Version: 2008

Comments on: No clown, Hulu looks great

Much-maligned video site that offers TV shows in their entirety provides high-quality viewing experience.

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Hulu Invites...
by Mapper99 October 29, 2007 5:52 PM PDT
This site is already offering Hulu invites:

http://www.laudontech.com/hulu/hulu.html
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Hulu Invites...
by Mapper99 October 29, 2007 5:57 PM PDT
This site is already offering Hulu Invites:

http://www.laudontech.com/hulu/hulu.html
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Not convinced yet, sorry
by Groucho6 October 29, 2007 6:23 PM PDT
Personally I trust the networks as far as I can throw a semi. You
want to give me high quality, full screen streaming video with no
hassles or costs? Fine, I'm in. You start inserting advertising and
bombarding me with popups and forcing me to sit through adverts
at the top (hello Microsoft), and count me out.

Oh, and it better not be crappy WMV format either.
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Re: Not convinced yet, sorry
by MacSwitcher October 29, 2007 8:53 PM PDT
"Oh, and it better not be crappy wmv format either."

Like iTunes is any better?

Don't get me wrong... love my itunes library and stream to TV thru AppleTV and MacMini... but WMV on Amazon Unbox is far superior in video quality.
Who Pays The Piper?
by seo2seo October 29, 2007 6:27 PM PDT
Just what we needed - a totally unbiased view of hulu.

Shame we didn't get one.
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Hulubaloo
by xmlguy--2008 October 30, 2007 12:30 AM PDT
Do I need to register to watch TV?
No.
Do I need to register to watch YouTube?
No.
Do I need to register to watch Hulu?
Yes.
Will I watch Hulu?
No.
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Full Disclosure! (i.e. Op Ed Press Release?)
by kSpittel October 30, 2007 3:30 AM PDT
- NBC Universal has a 5% stake in CNet Networks, parent
company of CNet.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/
archive/1998/06/10/BU21194.DTL&type=printable

- CNet is in 'Stratigic Content Provider' for the new web site:

http://www.allbusiness.com/services/business-services/
4341089-1.html
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thank you
by Wind_Freak October 30, 2007 11:10 AM PDT
It's always good to know when reviews are not really impartial.
Why not say it invite only?
by Randall Lind October 30, 2007 6:41 AM PDT
I am sick of all the news media saying today Hulu is launch. It is not open to the public!

It is in beta and if you are lucky you can get an invite if not you have to wait.

It would be nice if you all reported that it is not open for public use yet. I was all exicted but I am left out of the hulu dance.

Back to abc.go.com to watch tv shows.
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Open letter to NBC/Universal
by mike.gw October 30, 2007 10:06 AM PDT
Dear NBC/Universal

While I can understand why you might want to control the free viewing of your content via your own Hulu.com website, as opposed to illegal uploads of your material via Youtube.com, I do not understand why you folks are battling Apple and their iTunes website.

iTunes is the most important music model that has come along in my 41 years. Ever since the advent of CDs, I have loathed purchasing an expensive CD album just to obtain one hit song. It was not often that a CD single of a hit song was even available, and if it was, I found the price to be expensive. As a consumer, I felt I was being taken advantage of, by a company who chose to limit my choices for the sake of their profits. Since I found the product unaffordable by my past standards, I simply did without much of the music I enjoyed during my youth.

It is also important to express that I do not support pirated or ?bootleg? CD/DVD content. I like to own my content legitimately. But much of today?s music is simply brief ear candy. A catchy beat, a cute phrase, but no staying power. There are so many one hit wonders, and unlike in my youth (or my parent?s day), many of today?s artists are not great vocalists. Many music publishers find a new hot body and pretty face with a passable voice, and then the folks do all the great post-production studio work to make a hit song. Or you have the young rappers who blatantly state on their songs that they are singing simply to get rich. These new artists do not care about their craft. It?s like soda. Empty calories with no nutritional value. So today?s music is a short-lived, disposable commodity, and like any other commodity, a low selling price should be the goal. Because, frankly, if I have to pay a lot for the bulk of the poor music out there, I can do without it.

iTunes gives me the ability to PURCHASE MUSIC AND CONTENT THAT I OTHERWISE MIGHT NOT PURCHASE. That?s a very important point, and one that you content providers must understand. I am willing to spend 99 cents on a non-DRM 128 or 256 bitrate song. It?s an impulse purchase, much like buying a pack of gum at the supermarket checkout line. Doesn?t cost much and won?t dent my budget. If the artist is worth it, than I am willing to purchase a higher quality CD of the entire album, just as long as I can load I can load it into iTunes for my iPod/Apple TV listening pleasure. 99 cents per song, for a bunch of downloaded Zeros and Ones, with no manufacturing/packaging/shipping costs. That?s all I?m willing to pay. I won?t pay more for a hot new release. I will simply not buy it, just as I did in my younger days.

I also disagree with your firm trying to receive a cut of Apple?s hardware sales. I understand that you get $1 for each Zune sold. What if the purchaser of the MP3 player NEVER purchased a Universal song? He/she has just paid a tax to Universal and received nothing in return! I did not purchase an iPod based on the available content from Universal. I purchased an iPod because it was demonstrably the best MP3 player experience on the market. It seems that where I have choice as a consumer, Universal seeks to eliminate my choice in a set of actions that primarily benefits no one but Universal. That?s not how a free marketplace works.

In closing, it is my hope that you will rethink you iTunes stance. Having your content for sale via iTunes can only be considered a compliment to your Hulu.com Ad based service, and another revenue stream that requires little on your part. If I cannot purchase Universal content in the manner that I choose, I will be forced to give up purchasing Universal content entirely, and I don?t see how that benefits anyone.

Sincerely,

Michael W.
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HULU Bare Bones
by Grumpyz77 October 30, 2007 10:10 AM PDT
Bare Bones seems to be mentioned like it was a bad thing. I found it good. All I want to do is watch something and click on it. I don't need all that other crap.
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Last Years Heroes
by Seattle.Guy October 30, 2007 10:30 AM PDT
Why would they want to give you the most anticipated DVD set of the summer? You want last years episodes you can go out and buy them.
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Talk about missing the point...
by Galaxy5 October 30, 2007 11:18 AM PDT
It's not that it isn't YouTube, or that NBC doesn't "get" the
Internet.

You can't DO anything with these shows. They have no
permanence, they can't be put on an iPod, they can't be enjoyed
when you're bored and away from the Internet - like on a train,
car trip, or airplane ride.

And frankly, it doesn't look "great". Better than YouTube is not
the same as "as good as iTunes".

What do people at NBC and Fox envision people doing? If I
wanted to sit in front of a box tethered to a wall and watch TV
shows...well, I'd USE MY TV. (Which conveniently has a recording
device attached, unlike Hulu.)

Hulu: TV on a computer for people who don't have TVs. What a
great pitch. No wonder Zucker is looking for another job - if he
doesn't leave NBC quickly, he's going to be a middle manager at
GE Aircraft engines.

You really missed the point. (and my RSS reader keeps showing
the date of this article as October 7, 2023.)
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Big media don't listen
by PostNoComments October 30, 2007 11:14 PM PDT
The point of downloading shows is portability. To watch it in your iPod while you're commuting or traveling. I can't download the shows to my iPod? I'm not interested.
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2023 it'll look great?
by Wind_Freak October 31, 2007 1:26 PM PDT
Ok so In October of 2023 it'll look great?

They seriously need to work on their system for setting dates.....

hmm me thinks there's a pattern here.

Anything that can be detrimental to apple seems to have a long
date that it will stay at the top. Anybody else see a pattern here?
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Sounds uncomfortable...
by QwalityGuy November 1, 2007 10:19 AM PDT
If this setup isn?t going let you download and ?own? the content, they could at least partner with someone who allows you to watch The Simpsons, Heroes and Lost on your TV rather than cramped and hunched in front of a laptop.

If watching TV is a social experience, you simply have to get one of these:
http://www.internetvue.com/iv2020.htm. You?d also then have to option of viewing content via the Internet at your leisure without needing to download, etc.
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Fix the Date Please
by totorototoro November 3, 2007 10:05 AM PDT
Another CNET story that screws up the RSS feeds due to an
incorrect date-come on guys, its RSS, not rocket science.
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How much did Hulu pay to get the date?
by scannall--2008 November 5, 2007 6:45 AM PST
Seems a good way to make a little money. Make an 'error' on the
date so the same story, and company name are in peoples faces
for a looong time.
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Please fix the feed date...
by Galaxy5 November 5, 2007 8:57 AM PST
It is not 2023. Hulu is getting an awful lot of free publicity.
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this is really bad marketing,not news
by bassiq November 6, 2007 8:32 AM PST
take down this infocommercial or I will start searching for a real
NEWS site.
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OK, Cnet emailed me about the RSS problem
by totorototoro November 6, 2007 8:07 PM PST
Seems like its a Safari/RSS issue, nothing sinister :p Just unsubscribe/re-subscribe, see if that works!
(thanks for the heads up, Bernie :) )
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Not as great as iTunes
by moogarp November 9, 2007 7:48 PM PST
I really hope NBC figures it out. I was happily paying to whatch
their programs... now I don't watch them. I'm obviously not the
only one.
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