Finally, it's happened. Movie distributors now provide us with services those sneaky illegal movie pirates have used for years. Despite years of foot-dragging, companies are slowly realizing that being able to distribute movies cheaply, simply and quickly via the Internet is actually a GOOD thing.

Several websites offer movies for sale, ready for immediate download and viewing on your computer. An "it's about time" step for movies and movie studios, it's good but not perfect. To illustrate this, we'll define "Oof points":

When I was a lad, my best friend and I concocted our own bug spray. We named it "Oof", as, we reasoned, that's the noise a bug would make as it was sprayed. Using common household chemicals (our "chemicals" were things like dish soap, salt, and finger paint), we created the ultimate mixture to deal the cold kiss of death to any bug we sprayed. And it worked well.

The problem with our bug spray was what I dub the "Oof point": The mixture not only killed bugs, but anything else it touched. Like my Mom's flowers. Staring wide-eyed at botanical carnage, my friend and I swore never to use "Oof" again.

These "Oof points" describe something seemingly great, but with a significant downside. Sadly, with legal movie download sites, "Oof points" run amuck.

Download movies to your computer: Great, but those movies must stay on your PC for viewing. Sharing between PCs and handheld devices is extremely limited. No making DVDs for your TV. Playback on TV is "supported" with PC-to-TV video converters, but this is a band-aid solution, and a big hassle. Oof.

Get an entire movie in one to three hours: You'll have the movie, but nothing else. No DVD extras. Paying around $10-$20 per movie, it's similar to buying a DVD (with extras). Why should we pay the same amount to get less? Oof.

All movies can be stored on your PC, so you can have a gigantic movie collection in a very small space: But if that computer is replaced, like with an upgrade? Then many movies will need to be repurchased, because they'll only play on the old computer. Oof.

Would I recommend pay-for-download movies? Sure, for a movie here and there. Used with caution, downloading movies is convenient. If you rewatch the movie, it's probably worth the price. But don't build an electronic movie collection yet. Give the technology time to grow, at least past its awkward teenage years.

Wait until licensing has relaxed and improved, like where downloadable music is today: We need the ability to watch movies on any device, from computers to DVD players to cellphones. We need to be able to share movies effortlessly between devices, without software limitations. Otherwise, like Superman working a desk job, we're using an incredible tool for limited results. Oof.

Popular sites to purchase and download movies include those at Cinemanow and Movielink.

And from the discoverer of the original "Oof point": Mom, I'm sorry about the flowers.