By Mark O’Neill

Welcome to the latest new German product – a self-destructing DVD disk which will make return trips to the movie rental store a thing of the past.

DVD-D Germany Ltd’s ‘Einmal‘ (German for ‘Once’) will shortly bring out a disk which will be useless 48 hours after it is unwrapped from the packaging. A chemical agent will destroy the disk making it no better than a drinks coaster. Or you can just chuck it in the bin.

So you can rent a movie from the store and just keep the disk. 48 hours later, the chemicals kick in, and then the disk becomes useless. There’s also supposedly no DRM (Digital Rights Management) so if you have the technical know-how, you could also quickly copy it (not that I know anything about that of course).

The “disposable disks” will retail for EUR 3.99 each ($6.44). I don’t know about you but if I’m feeling lazy, I’d pay the extra not to have to get up off the bed to return the disk.

But as usual, critics question how long these disposable disks will last for, given the widespread use of illegal file sharing. Ask yourself, when was the last time YOU hired a DVD from the movie rental store? Plus, if people are going to be throwing lots of DVD disks in the bin, some sort of recycling scheme has to be in place first, otherwise we’re going to end up with a serious bout of DVD-itis at the local garbage dump.

So what do you think of the idea? A good idea? Or has “Einmal” seen too many “Mission Impossible” movies?