DVD Kiosks on Campus.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: Brief Article

Topping a stint as skydiving champ/biochemist is a tall order, but Bill Barber, founder and president of Boulder-based FreeFlyr LLC, is looking to do just that. Barber spent 10 years with Amgen Inc. and placed fourth at the 1995 World Skydiving Championships. Today, he makes the FreeFlyr kiosk, called the "'DVD Play," which holds up to 500 discs for rental. Swipe a credit card, and it delivers a disk. The kiosks also are equipped to resell out-of-date DVD titles.

Designed by FreeFlyr Executive VP and Chief Design Engineer Philip Tomasi, the technology also provides real-time marketing data to FreeFlyr management via the Web. Re-stocking and maintenance require a few hours a week by part-time employees -- most likely students.

Launched in 1998, Barber tested the market at the University of Southern California in 1999. This year should see 100 units on campuses and at other venues.

Barber said video stores usually have a margin of about 4% per rental. He projected that a self-serve DVD Play could net 35% per rental.

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