Bill GatesThough there has been talk for ages now about single-play DVDs (they sound cooler when you imagine them self-destructing after playing in a puff of smoke), word now comes that Microsoft is actually ready to mass-produce the things and hopes to make them available some time next year. The discs, which will sell for about $5, will ideally replace the rental market, thereby enabling studios to limit piracy. (A similar technology is available now on a small scale and is being tried by some studios with their Oscar screeners.) Since you'll still be able to buy normal DVDs, I'm a little unclear on how this will totally end the copying of discs, but I guess it'll at least get more expensive.

The problem for consumers (apart from the death of your DVD counterfeiting business) is that the new discs will require new players, which will in turn bring Bill Gates a little closer to ruling the world. No word yet on how much the players will cost, or on the suicide watch at Blockbuster HQ.