On December 21st, Wal-Mart canceled its fledgling movie download service, citing the Hewlett Packard discontinuation of the technology powering it.

This doesn't really affect Mac users to any great extent, since no one really ever burst into a room screaming that only the Wal-Mart service had full access to the extended edition of "Citizen Kane", complete with an additional four hours of commentary, alternate endings and deleted scenes, but it does open a door for Apple.

Over on The Apple Core, PowerPage head honcho Jason O'Grady offers his opinions as to the shutdown, what it means to Apple and where the company could go in terms of service, what's offered and whether to team up with a partner like Netflix or go it alone while forming partnerships and alliances with the studios.

Give it a gander and let us know what you think over in the comments or forums.