Rerun: Hulu – TV Killer?
Dec 24, 2008As I’ve mentioned before, Hulu.com is an internet service that lets you watch TV for free. From the moment of its launch it has grown to be an incredibly popular site, raking in numbers around 45-90 million dollars in their first year. The site currently offers a very large selection of shows, and also full-length movies. The design is very easy to navigate and really sleek (especially the player). While I was reading about their site on ReadWriteWeb a question popped into my head. Will Hulu (or YouTube) ever replace actual television? Its a question I think is worth thinking about.
The Pros
- Advertisements are limited and non-obnoxious on Hulu.
- Its free.
The Cons
- Websites that stream content such as TV have an intense effect on your bandwidth. If you don’t have an unlimited plan with your ISP, this can cost you.
- Although there are many, internet TV still doesn’t provide every single channel or show available on real television.
Post a comment and say what you think about Hulu.com and internet TV.
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Posted by Spencer on Dec 24, 2008
It’s possible that maybe some day it will “replace” television, but not in the near future. I know people that still don’t have computers/internet, and that’s also something to consider.
I’ve never used Hulu, but I’ll have to check it out!
I checked it out; I don’t really think that it’s anything special.
Maybe I wasn’t using it right.
Yeah, as far as I’ve seen, its really cool, but no true breakthrough :]
TV will always be the mainstay entertainment thing. To do sites like Hulu, you gotta sign up, log in, search, buffer; you only have to flip the on switch to a TV. Plus, TV channels operate thanks to paid advertisements which pretty much make our economic and social world go ’round (sadly), so I’d say TV’s here to stay.
Good point..
I defiantly agree with Lee.
I don’t. I already watch more TV on Hulu, YouTube, and iTunes than I do on an actual television set. I think computers will overtake regular TVs as a primary viewing source within the next 5-10 years. It may not be Hulu itself but it will be sites like Hulu that provide us with content.
I watch things like The Colbert Report and The Daily show online just because I don’t always get to see it, and I have no clue what time it’s regularly on.
My dad just recently got rid of our very small, analog TV, and now at his house I’m a lot more dependent on the internet for TV and such.
As more and more shows become available online, I’m sure cable and satellite companies are getting more and more worried about losing their business. But like I said before, I don’t think that day of TVs becoming something of the past is coming soon.
:)
I don’t think computer viewing will replace television, but I think we might see a convergence of the two. As internet bandwidth increases, we might see televisions hooked up to the internet and cable and satellite companies streaming their channels.
God you guys write a lot! Its funny, I’m sitting here wondering how to respond..
Well, I definitely think Danny’s theory is the most plausible. Ben’s is actually a great idea, but its rather impractical (time’s change, though). The internet is perfect for (like Sarah said) catch-up episodes and plain leisurely viewing. But for now its not a primary source.
I promise, this is my fifth and final comment on this. :]
http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/182/cheap-ways-to-watch-tv/
Haha, I just saw it as I was signing into my e-mail.
I beg to differ on Hulu’s ads. It seems like every time I’ve ever used it, it plays the same commercial 3 or 4 times over the course of the video. It always struck me as a no-brainer for Hulu to use different commercials, or at least separate commercials for the same product. I’m sure that will get fixed as online TV-watching becomes more popular though. I’m sure that requiring the public to buy HDTVs or digital receivers in the middle of a recession will probably shift a few viewers over.
I think in the next 20 or 30 years everything will be internet based or rather everything will merge together. I think the concept of downloading TV Shows, Movies and Music will be huge as we are rapidly gaining more space on our hard drives.