Movie Downloads Are Still a Flop

Given all the recent hullabaloo about digital movie downloads,
you'd think Hollywood finally had embraced the Internet revolution.

Online
services such as Amazon's Unbox, Apple's iTunes, CinemaNow, and
Movielink promise instant access to movies without your having to
schlep to Blockbuster or wait for Netflix. You can watch a movie
shortly after it starts to download, carry movies on a portable player,
and, with CinemaNow, burn them to disc to watch in your living room.

So
what's wrong with this picture? A lot. Some downloadable films are more
expensive than their DVD counterparts and offer fewer features.
Downloading the movies can be tiresome. And watching films on something
other than your PC or portable device can be a pain.

How Fast?
Apple's
iTunes does the slickest job of integrating an online movie store with
a media player, but at press time fewer than 100 movies were available,
all from Disney-owned studios. I tried the 99-minute Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
($10, no special features), which took only 90 minutes to download. And
I could start watching it right after the download began