I have been using Hulu for some months now to watch TV on my laptop. Hulu is a TV-on-the-Internet service that runs a lot of shows from NBC, FOX and other networks. I first got into Hulu when I read about a CSI-like show called ReGenesis that was on CTV. I searched for this on my Dish, then Googled it and found that the first season was available on Hulu. Before I knew it I had watch the entire 13 episode first season. Since then I have used Hulu to watch a number of other shows. I was able to watch the episodes at 480P, which actually looks pretty dang good on my laptop. The display quality actually looks better than other services like iTunes that claim higher resolution.
Today Wired is running a story about Hulu. If you follow streaming video related news, you would probably thing that major networks would be the last people to put together a great video site. Not the case with Hulu. It is an interesting read.
Now we will see if Fox et. al. will allow Hulu to continue to exist, or if they will screw it up. It would seem like the advertising model they are using is better than what you get on traditional TV. There is less commercial time (good for me) but I cannot skip the commercials like I can on a DVR (good for the network). Hopefully this will pay off. One thing that really shows me that Hulu gets it is there embedded video feature. I can embed a video from Hulu into my web site. It is as easy as YouTube’s system. Here is a clip from one of my favorite shows, Babylon 5:
I like it when traditional companies actually get the Internet.
