Would You Like Some Fries With That Download? 241
vodkamattvt writes The New York Times is reporting that the Walt Disney Company is hoping to replace happy meal toys with portable media players that could hold Disney movies, music, games, or photos. From the article: "The plan could work something like this: A customer enters a restaurant and buys a meal, receiving the portable media player and an electronic code that authorizes a partial download of a movie, video or other media file, which can be downloaded while in the restaurant, according to a United States Patent and Trademark Office application filed by Disney. Then, with each subsequent return, the customer earns more downloadable data, eventually getting an entire movie or game."
Obese! (Score:5, Funny)
Neat item- ought to be hackable (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:3, Insightful)
If you ask me, we'll never see these, simply because a wifi media/game player costs money. Know how much a DS or PSP costs? I'm sure McDonalds can't afford to give away a $200 gaget with the purchase of a $3 meal.
A free download for an existing DS/PSP might happen, but since none to many people have such, I dout it.
Somewhere down here in /. ... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:2)
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:5, Insightful)
Unfortunately, and I may be alone, but this just sounds like more trash polluting the earth. McD's will give out or sell millions of these, people will be fascinated for mere minutes, and most will be discarded or throw into a toy chest, creating more silcion based hardly-biodegradable trash polluting the earth. It's like throw-away DVDs, except the chachki-effect may last a day or two longer.
Am I the only one that feels this way? Anyone else notice it's Disney again creating all the damn trash? (Or, the ideas that create all the damn theoretical trash?)
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:2)
It's not like they're a very environmentally friendly company to begin with. Despite going to cardboard and wax paper for hamburger packaging, their Big Breakfast still comes in styrofoam with plastic utensils. On the plus side, someday somebody will notice that if you liquify plastic with the right solvents, it makes a pretty darn good fuel
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:2)
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:2)
Yup, and I even got lucky! : D
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:3, Informative)
And how is this different from the trash that rolls off the assembly lines at Dell or eMachines?
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:2)
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:2)
We live in an age where they sell what are meant to be (to us) disposable digital cammeras.
And these are products aimed at kids, the one demographic that you can always provide crap to and still have them act as if they are getting a deal (look at the VideoNow players [hasbro.com], and those are in the $20-$40 range.)
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:2)
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:2)
Why not? They have no trouble selling a $.05 cent meal for $3 all day long!
Re:Don't count on it any time soon. (Score:2)
Perhaps not, but couldn't they offer a free download to your DS with a happy meal? Seems like it would go well with the free wireless DS access I hear they are doing at many McDonalds already.
Re:Neat item- ought to be hackable (Score:2)
Re:Neat item- ought to be hackable (Score:3, Funny)
But who'd want to hack it? (Score:2)
They're going to be giving away a wifi enabled media player in a Happy Meal? Riiight.
Next they'll be telling me the Big Kid's Meal comes with an HD-TV.
Re:But who'd want to hack it? (Score:2)
Software media player? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Software media player? (Score:2)
Perhaps you should ask... A NINJA (Score:4, Funny)
As I grew older, and began my journey to spiritual enlightenment, the memories of my pancake-eating youth filled my heart and dreams with warm, fluffy goodness....Ahhh, yes..the sweet, sweet memories... The day I ate 10 pancakes... The day I placed a warm pancake between my fleshy loins and performed the forbidden dance... The day pressed a pancake to my buttocks and encouraged my dog to come eat.. Indeed, much of my childhood was spent in pure innocence -- An innocence only pancakes can provide. It was heaven. A heaven, filled with pancakes, where I sat at the throne of God, with my hand-maidens Aunt Jemimah and Mrs. Butterworth seated beside me. An indestructible triumvirate made of flour, eggs, sugar, milk, water, and love.
By the age of 15, the path of my life became unclear and confusing. Torn between my duty my village and my love for pancakes, I foolishly left home in search of karaguchi ah-nowakadesu
My adoration for breakfast cakes has placed me within an awkward position. Many ninja refuse to recognize me as their brother. I defend my father's land, but I am looked upon as weak and undisciplined. I tell them, "But, brothers! Listen to my plea! The pancakes do not weaken me, nor do they make me disobey the rule of my sword. They fill me with love." But alas, they do not understand...For the mind of a ninja is complex.
My only earthly desire is to be accepted for who I am. Yes, I am a NINJA--But I also enjoy pancakes. Will you accept me? If you were approached by a ninja who requested a pancake, would you submit to his will?
Re:Perhaps you should ask... A NINJA (Score:3, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Isn't there prior art? (Score:2)
Visit McDonalds once a week for 2 months and you'll get the whole movie viewable at once. Miss a week and you'll have to
Re:Isn't there prior art? (Score:2)
Prior-art from 1833: Charles Dickens (Score:2)
The only major difference seems to be the distribution format.
Hack 'em! (Score:3, Informative)
Types of movies (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Types of movies (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Types of movies (Score:3, Insightful)
they could watch their video to lose the calories
I'm afraid a little more effort than that will be required. Therein lies the problem, sadly. Everyone already knows how to exercise (running, biking, swimming, etc.) but they just don't care enough to do it.
I can well imagine it... (Score:2)
I hope the first downloadable move is (Score:5, Funny)
How long until (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How long until (Score:2)
Re:How long until (Score:2)
does it come with nutrition splash screens? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:does it come with nutrition splash screens? (Score:3, Funny)
Mom: No
Kid: But I can get a movie
Mom: No go bittorrent a movie
Kid: Okay
Mom: And eat your healthy food
Kid: Okay mom
Mom: thx
Re:does it come with nutrition splash screens? (Score:2)
That's kind of backwards, media is being used as a motivation to buy fast food. Remember the McD's compilation CDs from the 90s? A few bucks if you bought a value meal?
It's the same deal as most effective promotions. Going just once won't get you the prize (McMonopoly etal).
Anyway, as I'm sure it will come up: it's a free market. It's up to parents to make the good decisions for their kids, and to prepare their kids to make good de
Re: what can the brand sell? (Score:2)
And it's not just about McDisney(tm) trying to grow the market, they are each also trying to keep/extend their share of the market. If Parent X is going to take the kids to a fast food joint, then the war is half won -- the second half is making sure the
Re:does it come with nutrition splash screens? (Score:2)
Do you really think that most parents want to interact with their kids or get them to shut up for just A SMALL FRACTION OF THE GODDAMN DAY YOU LITTLE WORTHLESS BRAT!!! WH
Re:does it come with nutrition splash screens? (Score:2)
Re:does it come with nutrition splash screens? (Score:2)
Thanks to millions of years of evolution, we're wired to really like high calorie foods. Yes, I know an apple is a healthier choice, but fries taste a whole helluva lot better. If I was ignorant to the health effects and ignorant to the fact that fast food is more expensive than grocery store food, I'm sure I'd be pigging out there everyday. (Well, maybe not McDonalds, but Jack In the Box would likely be a place I'd hi
Re:does it come with nutrition splash screens? (Score:2)
Now I feel really old. Having to reference promotional media that came on *cassette tapes*. It could be worse, though. Could be viny
Re:does it come with nutrition splash screens? (Score:2)
I still have the 45 that McDonalds sent out 20 years(?) or so ago in Sunday newspapers that had a song on it. It went something like this:
Big Mac, McDLT, a Quarter-Pounder with some cheese, a hamburger, a cheeseburger, a Happy Meal....
I think it was part of a contest or something.
Diet is one thing... (Score:2)
What's next? They push some must-have movie or game to get kids to scream until their parents let them install a Sony rootkit??
Fuckers don't get it! (Score:2)
You assume that families that eat at McDonalds actually give a rats ass about spending time with each other. The people I know who force-feed this crap on their kids do it to spend less time on or with their children.
You think that McDonalds is to blame? Should they share some burden?
No - they didn't fuck your husband/wif
Why Blame McDonalds? (Score:5, Insightful)
Restaurants are supposed to be treats. They have become a way of life.
Re:does it come with nutrition splash screens? (Score:2)
Someone came here to interview for a faculty position... not sure where he was from, but he commented that the houses in modern subdivisions don't have yards. The house takes up pretty much the whole lot, with maybe a deck or something in the back.
So where do the kids play? You can't just boot them out and watch them from the kitchen while you work. You have to send them down to the park down the street. When they're young you have to go with
Games (Score:2, Interesting)
First it rolls out trendy games (like King Kong or whatever's hot at that time).
Then every week, it rolls out new levels for the game, which can be downloaded and brought home.
Re:Games (Score:2)
The FPSs had to be one of the cooler hacks I've ever seen. The screen itself was transparent, but everything was "dark" be default. By allowing certain lines to go transparent, you could see the edges of the walls/doors/characters. Not much gameplay, but damned cool.
Sounds like an extension, not a replacement (Score:3, Insightful)
Something that you can't use until after you get home won't catch on with the kids... but it could work for adults.
This sounds much more in line with the collector's drink cups or those sports-team bobble-heads you can sometimes get at fast food places than the classic kid's meal toy.
Re:Sounds like an extension, not a replacement (Score:2)
And, those of us who are sufficiently cynical would say that it's to make sure that very young children can be indoctrinated with their branding and message.
Gotta recruit that next generation of consumers, we're killing the current ones.
Root Kit (Score:3, Funny)
Great, I can just see the new signs now... (Score:2)
Yes, please. (Score:2)
Yes, please. This is a fantastic idea. As a 30something hardware g
Restaurant Ratings (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Restaurant Ratings (Score:2)
Brings a new meaning to "bite size", eh?
*rimshot*
I can see it now.... (Score:3, Funny)
I don't know about you... (Score:2)
Re:I don't know about you... (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyway that was the first thing that came to mind when I read the article, but there are tons of other exam
Bits and pieces? (Score:2)
This might work, but it could backfire. You want to keep them wanting more; if it takes 10 visits to see a whole cartoon (or whatever), chances are that the kid will lose interest - and it had better be a great cartoon to warrent even a couple of return trips.
What would have worked on me, I think, is if you get a new downloadable game - a whole game, even if it's a little Tetris-type
Re:Bits and pieces? (Score:3, Interesting)
Not if their friends have gotten the new piece.
Kids today are all up on the collectibles... they stay interested in Pokemon, or other CCGs for years, why would they lose interest in this after only 10 weeks?
Especially if the content delivered is not the same for every download... then they 'gotta catch em all'.
Genius.
Re:Bits and pieces? (Score:2)
They'll have a hard time enforcing that EULA... once I've gotten my sticky mits on it and done the dirty deed, there's no chance it'll ever be able to tell them it's been hacked. How are they gonna know? are they going to require your full contact details and for you to report in every so many days for them to ascertain you've still got it and are using it in ac
Deminishing Returns (Score:2)
I'm just talking about the food mind you.
Re:Bits and pieces? (Score:2)
How do you keep an idiot in suspense?
Which is probably how McDonald's views their customers.
Strike one for obesity (Score:2)
So, will we be able to sue them over our obesity in several years?
Re:Strike one for obesity (Score:2)
I think they have been doing that for a while now...
Re:Strike one for obesity (Score:3, Insightful)
I believe they are encouraging acceptance of heavy-handed DRM schemes, and the reward for this acceptance is a fat/glucose hit. Sounds like a great way to raise a new generation of docile sheep for Hollywood.
Combined with... (Score:2)
...subliminal messages, this will turn out to be a dynamite marketing tool. Just think! You only have to go to McDonald's once and your kids will be indoctrinated in the Mouse Cult by Ronald McDonald! And of course you only get part of the content, forcing you to go back, so the indoctrination can be reinforced.
The British journal New Scientist, which recently reported on the patent application, said that the portable media players could be used as part of a McDonald's promotion and create marketing oppor
and a thousand chicken nuggets later (Score:2, Funny)
what about the drive-thru? (Score:2)
When we're away from home, or pressed for time, I sometimes take my son to Burger King/McDonalds (BTW: Culver's has *much* better food, but they're only here in the midwest), but I couldn't tell you the last time I set foot in one of those places. It's always order food from the squawkbox, then drive to window 1 then to window 2.
After all, if I had time to go inside, I'd go to a real restaurant where a plastic to
That was a TOY!?!?! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:what about the drive-thru? (Score:2)
Then you get the kid to cry and scream when they get home, until mom and dad let them "Install the special program" to download the rest of the movie from the PC.
lemme guess folder structure... (Score:3, Funny)
McFavorites
McVideos
McMusic
??
Re:lemme guess folder structure... (Score:2)
??
McProfit?
First song is... (Score:5, Funny)
--Rob
So I'm confused .... (Score:4, Insightful)
Fundamentally, this is a "method of providing customer reward for ongoing purchases" (coupled with a "mechanism to ensure repeat business by children").
Big deal, so it's a digital method. They've taken the concept of reward cards, thrown in Wifi, and are claiming to have done something patentable. This is just silly.
God I hope this patent is rejected.
This is so sick (Score:2)
Re:This is so sick (Score:2)
Movie Dealing? (Score:3, Funny)
You buy the happy meal and get the device and a small for free.
Then to get the whole thing (or more) you have to pay.
*in evil sounding voice* The first one's for free! *evil laugh*
News - three years from now (Score:3, Insightful)
Nooooooo!! (Score:2)
Its a great idea, and I don't like it one bit.
Reminds me of VHS Tapes (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Reminds me of VHS Tapes (Score:2)
It was pretty cool at the time, though - this was when the "bargain bin" DVDs cost $15. These days I'm amazed everyone and their dog isn't doing this. You can buy older DVDs for next to nothing, so I can only imagine how cheap McDonalds could get "classic cartoons" type discs
Re:Reminds me of VHS Tapes (Score:2)
I ordered their special just to get that damn DVD. I watched that movie a lot when I was younger and it first came out, so I guess it has some undeserved sentimental value.
Re:Reminds me of VHS Tapes (Score:2)
UMD.
You've heard it here first, folks. Would you like spyware with that?
*three-letter-acronym
Digital toys not real enough (Score:2, Funny)
what a partnership (Score:2)
Screw that (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Screw that (Score:3, Interesting)
McDonalds really needs to quit trying to be the high tech fast food chain - I don't think it will ever work out for them.
More reason to never go inside a McDonalds... (Score:2)
"Mommy where's the movie?"
"It's still downloading honey"
"Mommy where's the movie?"
"It's still downloading honey"
"Mommy where's the movie?"
"It's still downloading honey"
"Mommy where's the movie?"
Begin crying, screaming tantrum here.
This will bring us big fat Pocahontas... (Score:2)
Civilization done. (Score:3, Funny)
Then, with each subsequent return, the customer earns more downloadable data, eventually getting an entire movie or game."
That's it. Civilization is over. We had a nice run.
Off topic question (Score:2)
what does the patent have to do with launch? (Score:4, Insightful)
What seems a bit bigger of an obstacle is how do you get a device cheap enough that can actually handle playing a movie.
The cheapest device at the moment must be the GBA micro and that still is 100 dollars. Of course you could deduct Nintendo's and the retailers profit from it but how low could you possibly get?
Current happy toys are cheap chinese made plastic toys costing less then a dollar for the most ambitious campaigns.
Surely they know that any free tech device of any capacity is going to be hacked?
As for kids remembering to bring their player with them. A bit hopefull. Lending the device out temporarily would also be prone to cheating and asking for a deposit would effectively double the cues at the till for people wanting to give the device back after eating.
Nice idea but wouldn't it be simpler to put the media player in the table? That techonology can be readily bought from airline seats supliers.
Re:Wow I say (Score:2)
Re:Some marvel figures come with that as a bonus.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, transformers-style toys have done that forever, but this was just an arm roughly the size of the action figure's leg, nothing "rideable".
Of course, unless they're complete idiots, they wont really be selling peices of movies, they'll be selling episodes of crappy somethingorother that will be trendy for three months.
Of course, they could over-DRM this and entir