Hulu Meets Apple TV

Our options have multiplied -- Picture courtesy of hulu.com

by blogSpotter
Today's blog is 3-pronged -- it covers a technical conquest, a kudos to the entertainment industry (for its latest tech developments) and a comment on the dire situation of “old media”.

ANOTHER MOUNTAIN CLIMBED
I bought my Apple TV set top device in 2007. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed renting iTunes movies from it, in all their high-def glory. But through much of the time I've used it, Apple TV has come across like a C student -- not living up to its potential. In the intervening 2 years, the industrious folks at www.awkardtv.org have added a host of new services that can be installed with a USB “patch stick”. These include hulu.com, joost.com, XBMC, Boxee, nito TV, SHOUTCast and even a “couch surfer” web browser. Last week, I created the USB stick and did the install with relative ease. I’ve now been enjoying the many kitsch offerings which brings me to …

HULU.COM
NBC and Universal studios have set aside a number of TV series and movies that can be streamed for free viewing -- the only price is short, infrequent commercial breaks. The TV offerings are a fantastic mix from every TV decade: Dragnet, Adam 12, Partridge Family, ALF, 30 Rock and many, many others. I’ve also viewed the 1988 Cher movie Moonstruck and yesterday wasted two hours watching shows from Who’s The Boss?, Season One. Who says I have nothing to do? Hulu is offered under the framework of Boxee, which also offers fantastic internet radio stations. These sound great on my home stereo -- a satellite broadcaster would charge $30/month for this service -- SHOUTCast gives it to you for free. That is now my segue over to…

OLD MEDIA, DOWN FOR THE COUNT
Here are but some of the businesses and organizations being hit by the new digital download glut…
o CD/Record stores (mostly gone already)
o Book Stores
o Video Rental Outlets
o Libraries
o Newspapers and magazines
o Network television

Some of the above are all but gone now. Others that were struggling have been belly punched by the new recession. Virtually all my news magazines have become thin with less ad space. I sincerely hope that all these enterprises find a way to profit in the Internet Economy. Artists, authors and journalists should be compensated for their work no matter the venue -- some industry analysts have suggested that the Internet Economy simply takes out the middle man. Maybe so, but Old Media help us along in different ways. They separate the wheat from the chaff, as well as offer media in appealing, discrete, quality, virus-free packages.

IN SUM
Let us hope that the 21st century can give artists and actors a fair shake for their work, while letting us geeks enjoy the instant gratification of streaming media and instant downloads. Speaking of which, please give hulu.com a look-see if you haven’t ready -- all you need is an internet-connected PC.

© 2009 blogSpotter