Cinematical

This has been the year of the movie download, as studios have finally accepted the concept and have partnered with sites like CinemaNow, MovieLink and Guba. The problem is, downloading movies -- legally anyway -- still isn't a very popular idea. This could be due to many problems, such as picture quality and limitations on burning the movies to disc, but the main deterrent to consumers seems to be the price. All of the sites have been selling movies for a price too close to the cost of a DVD, which is certainly a better format.

Now Guba, which offers titles from Sony and Warner Bros., has slashed its prices. New movies are now only $9.99 (down from $19.99) and older movies are $4.99 (down from $9.99). But don't get too excited from this news. The site is only discounting its downloads for a limited time, likely not much more than a month. This seems like a desperate move and will undoubtedly attract people who can't decide which site to sign up with, but it's just bait for customers who probably won't stick around when the prices go back up.

While some reports are saying the move is simply to compete with iTunes for TV Show downloads, there is no logic in that thinking. Even though Guba is now offering shows for only 49 cents, compared with iTunes' $1.99, Guba only offers four shows, and none are probably that much in demand. But Guba does have reason to fear competition with iTunes, as Apple's in-the-works movie download service will probably blow them away when it finally arrives.