Hulu.com

Wanted to know what you guys think of this Hulu.com website that promises to be the next "big thing" on demand video content. The quality is pretty good and at least for me, it works better then the service offered by netflix.

Ad-supported free service. It's new for me and I'd like to listen from you on this. So, what do you think? What are the pro and cons?

Tags: hulu

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Leo on March 13, 2008 at 8:04pm: Absolutely not. I am a satisfied Netflix costumer and have nothing to gain from this. I simply proposed a discussion which in my opinion is of much value for this community. Sorry if you had the wrong idea.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by The Real Uncle Bob on April 13, 2008 at 6:01am: I checked to see if Arrested Development could be streamed from Netflix before watching the series at Hulu. Hulu's great but it doesn't frame to the right aspect ratio on my TV, and Netflix does. Also watching Kitchen Nightmares over there.

The ads are a pest but they're way shorter than broadcast.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by ewd76 on May 10, 2008 at 2:11pm: That series might, but not all do.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Spindaddydad on March 13, 2008 at 9:05pm: How annoying are the ads? Too intrusive and it could be a deal breaker for me. I sometimes watch shows on CBS.com or ABC.COm and it is almost too painful to bear all the commercial breaks with the same commercial. I don't mind paying for commercial-free; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by droidmaker on March 13, 2008 at 10:17pm: I see no problem with discussing competitive services (tell you what: i'll make a special forum for that)

Let's be clear - while these all may look like competitive sites (and they are), its important to recognize the distinctions: a subscription service is a very differernt biz model from an ad supported service. Selling vs renting is another important differentiator in biz model. Neither are to be confused with technical differences (streaming vs downloading, etc) - which are not quite as important here.

The point is: each biz model has strengths and weaknesses and lend themselves, sometimes, to different content. Short form (shorts, UGC, maybe sitcoms) are quite well suited for an ad supported biz. You watch a bunch. Attention is brief. Compare this to hour long TV, or movies. Much more time investment, more desire for watching on a TV than a laptop perhaps, and less tolerance for commercials in some cases. BUT HERE IS THE MAIN POINT--The more expensive the content, the more ads are required to pay for it -- so do the math: it would take a bazillion commercials to pay for that new release feature film (online or on network TV); subscription services are better in many ways for this kind of content. HBO, for instance, was early to realize this.

Anyway, HULU is ad supported, which by definition makes them good for some stuff and not for other stuff. Netflix is an all-you-can eat kind of demand service, mostly for long form. Anyway, i like hearing about everyone's experiences with these new services, and i think its good to share.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by wowwee123 on March 15, 2008 at 10:36pm: If there were expiration dates for Instant Watch titles, then we'd have a better idea of what to see first. It's frustrating to go for a title I've added to my Q to watch later, only to find that it's not available anymore (or at the time I wanted to).; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by ewd76 on June 23, 2008 at 7:57am: Some do have expiration dates, in your IW queue there will be a date there is one exists.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Leo on March 13, 2008 at 10:35pm: Like others have already said, competition is ALWAYS good. Companies compete for better quality service, for competitive price, to improve their customer relations, etc.

And our part of the deal is to compare.

I just finished watching a SIMPSONS episode at Hulu.com and I was pleased with the fact that they actually offer the "closed caption" for some of their videos. This alone has been a bother for me to make more use of the service offered by Netflix.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Baff on March 14, 2008 at 1:02am: Video quality isn't very exciting, but it works flawlessly on my Mac.

Watched several things and didn't see any ads.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cat G on March 15, 2008 at 3:03am: Baff, you don't notice ads! LOL; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by UpcomingCinema on March 15, 2008 at 3:11am: No ads? The ads aren't too bad but non-existant?

Maybe I'll finally buy a Mac....

I've been enjoying season two of 30 Rock. I watched the first season on DVD but missed the fall portion of season two on TV. Its been great to catch up without having to wait.; ▶ Reply to This