Digital Home Thoughts: Consumers Dissatisfied with Video Downloading

"A new survey from market research firm Parks Associates has found that few consumers in the U.S. are satisfied with the videos they download from the Internet. Just 16% say the selection of videos available online is good, and only 13% say video downloads are sold at a reasonable price. Most tellingly, fewer than one in five consumers downloading video say they plan to download videos again in the future. “People don’t see a reason to use video downloading services,” said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. “Sure, it saves a trip to the video store, but it takes longer, looks worse, and you end up watching it on a 17” screen. No wonder consumers are dissatisfied with the experience.” He noted that niche markets will emerge, but mainstream consumers will remain lukewarm about the video download experience. Good news for DVD makers, perhaps, but certainly not the feedback that online distributors like Apple are hoping to hear."



I agree. For most downloads it seems you are paying more for less. If I am going to pay full price, I might as well buy the physical media and get the full packaging and be able to do whatever I want with it. My ideal download service would involve the ability to download a non-DRM'd version of an ISO of the same DVD being sold in stores. Given the lack of a physical product, transportation costs, and no retail markup, I should be able to get this cheaper than in the store. Bonus points if they also make available high resolution, printable copies of the DVD jacket and a printable label for the DVD itself.