Movie Serials May Come to McDonald's

In what appears to be a plan to reinvent the Saturday matinee movie serial in the digital age, the Walt Disney Co. is patenting a device that will enable kids to download short segments of movies each time they eat at a restaurant. Eventually, they would be able to assemble an entire movie. In its patent, Disney suggested that the system would allow McDonald's, for instance, to offer the video instead of the toys in Happy Meals. (McDonald's has already installed high-speed wireless Internet systems in more than 6,000 of its restaurants.) Britain's New Scientist magazine, which disclosed the patent application, indicated that the players might be given away as part of the promotion.
2005-12-20 17:43:28