Hulu transforms (again) the way I watch television

OK, here's the timeline:

1. I move to college. I'm not willing to pay for cable because TV is crap, so I don't.
2. I finish up college. I subscribe to cable since that seems like the right thing to do, but hate how much it costs.
3. I get TIVO. My viewing habits are transformed, and I can now follow my favorite shows. Since I don't have to schedule my life around the networks, I fall in love with The Daily Show, 24, and shows like Scrubs and The Office.
4. I get an HD TV. To watch HD programming, cable bills skyrocket. Their service stumbles, and out of frustration I cancel my service.
5. I discover that I can get good-enough quality television online. Since my computer (a mac mini) is plugged into my HD TV, I can watch it all in huge-screen glory. For free (mostly). I haven't found a show I wanted to watch that I haven't been able to get online, other than the Food Network, sadly.

Most people that I talk to know all about how to watch mainstream television online - meaning full-length shows distributed by major networks. They think of nbc.com or iTunes, which actually work out great. I can really get anything I want there, either for free or paying for a show subscription, like $10/month for the Daily Show.

Using Hulu, despite its mixed initial reactions, has been awesome for my online-TV experience, and gives me more and more confidence that the Internet is already replacing cable as a distribution channel for content.

1. The HD Gallery is amazing. Sure, it's only movie trailers now, but the proof-of-concept is that all content will be able to stream in HD within a few years.
2. They continually add shows. I was initially skeptical of Hulu because of their close affiliation with the NBC and FOX networks. But the amount of content there now and added since I joined has been very compelling.
3. Browsing and playing shows is easy.
4. Ads are there, but they're well-embedded into the player. No need to adjust anything when the ads are done like the network's sites.
   
5. The playlist feature is awesome. I can queue up shows (like a Netflix queue) and play them all, back-to-back. It's a great way to get into new shows from the start, like Chuck or Heroes.

I particularly like that though they're building a great site, they're also making it easy for people to embed the videos different places (like this clip below). That open approach is surprising from a site so close to the networks, but will help Hulu's success immensely. Now numerous video sites are supported by Hulu's content - and I'm guessing that Hulu gets a cut of the ads embedded in the content.

Anyway, enjoy Hulu...

Use iTunes, Not Cable

I'm certainly not the first to suggest that people could start using Apple TV instead of their cable TV provider. No one seems to think that would happen - and being a long time Tivo fan, I never did either.

Something happened though recently that made me change my mind. First, I did the math, looking at the TV shows I really wanted to watch. I need the Daily Show, Colbert, The Office, and Scrubs. I figured that would currently run me about $36 a month - not bad, and certainly better than my cable bill plus Tivo bill plus HD plus etc... So for another installment of how technology is making my life better, I look to iTunes and the TV show downloads.



My economist friends will argue that the remainder is the value of bundling all shows together. And it's a valid argument, but leaves out one strong assumption. I don't want to be able to channel surf - that drain takes away from the rest of my life, and I'm not strong enough to resist it.

The quality isn't awful on my 50" TV (better than something I Tivo'd off Comcast, non-HD), and it's actually very good streaming from my mac mini to my laptop. This was the selling point for me, being able to watch these shows anywhere in my house, wirelessly streaming them to my laptop. No need for Apple TV - just a couple computers and a decent wireless connection.

As if people didn't need enough reason to ditch the cable provider, here's one more - just get what you want from iTunes.