Boxee forced to remove Hulu

I don't know if it'll help, but I e-mailed Hulu pleading to not let this happen.
It's aweful.

Sad. Another stupid decision by bigwigs in the media industry who could give a rats arse about what their customers want.

Oh well, I guess a "certain fellow" I know will have to go back to getting the shows he wants automatically via the free TVShows torrent downloader + Transmission + PS3 Media Server. All free solutions that will enable this guy to watch HD TV shows for free via his PS3 on his HDTV.

Brilliant!
NBC, Fox, Apple they are all looking for the correct delivery method.

I don't believe they are missing the mark at all, this is just growing pains. J. B. Perrette, the president of digital distribution for NBC Universal was quoted in the May 8, 2008 NY Times as saying, "The number of people watching the company’s programs free, with ads, on NBC.com or Hulu.com is far greater than those buying $1.99 copies to download and own. The ad-supported business is certainly scaling and proving to be a very compelling user experience." Remember the big fight Apple and NBC had back in September 07? I believe the true root of the problem was NBC had a clearer picture of the future than Apple. In April 2007 Hulu was announced, with AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo! planned as "initial distribution partners". NBC had invested in what they believed to be the future, free Ad supported streaming content. I believe Apple was also invited to invest, but Apple being Apple didn't want to share.

I think this is still a power play between Apple and NBC. NBC wants the content on AppleTV but wants it delivered in a way that Apple isn't comfortable with. Hulu is an effort to pull the rug out from under Apple and force their hand. Apple TVs sales tripled in Q4 of 08 in parallel with the release of Boxee for Apple TV. Boxee is circumventing the arm twisting that NBCs Hulu has on Apple. That is why it got pulled.

Or perhaps Apple is in talks to acquire Hulu and is locking it down. PalyOn UPNP server, SecondRunTV and other plugins may be stepping on Apples toes. Hulu was looking to deliver streaming content to the iPhone, and Adobe is now working with Apple to get Flash on the iPhone. With the "ION" HD Chipset looming and a nationwide broadband investment, AppleTV has the opportunity to take the lead in online distribution. Users could buy the shows in HD or stream SD for free.

Apple had Q4 profits and has a turnkey infrastructure. With the announcement of iTunes Replay, I smell something brewing this year, fingers crossed.

Viva La Revolución!

Oh well....

Guess I will go back to torrenting all of those shows. I did not mind the ads. It was well worth it for the simple convenience. All my buddies love coming to my house. Boxee up on the 42" LCD. Got a touch screen remote off of Woot. Programmed it to work like my apple remote, only snazzier. Boxee with Hulu completely replaced Front Row for me. But without Hulu, I don't think I will be needing Boxee anymore.

It is a shame. They are going to notice a big spike in the number of shows being torrented as a result of this move.

First, Boxee was OK, but nothing special. In my opinion it actually made watching Hulu more difficult, so I just went back to Hulu.com.

Second, Understudy is super clean, very easy and uses FrontRow, which in my opinion is far superior to Boxee.

Third, don't we like Hulu because we get to watch TV anytime any place? What the hell do I care about who gives it to me? Why would I boycott the place that lets me what all the programs I love just because they didn't let me watch it through one particular channel? I can't believe I am saying this, but I recommend everyone spend a little more time watching television and a little less time being internet cry babies.

Finally, if you watch tons of streaming media, hook a goddamn computer to your television already! Apple TV is what you buy your grandmother because she doesn't know what a mouse is.

I'm thinking this is pressure on content providers from apple.

Think about it, terrible sales if you can get all that same content conveniently with appletv and your mac instead of using the itunes store.

They are only asking to be removed from this (mainly) apple software, not from the hulu service.

This whole situation is very craptacular.

Wow, I got my Apple TV last Saturday and have been enjoying Hulu on Boxee every night since then, thanks Hulu. You totally just took a dump on my week.

SEND A MESSAGE TO HULU. DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT. DO IT!

Account Termination
If you decide, for whatever reason, that you would like to cancel your Hulu account, you can do so by performing the following actions:

* 1. Log in to the account you want to delete.
* 2. Click "Profile"
* 3. Click "Delete My Account"
* 4. Click "Yes"

Please note that once this action is performed, it cannot be undone. You can continue to watch most of Hulu's library without an account, but you will be unable to access adult-rated content (such as R-rated movies or TV-MA content), access your queue, or leave comments or reviews.

Brilliant! Now all the other developers that might have extended hulu's reach will think twice before supporting hulu! Great idea!

Ok, time for some decaf everyone.

Yes this is a dumb decision, but it's just a decision that breaks one distribution channel for moderately interesting (at best) entertainment - nothing more.

So what if hulu becomes less useful? Is that really a cause "to be gutted"?