is a hit, I have a feeling we’ll see it elsewhere.

As with Sonic’s plans to sell movies on USB, details are missing on the microSD content, specifically the format and file size of the film. There’s no talk of DRM in the Reuters story, but I’d expect Disney to carefully guard its content. Regardless, the fact remains that Disney is hoping viewers will pay more money for a copy of something they already own.

Sigh. I could get into the same tired rant about how locking down content or charging consumers extra to use it as they please only encourages piracy and overall ill will. But I’m tired. Let’s just hope this idea crashes and burns, so we can laugh at Disney’s cheap attempt to make a quick buck.