Flexplay: Redbox's Dumber, Wasteful, Forgotten Cousin

Flexplay first hit shelves in a limited run in 2003. This was a disaster. Flexplay required no additional setup like Redbox and no dedicated store like a standard video rental. Instead, eZ-Ds were sold in stores like Staples. They were initially sold for $6.99, more than most movie rentals at the time. It took less than a year for most stores to give up on selling them.

Unlike the discs that they sold, Flexplay would not die, though. In 2008, after years off the market, Flexplay made a return to store shelves. This time, they were a bit cheaper at $4.99, but the technology remained the same. Maybe the changes in the DVD rental market led them to think disposable discs had more life in them, but it should come as no surprise that this was not the case. Flexplay did not gain traction, and the product was discontinued in 2011. Was anyone buying an eZ-D in 2010?

No one wanted Flexplay. One major opposition to Flexplay came from environmental groups who protested the product due to the amount of waste it caused. If you buy or rent a DVD, that disc is going to be around a while. Each Flexplay disc was designed to go in the trash within days of use.

Don’t worry, though, because Flexplay had a plan for this. Yes, you could recycle your eZ-Ds either by mailing them away or taking them to a specific recycling bin. The product that existed entirely to not be returned to stores had an option to be returned to stores. Truly a great invention.

Today, Flexplay exists as a memory of a blunder in tech history. If anyone did buy an eZ-D, they probably just threw it out once it self-destructed. Even if you found an unopened Flexplay DVD today, it wouldn’t do much. Unopened eZ-Ds were meant to last about a year, and stores that sold them probably held on to them for about that long.

Top Image: HappyEnd/Pixabay