Wal*Mart is starting their own online video download service today. They'll be offering movies and TV shows for a little less, generally, than Apple's similar iTunes service.
Unlike some offerings, Wal-Mart will not rent films online. The films can be played on a PC or transferred to Microsoft Windows Media-compatible portable digital players. The movies will not play on Apple computers or the popular iPod.
Movies bought from the Wal-Mart store also can't be burned onto a DVD, although the company said it hopes to offer the option by the end of the year.
Wal-Mart says it doesn't expect digital sales to cannibalize its retail DVD business for many years.
"Customers have a growing interest in downloading video content, but complementary and supplemental to buying content on DVD," Kevin Swint, Wal-Mart's divisional manager for digital media, told The Associated Press.
You can't burn it to a DVD, the article explains. Yeah, and those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park are never going to get loose, either. Read it.