Hulu Plus - Discuss!
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I'm personally underwhelmed. My previous thought that Hulu (or rather their content providers) are worried about the service killing cable seems to be spot on. 99% of the content offered via Hulu Plus are from the broadcast networks (NBC, ABC, FOX proper) and none of their cable properties. With the exception of the back-catalog (excluding summer reruns), all of this content airs for OTA (eg. free) broadcasts.
I don't need the entire season just the latest episode. You can get this free on a pc/laptop/netbook, why $10 for my phone or ipad? I would pay for the app itself for development costs but not for a subscription for what is mostly available already.
Will it play in Media Center?
I'm guessing not.
I don't see myself paying for this. I've recorded what I want from the current season of broadcast shows, and a lot of the older stuff is available on Netflix (though not all streaming and/or HD) and I already pay for that. Netflix doesn't make me watch ads either.
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I want this to play in media center (!!!!!) and I want more content. If you don't watch all that much TV, $10/mo isn't bad (as opposed to a $20 cable bill for basic cable.. this option is much simpler and available in more places if you're an Apple nut).
Are they going to up the video and audio quality to at least 720p60 and 5.1? If not, I don't see myself stop recording cable and use PlayOn to watch the occasional episode that failed to record via the PS3 on my TV in lousy stereo audio and poor 480p and whatever crappy framerate quality.
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Looks like a loser if reports are correct that it still includes ads.
They're getting in a little late too, I think people are starting to get tired of monthly fees here and there.
Chris - ModeratorI'm personally underwhelmed. My previous thought that Hulu (or rather their content providers) are worried about the service killing cable seems to be spot on. 99% of the content offered via Hulu Plus are from the broadcast networks (NBC, ABC, FOX proper) and none of their cable properties. With the exception of the back-catalog (excluding summer reruns), all of this content airs for OTA (eg. free) broadcasts.
millerbradI'll stick to using the free Hulu Desktop software on my HTPC.
I'll stick to TV
OK, first, I think the whole idea is crap. It appears that Hulu Plus is someone selling what's already free....at least from what I can tell. All I see are shows that are available Over the Air already. I don't pay for OTA broadcasts, nor do I know of anyone that does. Even more, what I do get for free is already 1080i/720p and in DD 5.1. I have a TV tuner and Windows Media Center, so I can already record the shows. If I miss one, I can catch it in the off-season, see if a friend has it, find a free stream online, or read some article about what happened. I could even go to Amazon and see if they have it VOD a day or two later. So would I like to pay $10 per month for a degraded version of something I already get free? No. If anything, I'd expect Hulu to pay me to watch shows through them.
Now if I was the standard cable subscriber with my DVR box would I pay for it? Absolutely not! Again, I can already get the same stuff without spending any additional money. Why would I want to add $10 a month to my cost for watching TV? Now maybe if I could drop $10 (or more) worth of service from my cable bill and I could replace it with something of equal or greater value, then maybe...but Hulu doesn't offer anything that I can cancel on my cable bill.
Now here's what I would pay for. I would pay for a service that competes with my cable company. That service would have to offer me content from channels I can only get from my cable company, not the channels that are free to everyone in the US. It would have to offer the same audio and video quality as what I can get from the cable company (and I mean in terms of HD video and 5.1 Dolby Digital audio, not some fake version or WMA). It would have to offer me all the shows from each channel...I don't need some corporate *** picking what shows I do or do not want to watch, so let me pick from all of them. It would have to offer more than just a handful of channels...and quality channels at that. And of course, it should be competitively priced. Now that's something I would actually pay for. A service that truly competes with my cable company and gives me an alternative to their monopoly. Unfortunately, no such service exists. All that exists is a method for me to spend more money each month without really getting any benefit from it.
Hulu have lost their collective minds. Until they archive every show that was ever broadcast along side the day after broadcast of current shows it won't be worth it. With Netflix and torrents, there is no incentive to pay for only a decent service that is currently free.
I started using Hulu as a way to reduce the cost of watching TV. This doesn't appeal to me at all. I don't have Netflix but, I were going to pay for a service it would be Netflix and get a DVD in the mail too.
This is aimed at those iPhone/iPod/iPad users. I would only use this service if they offered cable shows. I put "Royal Pains" on my Hulu queue and have never watched it. I could record it but I already record "In Plain Sight" and have never watched that. If I could get shows like that in decent 720p while recording shows like "Burn Notice" in 1080i then maybe this would be something I could put to use. It isn't aimed at me though. It's not aimed at people who are recording NBC, ABC, or CBS on QAM or HBO, USA, Discovery off an HD Cable box/CableCard. It's aimed at people who are walking around with iDevices etc....Q
And people who are shocked that they are being charged for content on the iDevices obviously don't own many iDevices or haven't owned them for long!!! You are always going to be taken advantage of as long as you continue to depend on those devices. Bow to the throne!!!
ChiWax This is aimed at those iPhone/iPod/iPad users. I would only use this service if they offered cable shows. I put "Royal Pains" on my Hulu queue and have never watched it. I could record it but I already record "In Plain Sight" and have never watched that. If I could get shows like that in decent 720p while recording shows like "Burn Notice" in 1080i then maybe this would be something I could put to use. It isn't aimed at me though. It's not aimed at people who are recording NBC, ABC, or CBS on QAM or HBO, USA, Discovery off an HD Cable box/CableCard. It's aimed at people who are walking around with iDevices etc....Q And people who are shocked that they are being charged for content on the iDevices obviously don't own many iDevices or haven't owned them for long!!! You are always going to be taken advantage of as long as you continue to depend on those devices. Bow to the throne!!!
Quite right, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Personally I think iPhone/iPod/iPad users get raked over the coals a little just purchasing said devices let alone actual usage. I think the value of a dollar is simply lost among some circles. I don’t want to hemorrhage cash every time I click a button on a nifty device and I don’t want to pay for what I get for free (legally) already.
So basically, screw you Hulu,......(look I'm a poet and didn't know it ;) )