A pair of bright red machines similar to ATMs appeared in Boyd Dining Hall and Nelson Commons last week, but these machines spit out DVDs instead of money.
With a credit card, students can rent or purchase DVDs from the machines at competitive prices; rentals are $3. After two days, a late fee of $1.50 is added each day to the student's credit card until the total reaches the purchase price, which is usually about $24.
The idea was
'How cool would it be to be able to rent movies when you're at school?' said Matthew Reckner, chief operating officer of Campus Entertainment and a recent University of Cincinnati graduate. With DVD-Play you can walk up and rent a movie in 30 seconds.
Campus Entertainment, which recently introduced the machines to college campuses, is one of the machine franchisees.
Currently, the machines accept only major credit cards and bankcards, though students might be able to pay with Bobcat Cash as early as winter quarter, said Christine Sheets, director of business and residence services.
The machines in Boyd and Nelson feature about 20 or 30 movies. Sheets will add new titles each week.
DVD-Play, a California company, developed the machines in the late 1990s. The machines, known as Automated Entertainment Machines are being franchised throughout the United States.
Reckner said the machines would be at every major university within the next two years. Ohio is among the first schools to receive the machines, he said. The first school to receive the machines was University of Cincinnati.
A video and DVD rental area was proposed for the area currently occupied by Snack Attack in the Nelson Market, but no local businesses were interested, Sheets said.
Now, the machines are mostly a source of curiosity to students, and few have used them.
I probably will use it said sophomore Shaela Cooper. It's not as expensive as I thought it would be
and they had some movies that I wanted to see.
The popularity and use of the machines will be evaluated and a possible expansion to other buildings is planned, Sheets said.
If it works really well
I want to expand by next summer
she said. We might expand into Shively
Jefferson and Bromley. It might be a possibility to expand into Baker
but that's not our facility. _
17
Archives
