Thursday, January 17, 2008

"Other Worlds Than These" episode 019.

019: Hulu.

Hulu is a web portal for viewing video content, including episodes of current and classic television shows from NBC, CBS, and FOX. Hulu is, also, both legal and free -- a combination often difficult to come by in the world of web video. I've heard people opine that the web will one day be the principal delivery method for video content. Is that day here? Is Hulu the new TV?

I doubt it. Hulu is still in "beta," and it's little buggy -- playback is sometimes choppy. And, maybe this is just me, but I don't think the cable company has anything to worry about until there's a simple and effecient way to play web video on a real TV (Hulu is strictly a through-your-web-browser deal).

Still, I'd recommend that any television junkies (or television creators) out there sign up for a Hulu beta account. The site is easy to navigate, and I like the variety of content, everything from classic cheese (like the original Battlestar Galactica) to modern classics (like the new Battlestar Galactica). I also like how they keep the service free -- old-school commercial breaks (which are much shorter than the breaks on network television).

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