Apple Inc (AAPL)

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08:14 Long waits and glitches mar Amazon, Apple film services - WSJ

WSJ reports Amazon.com (AMZN) and Apple Computer (AAPL) recently launched highly anticipated movie downloading services, heralded as the juice that would make downloading and watching movies on a computer screen a new consumer habit.

A month later, however, the services are off to a rocky start. Amazon.com has had to placate consumers with refunds after some couldn't get the service to work. Customers of both services are reporting problems downloading the software on their machines and complaining of seemingly interminable download times, sometimes in excess of several hours.

Picture quality and equipment requirements also are stumbling blocks. The glitches aren't universal, and some customers say they are fully satisfied with the downloading services. Both Apple and Amazon caution that it is still early and say they are doing well. Bill Carr, vice president of digital media for Amazon.com, says the rate of customer-service calls is comparable with those generated by Amazon's other businesses. Apple is "off to a great start with movies," says Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes, who says that in the first week alone iTunes sold 125,000 Disney movies.