Dissatisfied with Fox's Digibooks lack of spindle

[BillieCassin]

Imagine you are designing a sports car.

You design the most beautiful lines in a vehicle anyone has ever seen, it's sleek and modern yet has a hint of traditionalism to it that really makes it seem "quality".

You spend a great deal of time designing all the parts, making sure every bit of the machinery is perfect. You take some old designs and make them better than new, bringing the product into the 21st Century and ready for a whole new generation to enjoy driving. You even put in state of the art extras like heated seats, the whole nine yards. A modern take on a classic.

You charge extra for this vehicle, as you well should - it's a lot of work to make, the customers who would buy your sports car have a little extra dough to throw in as they are used to it when buying vehicles like this - it's par for the course. They don't mind spending money for quality.

But then, after all this love and attention, you end up putting a moped engine in it.

So you've built this gorgeous, state of the art vehicle - and you forgot what the point of the vehicle was. To move you around in a speedy fashion. You got so caught up in the design of the vehicle, making it appeal to people, making it seem like the best car that's ever been designed - yet by putting a moped engine in it, you've pretty much just ruined the actual function.

Welcome to Fox and their DVD packaging. First Aliens, then Rocky Horror, and now All About Eve, which released today.

I was so happy to get All About Eve - I adore this film, a true classic (the best Bette ever was, in my opinion, after 1938), and not only does it star one of the greatest screen legends it's also a damn fine film. In the middle of a two-day snowstorm, I was so happy to see the UPS guy trek up the driveway with my copies (more on the plural later).

So I rip open the package (which also has Alice in Wonderland, and as usual is one of Disney's perfect releases), and take out the two copies of "Eve". I immediately had a moment of dread..."That case is VERY slim."

Sure enough, we have another gorgeously designed digibook, beautiful pictures (though like most digibooks you can "read" through it in a few minutes and will likely not go back again). Although this one was not so PERFECTLY designed, as I accidentally ordered two copies (at different times) and both of them have the same spine defect - when on the shelf the back picture bleeds just a tiny bit over to the spine, enough that you can notice it. That's a small gripe, though, one that I would put up with if...

YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SLIDE THE DISC AGAINST CARDBOARD because there is no hub inside.

I know, I know - some people don't mind this. I'm honestly happy for you (although I'm sure plenty will reply to this thread making fun of this concern). They will say "Oh BD's don't scratch" (yeah, right), or, "It's shiny cardboard, so it's OK!"

It's not OK to me. Fox has designed this lovely case for this, one of the more important movies of it's time, and every time I want to take it in or out of the case I have to slide it against a piece of cardboard. Flush.

Spindles for disc media were designed the way they were for a reason. Just like hypodermic needles (one of thousands of examples I could use) used to take blood from humans from have changed very little in the 150+ years since they were invented, sometimes something is designed in a certain way because it's what works. You don't see them trying to experiment with triangular needles, and every "experiment" like this with anything but a spindle which raises the disc ever-so-slightly hasn't worked either.

BD's are not scratch-proof, though they certainly are more resistant than DVDs. I take care of my media - and it does drive me nuts when they have any scratches at all (light or not). Yes, that's a personal OCD thing. But when I just spent $22 (which I rarely do for a single Blu) on a disc, paying that "deluxe" price for a film that has been in profit since before my parents were born (and gladly paying it) the least I want is a case that actually protects the disc.

I've had some DVDs for more than a dozen years now. I plan on having these Blu's for at least that long (or I wouldn't be buying them). I don't want to worry every time I open up these sub-standard cases. Just because they are pretty and shiny and glossy doesn't mean a tinker's dang if the actual function of the case - to preserve the disc - is negated.

So I'm putting my money where my mouth is. Because I accidentally ordered two I have to return to Amazon anyway. Now I am returning both.

With Aliens at least I knew far enough ahead of time and was able to order the UK version (which I paid 1/2 the price people were paying for the US version, got the same exact discs in the packaging I prefer, it was win/win for me). With RHPS, I kept it because I do not own an HD copy of it (I didn't even have the DVD) so I "needed" it.

All About Eve, though - I have the film in HD on my DVR and it looks pretty darn good. The Blu looks even better, but I don't care. I've seen this film so many times that I'm going to watch it all the way on Blu, but usually when I put it on it's when I'm doing something around the house like taxes or something, so I won't be caring as much about PQ as I won't be staring at it the whole time. I'm going to watch the film, every second of the extras, and then tomorrow both are going back to Amazon.

Shady? A little. I have an Amazon Visa, Amazon Prime, and I spend $100's a month there, so frankly I don't feel bad about it - and I'm going to be very up front and honest when I return it as to why.

The digibook is a tiny bit slimmer than a standard Blu case, enough smaller than if it had a hub it would have just been the same size as a standard release. I know marketing is concerned about people not wanting so much room taken up on their shelf, but I'd rather it be 10" wide and protect the disc than a hair smaller and make me slap the disc against cardboard.

So, Fox, if you are going to continue to do this - can you please start offering standard editions as well? So I can spend my $22 on a 60 year-old film with confidence?

I'll be watching Star Wars packaging very closely. I've already canceled my pre-order. If you pull this crap with that one, I hope dearly that the UK release is normal like Aliens was - if not, I'll be Netflixing Star Wars, because I simply can't keep paying these premium prices for these titles on release day and getting packaging that just makes me shake my head in disappointment - I couldn't care LESS what it looks like if it doesn't actually protect the discs.