HD For Indies

Films That Come Over the Net Don't Come Easy - New York Times

Nice overview of the major movie download services, and their MANY shortcomings. There is as yet no service that is quick, clear, easy to use, with consistent rules and pricing that makes it easy to download and watch on your TV. I think we are still at LEAST a year out from anything so simple. But all of this is just starting, it needs time to settle out. Until there is a consistent format, and the industry de-freaks about maintaining ultra tight DRM (what happens if you sell/loose/break the Designated Viewing computer?), it'll stay a small niche player.

"Ultimately, what may hamper sales of downloadable movies may not be download times or trouble with DVD burning. The obstacle will be price. It is often more economical to rent DVD%u2019s from local rental kiosks or mail-order outfits like Netflix (www.netflix.com). So for now the best way to solve the %u201Clast 10 feet%u201D problem is still to get up off the couch."

....aka I read that as a big thumbs down.

(found via CinemaTech)

-mike