Content Matters

Wal-Mart yesterday announced that it was offering bundled versions of a DVD plus a downloadable copy of the new Superman Returns movie.
There are a few configurations available - high and low-resolution, depending upon whether you want to view it on a PC or handheld device.  The download adds between $1.97 and $3.97 to the price of the base DVD, depending upon the version you want.

The downloadable version uses the "PlayForSure" DRM system and is not compatible with iPods, so the initial audience may be somewhat limited.  That said, this is a big step forward.  The entertainment industry has been doing everything in its power to stave off the day of downloadable content.  Yet here is Wal-Mart, the most mainstream retailer in America, partnering with Warner Bros to offer this bundle. 

These constraints have led some some to knock the offer, notably TechCrunch who anticipate that "we’ll be filing this under Failed Movie Download Models in the near future."  I think that misses the point.  With this effort, on top of recent announcements by Amazon and Apple, the genie is out of the bottle, and we can expect to see solid solutions for downloadable video in the near future.  I don't expect to see those advances from Wal-Mart, and maybe not Amazon either, but with the licensing framework starting to take shape, innovators will quickly fill the space with better solutions.