In what may be the ultimate fine line to walk, Hollywood is entering the age of broadband technology and allowing movies to be downloaded at the same time they are available on DVD. The catch? It takes an hour to download a movie, you can only see the movie on 3 computers and if you burn a DVD you can only see it on a computer, not a DVD player.

One other potential deal killer is the price — $20-$30 which is higher than the equivalent DVD. Beyond the price there will be less additional footage on the downloaded movies than the DVDs.

The higher price is justified by movie execs who say you are paying for convenience and portability. But in reality moves like this annoy customers who know the movie companies have less costs when they deliver movies over broadband connections and charging more for less content is not the way to endear yourself to anyone. In fact it could just fuel the urge to defeat the copy protection scheme.

But the convenience factor may be amplified by the fact that consumers no longer have to shell out $300 for furniture to hold 100 or more DVDs.

The following article details the situation nicely and gives you an idea of when movies will become available and which studios are involved.