Won't play when not connected to the Internet – iTunes U Review

I downloaded a whole bunch of Podcasts (for the Going-to-the-Sun Road) to listen to in the car. They play fine in iTunesU when I'm connected to the Internet, but, when I'm not, I get a pop-up that just says "Error". How useless is this? Guess what: there IS NO INTERNET on the Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Review by Noname36582 on iTunes U.