Comments on: Hulu vs. Amazon: Amazon Never Stood A Chance

By: jigga

jigga — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:47:46 +0000

buy a refurb mac mini – 419.00 from apple, that’s what we did. cancelled our 100+ a month cable.

By: tinyComb » Blog Archive » Amazon vs Hulu

tinyComb » Blog Archive » Amazon vs Hulu — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:31:55 +0000

[...] tiny from: TechCrunch.com original post View Jason Wilk’s Profile Subscribe via RSS RelatedBookmarksTags [...]

By: Amazon compared to Hulu | My Place: Alvira Khan

Amazon compared to Hulu | My Place: Alvira Khan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:35:26 +0000

[...] Amazon compared to Hulu Subscribe RSS Feed now [...]

By: Alvira Khan

Alvira Khan — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 18:15:48 +0000

It’s interesting to read that Amazon regards the next frontier in video to be online streaming. I am also impressed by Hulu. Competition traditionally leads to the enhancement of technologies and innovation, thus, I view Amazon’s attempts as noteworthy.

Alvira Khan
Florida Atlantic University
FAU Alumni

By: Unbox reborn as Amazon Video on Demand | Cool Tech Reviews

Unbox reborn as Amazon Video on Demand | Cool Tech Reviews — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:26:27 +0000

[...] reviews indicate the Amazon Video on Demand service is quite usable albeit with some video glitches reported, so you might care to try some of the free videos before plunking down some cash. A bigger question [...]

By: josh

josh — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:32:24 +0000

Hulu is great but it seems like they’re having trouble selling the inventory. I can count on one hand the number of advertisers I’ve seen on there, and they run a LOT of house ads for hulu.com/advertising

My guess is that the market isn’t bearing the price that Hulu needs to charge in order to give Fox/NBC the same revenue per show viewed as they get from purchases at Amazon or iTunes.

By: StarGirl

StarGirl — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:12:49 +0000

Amazon doesn’t just work with Sony BRAVIA. It also works with TiVo (downloads). If you download to a networked Windows PC with Amazon’s software you can also stream to an Xbox 360 or connect a Windows PC directly to your TV. Connecting a PC or Mac directly to your TV will work with Hulu or Amazon for streaming video.Annoying to have a PC in your living room perhaps–but increasingly worth it I think.

TV shows may be a bit pricey on Amazon (the same as iTunes) but the movie rentals are a pretty good deal. And once you get used to no commercials, it’s pretty addictive.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:37:21 +0000

I think everyone here has missed the point. Stop thinking Hulu, and start thinking about this as a smart alternative to DVDs. I can buy Mythbusters Season 1 DVD for $20 at Amazon. I can purchase the 13 episodes online and have them downloaded to my PC (or hopefully one day a Myth box, very appropriate for Mythbusters don’t you think… some joke you just do for your own amusement folks) for $26. Why does anyone expect to get ala carte cheaper than the value meal? I completely understand the market, the concept, and the model. Now, if they can make it competitive and bring value, and compete in this growing market remains to be seen, but Amazon has a good track record in this arena.

If Amazon really wanted to make this thing fly well, here is what I would recommend to them…

Build a multi-media PC, maybe based on Linux and Myth. Open source could really be your friend here. Next, extend it with subscription services similar to Tivo, only instead of capturing broadcast TV, it automatically downloads all shows from a season, without commercials, to your media box. Make the video store a service like iTunes and the AppStore are a service on the iPhone.

What would I have?

A box that would allow me to completely disengage from cable TV all together. No commercials, and stored locally because I purchased them like I would have a DVD. I bet my costs would be quite similar to digital cable over a TV season, and I can watch shows when I wanted to.

This could, if done right, change TV from a ratings model that does not work, to a direct pay model without advertisements. Show popularity could be directly identified from sales figures, instead of inferred from statistics based upon a few monitoring boxes in peoples homes. New shows could also bypass the major networks (who knows maybe next Olympics will stream better content over the net when the commercials are gone). The first rew shows in a season could be free to entice new viewers.

Just my $0.02, but I think you people are looking at this all wrong

By: b

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:42:49 +0000

has anyone checked out tidaltv.com? what do they think of that?

By: Amazon vs Hulu | tinyCrunch

Amazon vs Hulu | tinyCrunch — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:04:24 +0000

[...] tiny from: TechCrunch.com original post Share and [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:14:42 +0000

Check out PlayOn. It streams to PS3, Xbox 360, maybe Wii someday…

By: baah-baah-the-black-sheep

baah-baah-the-black-sheep — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:00:35 +0000

Mike, it’s not the type of post TC is known and loved for.
Too long, too smart, too detailed, too boring.
More like RWW or CNET, but not as good as it used to be here.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:25:03 +0000

check out http://www.zeevee.com

By: nobody

nobody — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:16:01 +0000

“I’m still looking for a way to get Hulu in my living room.”

It’s easy. All you need is a $20 cable. Just Google “Zipityzap”

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:48:55 +0000

Hulu is a pretty great alternative to the paid subscriptions… just recently discovered it. Cool find!

By: links for 2008-09-04 « 個人的な雑記

links for 2008-09-04 « 個人的な雑記 — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:31:08 +0000

[...] Hulu vs. Amazon: Amazon Never Stood A Chance (tags: hulu Amazon) [...]

By: Brian Caldwell

Brian Caldwell — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:04:36 +0000

additional perspective on the Hulu experience.

I cut off cable due to the TYPES of commercials shown on mainstream TV. I simply got sick and tired of watching pointless ads that had no relevance to my lifestyle. At my apt complex I had trouble hooking up Tivo, so left with no way to skip ads I just left Cable completely behind.

Initially I moved to Joost, but fortunately Hulu launched with content that was actually fun to watch.

I understand the ad supported model of web content very well. Web ads have always been more interesting to me than mainstream Brand ads because they are generally from smaller companies for products that I may never have heard of before. My curiosity creates the interest in the ads.

I’m not saying that I enjoy ads. I generally don’t. But if I must watch ads in order to access the content then at the very least I want the ads to be interesting.

Hulu is now following the path set by mainstream TV regarding Brand ads. This is a bad sign in my opinion. On the web there is no Tivo solution (yet) and being forced to watch some stupid ad for a kitchen mop, or laundry detergent is drastically reducing the positive aspects of the Hulu experience.

I’m ok with the bargain I make with Hulu. Watch free content, but be forced to watch ads. But I would far prefer to tell Hulu what types of ads I’m interested in seeing than sit through the short, but completely mind numbing ads they are currently showing.

By: whoindatgarden

whoindatgarden — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:01:06 +0000

Well neither can truly stream HD content but then again none of the cable companies can either. Yet people will continue to be hyping online streaming as a means to deliver video content. Hollywood does not think it will really displace DVD’s as the main distribution channel.
It is like everyone knows that in maybe 20-25 years we shall have Hydrogen powered cars but for now hybrids are there but not necessarily taking up more than 2-5% of the total revenues of the auto companies and will grow to possibly 25% in the next 10 years. Similarly we all know the Internet will become the distribution model for digital video content eventually but for the foreseeable future it will be at most a niche and a place holder for the big guys in town.

By: Brian Hogg

Brian Hogg — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:34:54 +0000

As someone outside of the US, this seems rather a moot comparison to me. When are people going to realize that non-Americans like media, too?

By: BigTone

BigTone — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:34:15 +0000

At what point will cable subs start cancelling their digital video packages and start getting internet only from their cable operators? I realize that the internet w/out the TV packages gets jacked up by about $10 bucks a month ($64 a month, internet only here in san diego). Is it the quality of the stream when connected to a TV? Clearly, there is enough content out there between Hulu, SouthParkStudios, Joost, TheWB, etc…. but, what’s it going to take before people start dropping their video packages? Come on, it was 5-10 years when it seemed unthinkable that people woudn’t have a landline telephone in their house…why shouldn’t it happen to cable tv?

By: Marcel Fahle

Marcel Fahle — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:31:01 +0000

Hey, can you offer the screenshots a little bigger, because “Krauts” are not allowed at Amazon’s VOD

Thanks!
Marcel Fahle

By: HJ

HJ — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:28:07 +0000

I never get the complaints about commercials. This is not like watching a 30 second commercial for a 3 minute MSNBC video, it’s completley reasonable to watch a couple of commercials for a hour/30 minute program. Especially on the computer where you can always switch browsers and look at something else during the commercials. Paying for (broadcast) tv shows is throwing away money.

By: Jason Maskell

Jason Maskell — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:13:26 +0000

I’m quite fine paying for TV shows. The amount I will pay is about 50c. $2? No thanks, it’s easy enough to catch it on broadcast/PVR, rent the DVDs or simply torrent it.

By: Hart Keller

Hart Keller — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:13:10 +0000

I don’t mind the commercials on Hulu one bit, they are often only 15 seconds. Between Hulu and Netflix Watch Now, my TV/Movie lust is sated so I cannot imagine using Amazon VOD.

By: MediumSizedRob

MediumSizedRob — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:10:52 +0000

The average web user knows Amazon well and visits it often. Not true with Hulu. Name recognition gives Amazon the edge even considering all the ways Hulu is better.