Google announced the other day that they are launching a downloadable video service

http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39155442,00.htm

I think this idea is the way forward -  I believe rental using DVD's by post is a flawed idea, as the supplier only has a finite supply of discs. For example, of my top 10 DVD's on Amazon's rental list, only 4 are available. Some DVD's have been showing a long wait for months. Perhaps this is a problem with Amazon, but I think the ability to download films on demand is a good idea.

There are a few problems

• Broadband speed - this is increasing, but typical users may not want to wait for a ~700 Meg film to download - streaming may be a solution to this
• Picture quality - Can a good enough picture quality be offered while keeping file sizes down. Improved decoding technology may make this easier
• Piracy - Is there a 100% method to prevent copying downloaded content.