Why ‘Veronica Mars’ Embraced UltraViolet and Angered Fans

Moisés Chiullan, writing for TechHive:

The experience of signing up for UltraViolet is completely unlike signing up for an AppleID or Amazon account.

First, you have to sign up for an UltraViolet account at UVVU.com, a logical, easy-to-remember (not really) acronym for a service that legally can’t live on an individual studio or recognized brand’s website.

Second, you need to sign up for an UltraViolet-backed service like Flixster, formerly owned by Fox and now owned by Veronica Mars distributor Warner Bros. When forced to use UltraViolet, I prefer Vudu, even though it’s owned by Walmart. Other options include CinemaNow (Best Buy) and Target Ticket (Target).

And possibly third, you may find that the service that you chose is “already linked to an UltraViolet account.” You may have signed up in the past and forgot about it, back when the service in question was owned by a different company or went by another name or identity. (Flixster, for example, snagged its first big wave of users as a Facebook app.) Or you might have tried to redeem a digital copy of a disc from a studio that doesn’t give you the option of redeeming via iTunes or Amazon.

What a mess. This turd of a system has no chance of long-term success with a process like this.

Christina Warren, on Twitter:

This whole Veronica Mars redemption BS really is a reminder that as much as I love the idea of UltraViolet, it has an awful implementation.

Ideas are nearly worthless; implementations mean everything.

★ Monday, 17 March 2014