NY Times: Thumbs down for movie download services

John Quain reviews movie (and a few TV) download services in the NY Times, including CinemaNow, Movielink, Vongo, Guba, and AOL Video. His verdict: Netflix and local video stores are probably still the best bet. Quain complains about slow download times, DVD burning that doesn't work seamlessly, and 24-hour viewing deadlines before a downloaded video self-destructs. But Quain concludes that pricing may be the fatal flaw:

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’s from local rental kiosks or mail-order outfits like Netflix (www.netflix.com).