This should send up red flags at Apple, Amazon.com and Microsoft (and now Blockbuster...).

Only 16 percent of consumers downloading videos from the Internet were happy with the experience, only 13 percent said the pricing is reasonable and fewer than one in five will do it again in the future, according to a new report from Parks Associates.

The firm released a quote from its research director, John Barrett, who concluded that "niche markets will emerge, but mainstream consumers will remain lukewarm about the video download experience":

People don't see a reason to use video downloading services. Sure, it saves a trip to the video store, but it takes longer, looks worse, and you end up watching it on a 17-in. screen. No wonder consumers are dissatisfied with the experience.

More appealing, according to another firm's study out today, is the option of downloading videos and burning them to DVD.

The Diffusion Group found that 29 percent of adult Internet users are "likely" to buy a movie download if they could burn it to a DVD, but only 6 percent said they "definitely would" purchase a download-to-burn (D2B) flick.

Its money quote, from Michael Greeson, president and co-author of the report:

D2B [download to burn] services are still very new, so this is encouraging news. Then again, translating interest for such a novel service into actual demand will be difficult, as is seen by the extent to which download time and price-per-title impact the appeal of D2B services.

I prefer walking to the neighborhood video store and getting the free popcorn they throw in, but that may change when the rainy season begins.