Wal-Mart launches restrictive, expensive video downloads

Call me old-fashioned if you must, but I prefer my movies on the big screen or, failing that, contained on a good-old tangible object. Despite the fact that buying movies over the Internet offers about the same level of satisfaction as buying real-estate on the moon, millions of foolish customers have already flocked to the iTunes Store to plunk down their hard-earned cash for some ones and zeros. Apparently, the sound of this stampede become so deafening that it awoke the sleeping giant that is the world's largest retailer. And when Wal-Mart enters a market, you had better believe they're gonna make a big splash: the mega-retailer and RV enthusiast favorite has launched an online video download store that's backed by all six of the major studios.

How did Sam and friends accomplish the feat that Mr. Jobs could not? Why, by jacking up the price, of course! Wal Mart's movie pricing ranges from $7.50 to $19.98 and while Wal Mart manages to undercut iTunes by a few cents for TV shows and a few specific films, if you want a new release, you're going to pay basically the same price that you would for a DVD. Except, you know, without all of those nice qualities that DVDs have. As Ars Technica notes, "The feature set is still depressingly weak: no burnable DVDs, no easy sharing among your devices, no high-definition." This is all accomplished with a dash of deliciously restrictive Microsoft DRM, of course. While all of the major studios finally agreeing to provide video online is certainly a step forward, my guess is that such services will fail to capture a large portion of the market until they're able to offer something that DVDs don't: a compelling product at a reasonable price, with a minimum of DRM-supported restrictions.

For more on Wal Mart's online video play:
- see this Ars Technica article