
Hulu really hates the TV, PlayStation 3 blocked - mrspin
http://www.last100.com/2009/06/28/hulu-really-hates-the-tv-playstation-3-blocked/
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andreyf
To put this story into context, remember that the biggest stake holders in
Hulu are NBC Universal, Fox Entertainment, and Disney (27% each).

Source: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulu>

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paulgb
Exactly. I bet Hulu would love to be on the TV, it's the content owners who
don't.

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Skeuomorph
Hulu is on my TV, using Hulu Desktop application, provided by Hulu, with an 10
foot experience approaching the usability of TiVo.

EDIT:

Hulu Desktop is at <http://www.hulu.com/labs/hulu-desktop>, have a look at the
screenshots or try it.

Note that "Hulu Desktop will work with Apple and Windows Media Center remotes"
suggesting they don't expect it to be driven by a mouse and keyboard.

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blasdel
But Hulu Desktop is the just the same Flash bullshit, with the same
ridiculously awful performance.

If you're going to go to the trouble of distributing a desktop app, why the
fuck would you still accept playback 100x crappier than native
implementations?

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dgallagher
Yeah, this isn't going to really accomplish much except annoy users.

They're going to have to win an Olympic gold medal to block people like me
though: Mac Mini + TV. Their beta desktop software runs very nice, better than
Boxee in fact. Haven't paid a penny for Cable TV in two months and never plan
on doing so ever again. :)

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paul9290
Yes I have the same thing! It's so easy to connect and the Mini fits nicely
within my entertainment cabinet. Also I enjoy the full Internet from my couch;
youtube, hulu, cbsnews, hacker news, etc, etc...

I guess ppl think this type of set up is not intuitive as they need a wireless
mouse or think they won't be able to read the text from 10' away. I use a
wireless handheld mouse (gyration) and firefox mouse gestures add on to motion
down to enlarge text when needed; few clicks and text is large enough to read.

Well this is the solution I've used for years and I prefer it over any boxee
or whatever. Those don't give u the full Internet.

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zitterbewegung
Unfortunately this will encourage customers to pirate the content.

~~~
pxlpshr
Exactly. I've been in love with Hulu but after Boxee and now this, a big FU
HULU.

I had no problem the commercials in Hulu (would even pay for premium Hulu
access), I know people need to get paid. But if the conglomerates are going to
force proprietary delivery channels to strictly Hulu-approved
devices/software, then they didn't learn a damn thing from the music business
and deserve everything coming.

I'm hoping that a Boxee developer makes a plugin that gives me access to my
usenet accounts, handles the download, unparing, etc. Very high quality (often
1080p), commercial free, no latency/skipping and super fast for only $18
month.

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jrockway
_handles the download, unparing, etc._

Some Usenet providers do this on the server-side and just give you an HTTP
download. Watching a show consists of starting the download, and invoking VLC
on that. (The download is faster than real-time, so it "streams".)

Easynews also has RSS feeds, so it would be a simple matter of programming to
write an app that searches for your favorite shows and lets you immediately
start watching them.

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stcredzero
Bittorrent clients also have RSS feed readers. For less than HD, you can often
watch a show for only 30 minutes lead time. If you have things set to download
automatically, then there are probably unwatched shows waiting for you all the
time. Then, it's like Tivo.

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e40
"...might be the final push viewers need to dump their TV subscriptions
altogether."

I recently dumped DirecTV. I have a Mac Mini running Plex. The latter nicely
integrates seamlessly with Hulu, TheDailyShow.com, TheColbertReport.com and
Netflix (watch instantly), and to round out my TV watching experience I
download the rest from P2P (eztv.it, currently down with "hardware problems").

I've been giving preference to Hulu, TDS and TCR over P2P so that the content
providers know I'm watching. I also want Hulu to make some money on the ads,
which aren't too bad.

What I don't understand: from the point of view of content providers, Hulu
should be preferred, because, after all, I can't skip commercials. TiVo, my
old DirecTV DVR and other means all allow me to skip commercials. They should
embrace Hulu. It will save their asses.

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arohner
So I have a 23" widescreen monitor that can do 1080p. What if I had a 30"
monitor? Would Hulu want to block it then? What if I have a 50" monitor? When
does it turn into a "TV" that Hulu would block?

When you put a couch in front of the monitor. Then it becomes "TV"

Try writing the Terms of Service for that. "You are authorized to watch Hulu
on a computer monitor up to 30" in size. You are _not_ authorized to watch
hulu while sitting on a couch, or in the presence of more than 2 people, or
with munchies."

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Skeuomorph
Again, on the contrary, Hulu themselves offer a "lean back" (their words, not
mine) experience through the Hulu Desktop application.

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arohner
Right, except that they keep banning all of the devices that would be
convenient to play TV on your couch

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Skeuomorph
Any HTPC (or what I use these days, the Mac Mini), plus a HDCP compliant DVI-
HDMI adapter and you're golden.

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buugs
Well this is how I watched hulu, I guess that is over now though and they've
probably lost quite a few customers.

Maybe youtube shows will take over at some point and we wont have to worry as
much.

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huhtenberg
Why not link to the original content:

[http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/27/ps3-owners-get-boxeed-
hul...](http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/27/ps3-owners-get-boxeed-hulu-this-
video-is-not-available-on-yo)

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fatdog789
The _owners_ of Hulu don't hate Hulu on TV. They simply don't want to
sacrifice the revenue they get from live broadcasting. Not all shows on Hulu
make as much as The Simpsons does.

The content is only free b/c advertising pays for it. Without the ads, that
shit would be very expensive.

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furyg3
Indeed, They want to add a 'computer' revenue stream, not convert 'television'
users to 'computer' users.

That reasoning makes sense when you're thinking about a particular
configuration, but that's changing. If my partner and I had a child right now,
he/she would grow up having no idea what a television is, because there isn't
one in the house.

Before this would be strange, limited only to hippies wanting to make a
statement. But the three people in my house aren't morally opposed, all grew
up with TVs, and I'm the only geek. We don't have a TV because it never
occurred to any of us to buy one when we moved in together (it's only been
brought up once). All content which we'd wish to see is available online, for
free, most even legally. It doesn't seem odd, only a minority of my friends
(mid-to-late 20s) have a TV, so if broadcasters want to keep their jobs they
should probably figure something out quickly...

It should be mentioned that I'm living in Holland which has most programming
available online (uitzendinggemist.nl). Many US programs are available via
their own website (Daily Show, Colbert, etc), and we were watching Hulu until
they became geographically impaired. Result: we watch something else or
someone downloads it if it was 'important'.

