In the age of $1 DVD rentals (for one-day) at RedBox and Blockbuster kiosks and unlimited $7.99-a-month streaming at Netflix, the stooopid, greedy SOBs at Walmart have launched a $2 rental (for 2-days) for the iPad via its Vudu streaming service.

Notwithstanding what the junk e-mail in your inbox might say, Size does not matter and is certainly no guarantee of success.

Now, why would people want to pay $2 to rent a movie when you can get it for less elsewhere. Of course, the nitpickers will now argue that we’re comparing oranges with apples and that a similar non-subscription service is not available for iPad from RedBox, BlockBuster or Netflix.

Well, how many people like to watch movies on the iPad. In any case, the Vudu pricing model ($2 for two days) is same whether you watch it on iPad or TV through a compatible set-top device.

The Vudu-for-iPad does not require a special app like Netflix on iPad but works through a mobile site tailored to the iPad. Walmart is tacking this tack to avoid sharing revenues with Apple.

We watched a trailer of the still-in-theaters French movie Point Blank on our iPad 2 via Vudu and it looked good.

Walmart says its Vudu subsidiary offers 20,000 blockbusters, Hollywood classics, independent films and TV episodes, that can be rented or purchased and watched instantly. Apparently, some of the Vudu content is available earlier than at Netflix.

By the way, movies purchased and/or rented on the iPad can also be viewed on Walmart.com/VUDU, VUDU.com or on any VUDU-enabled consumer electronics device.

If Walmart has any hopes of making headway against Netflix or RedBox, it must offer the Vudu streaming service at no more than 99-cents a movie/TV episode.

  Vudu, Walmart