Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The never ending collection of USB flash drives

This is topic The never ending collection of USB flash drives in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Gavin Lewarne (Member # 5397) on 05-17-2013, 05:28 PM:

We seem to be getting a never ending stream of content on flash drives lately. I have over 15 in my box!

So far, none of them have come with a returns label, and no distributors have asked for any of them back. Most of them are pretty large at 4gb+

What do I do with them all? how long shall I keep hold of them before "reallocating" them ?

I think its pretty wasteful that nobody wants them back.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-17-2013, 05:33 PM:

I suspect that they'll want them back, return label or not. We apparently have a slightly different system for shipping stuff around here in Canada than the rest of you do, but I put flash drives into one of the hard drive cases that I'm sending back (along with the hard drive, of course) so it doesn't actually require its own return label.

I have received inquiries several months after-the-fact asking where and when I sent this or that hard drive or flash drive and I always provide them with the shipping date and waybill numbers for whatever they're asking about. I would be really hesitant to receive a flash drive and "forget" to return it in a reasonably timely manner in the absence of very specific instructions to the contrary.

Posted by Gavin Lewarne (Member # 5397) on 05-17-2013, 05:38 PM:

Most of them have come in unmarked white "jiffy bags" with nothing but the flash drive inside.

I did start to make enquiries about some of them that contained trailers with the UK distributors but in many cases the distributors only had records of is being sent on a DVD and gave no indication of interest in having them back.

A few have even been delivered without anything on them so I have no idea where they came from!

The only ones that I know for certain of their origins are the ones from Dolby (who ship the P&D adverts) but our contact there didn't seem to know where or how they should be sent back.

Some of them are from 5+ months ago!

I am keeping them all organised and separate as best I can so if they do ask I have them.

One more thing, Im not sure of the distribution of drives anywhere else but over here most of the CRU drives we get the features on come direct from another cinema, and the go direct to another cinema after the run is finished. I did put a flash drive in one once when I thought it was going back to the depot, but no, the next cinema in line sent the bloomin things back to me!

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-17-2013, 05:47 PM:

That's the difference between here and there. I rarely ship or receive hard drives or flash drives to or from anywhere but the CCDI film warehouse, so I can take the "nuke 'em 'til they glow" approach, ship the whole works back to them, and let god sort them out.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 05-17-2013, 05:48 PM:

4GB in mass quantities are usually worth much less than any trackable shipping option.

Keep them in a box, use them, give them away. I don't think they will ever be requested back. They are still cheaper than 35mm trailers with their associated boxes and shipping cost.

- Carsten

Posted by Gavin Lewarne (Member # 5397) on 05-17-2013, 05:49 PM:

Carsten - Do you have a similar situation with them in Germany?

Posted by Joe Elliott (Member # 4006) on 05-17-2013, 07:37 PM:

These are in US dollars, but it gives you an idea how cheap they get these. And realize the prices here are for smaller wholesale lots of 30-100. The film companies most likely by these in the thousands.

Bulk USB sticks

This one doesn't have as good of prices, but I like the first one.

Cooler Bulk USB sticks

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-17-2013, 11:09 PM:

I always send the ones from TECH and DeLuxe back in their respective cases, if they do come in bubble mailers.

Posted by Jim Henk (Member # 3628) on 05-18-2013, 12:23 AM:

One word - "Legos!"

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-18-2013, 12:29 AM:

I don't know about other countries, but in the US the paperwork that comes with the hard drives specifically says to pack up the equipment "and any USB drives you may have on hand" in the hard drive shipping boxes and return them.

Let's face it, you don't own those things and if you don't send them back you're just increasing expenses for the distributor, who will pass it on in fees eventually.

Send 'em back.

Posted by Duc Nguyen (Member # 6988) on 05-18-2013, 10:08 AM:

wow.. i have to download trailer via file zillar from distributor.
So, Do studio get USB, hard drive and DCP back ???

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 05-18-2013, 10:13 AM:

Ironic timing on this topic!
Just yesterday I was at a theater to deal with a minor problem, which of
course turned out to be operator error since 90% of the minimum
wage monkeys running digital equipment these days have no business
being anywhere near a projecton room.

....but that's a topic for antother forum...sorry!....

While I was there the "operator" (note the quotes) opened a desk
drawer to look for a pen, and there were dozens of those little USB
drives in there. "Want some?"; she asked. Not being one to turn
down "free stuff", I walked outta there with one of my jacket pockets
stuffed wih a wholebuncha of 'em.

quote: Mike Blakesley
the paperwork that comes with the hard drives specifically says to pack up
the equipment "and any USB drives you may have on hand"

I'm not doubting you, Mike. I'm surprised I've never seen this since I'm
the kind of person who usually reads all the 'fine print' on documents
and enlosures but I guess I somehow missed this.

I've just always assumed, as others have said, that the handling
cost of re-using the USB drives would exceed the cost of just
shipping out new ones, since they probably buy them dirt cheap in bulk.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 05-18-2013, 10:21 AM:

Cost and ownership aside, I think most people see USB sticks as chattel.

Yes, send them back if distributors want them but, soon, if not already, most theaters will have boxes full of USB sticks just the same way they used to have boxes full of film trailers.

Posted by Gavin Lewarne (Member # 5397) on 05-18-2013, 10:25 AM:

Randy - yep, I still have several boxes of old 35mm trailers, adverts and shorts. Some of them dating back longer than the 5 years I have worked here. Offers of returning them to the relevant distributors proved fruitless as well.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 05-18-2013, 11:17 AM:

Save those 35mm trailers because one may never see that content again. I treasure my 35mm trailer of the GCC Candy Band.

AJG

Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 05-18-2013, 11:23 AM:

quote: Jim Cassedy
I've just always assumed, as others have said, that the handling cost of re-using the USB drives would exceed the cost of just shipping out new ones, since they probably buy them dirt cheap in bulk.

I suspect it is cheaper for them to reuse them (the process of inserting them into the copying machine will be the same for a new or used drive). If they can be returned with another item or in bulk the saving will be greater than using a pre-paid postage label for each individual drive.

What is not worthwhile is tracking and enforcing the return of the drives as this would increase the staff time considerably, complicate the process and lead to disputes.

This is much the same as the Real-D glasses recycling scheme where enforcing the return of the glasses is not cost-effective.

Posted by Gavin Lewarne (Member # 5397) on 05-18-2013, 12:47 PM:

quote: Aaron Garman
Save those 35mm trailers because one may never see that content again. I treasure my 35mm trailer of the GCC Candy Band.

Also have an original version of the dolby "jiffy test" on 35mm in very good condition. I treasure it as it is quite rare I believe now.

Posted by Ben Wales (Member # 92) on 05-18-2013, 05:02 PM:

quote: Gavin Lewarne
Also have an original version of the dolby "jiffy test" on 35mm in very good condition. I treasure it as it is quite rare I believe now.

Not as rare as the Dolby Cinema Demo film "Listen" [Smile]

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 05-18-2013, 05:24 PM:

at cinemacon i asked dolby why there was no dcp of listen (which i have on 35) and jiffy apparently the test of jiffy distroyed to many speakers

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 05-19-2013, 07:47 PM:

I've done some work for a company that distributed content on Compact Flash. At the quantities they bought them, it was cheaper to send them out and just forget about them.

Don't forget that there is more to it than just shipping cost, you also need to keep track off those cards, if you're going to "recycle" them.

In the end, the system was replaced by an on-line distribution system, which, all costs considered, wasn't really cheaper, but at least it was almost real-time and didn't produce huge amounts of excess waste.

Posted by Richard May (Member # 2627) on 05-20-2013, 10:55 AM:

We have over 70 of them sitting in a film can. Mostly 4GB but a few 8GB. The ones with trailers on them always go back. The one with ads on them NEVER go back. They say "just throw them out".

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 05-20-2013, 06:24 PM:

The smallest USB drive that can be found today is 4GB. Micro Center is selling them for $5. These people are buying them in LARGE lots, without packaging. They may be getting them as low as $2. To get them back, they first have to pay to ship them. Once they have them back, they need to format them to get rid of what was on them, and hope that no one loaded a virus onto them, that could infect their computers. It is not worth it to them, to screw with all this.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-20-2013, 06:49 PM:

Why would they need to format them? Just write a new disk image onto the drive and you're done. They would have to do exactly the same thing to get their data onto a brand new flash drive, so I don't see why it would matter.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-21-2013, 09:47 AM:

Formatting has the advantage of doing bad-block checking. I don't know exactly how this applies to solid-state media, but it seems like a good idea.

Writing an image with a tool like "dd" does not account for write errors on the medium (or read errors, for that matter).

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 05-21-2013, 11:26 AM:

I was looking at the pocket-full of usb drives I picked up the other day.
(see my earlier post) I noticed they've all got sticky-lables on them that don't
always come off in one piece. OK, so it doesn't take THAT much time to get the
whole label off, but if you've got to remove hundreds or thousands of these things,
the labor costs probably outweigh the benefits of 'recycling' them.

Today's Fun Foto-
These are my favorite thumb-drives! I have a whole box of these things.
Mabye this is why some of my friends say I'm "all thumbs" [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-21-2013, 12:42 PM:

All of the flash drives that I have received so far don't have a sticky label attached. They have a cardboard tag tied onto them.

Posted by Gavin Lewarne (Member # 5397) on 05-21-2013, 12:55 PM:

none of the drives I have here have any label or tag on them.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 05-21-2013, 01:23 PM:

95% of the USB drivethingys I get have sticky labels on them.
The rest have the cardboard type attached by wire like Frank sez.
I like them the best. Mostly cuz the printing is larger and I can
read the labels without having to find my glasses. [Big Grin]

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 05-21-2013, 02:23 PM:

Shortly after getting the digital equipment installed in my theatre, I had to start keeping a magnifying glass in my projection room so I can read the small print on those hard drives. I guess they think they're saving money on the size of the labels or something by printing stuff in a 2-point font.