It seems that I am not the only one who dislikes the Universal Media Disc format that Sony rather unwisely chose to implement into their Sony PSP - and nothing else.

Many Hollywood studios are pulling out of the format in part or entirely, and major retailers like Wal Mart are also beginning to reduce the amount of shelf space that these discs are given. Zellers, on the other hand, has actually increased the space UMDs are allocated as of February 2006.

The floundering format is dying out for movie releases, but Sony does have hope for the little disc format that could. They have alluded to possible functionality with next-generation hardware. So, in the future, we could be using UMDs on a television through a PSP-TV hookup, or - perhaps - backwards compatibility available through the Playstation 3.

For whatever reason, some people are intrigued by this possibility. I - on the other hand - find this to bring about the question: Why keep the format at all?

The fact of the matter is, most people are content at simply finding movies through other - possibly illegitimate - avenues and playing them off of their memory stick. So, here is the question: Why doesn’t Sony simply establish an iTunes-like download service for movies? Download the file onto your computer. Drag and drop it onto your PSP. It is safe and sound. If the encryption is good enough, then they will not even be able to be ripped, as there is no analog video output on the PSP.

Call me crazy, but I think a Sony Video Service would work wonders for the PSP, and revitalize their dying little portable.