[Macworld]

Post your comments for Hulu and Boxee disconnect here

[reallycrazy]

"For those Boxee users reading this post, we understand and appreciate that you’re likely to tell us that we’re nuts. Please know that we do share the same interests and won’t stop innovating in support of the bigger mission. Please go back to using BitTorrent to access all the content you previously could from Hulu."

[drimwit]

Why so shocked? The media industry is hell bent on self-destruction because it has a culture of withholding from consumers what they want. Meanwhile everyone else is striving to find a way to give people what they want. One day they'll fall by the wayside and I won't shed a tear. They ought to wake up and realise everyone can create and distribute media now, and they'd better make use of their leverage while they've got it. But they should try to be realistic about how much leverage they really have.

[natmusak]

Nice analysis.

However, did they really "offer it and take it away"? By not stopping people from accessing Hulu via Boxee, were they really offering it to begin with? Since Apple TV sales reportedly tripled compared to this time last year, could cannibalization have prompted this move?

But that's just it: how would they know if users were canceling their cable subscriptions to watch Hulu on their hacked Apple TVs? o.0 And since the ads are preserved, what's the point of forcing the minority of people watching Hulu on their TVs to watch it on their computers!?

[Jason Snell]

@natmusak: Apparently Hulu and Boxee, while not having a formal agreement, had talked to one another and Hulu was well aware of what Boxee was doing. Now Hulu has asked Boxee to remove functionality.

[buzglyd]

Can't you just do Hulu full screen and attache your laptop to your TV?

[fds]

It's just the start of the usual cat-and-mouse game.
The Boxee developers will no doubt restore access to Hulu promptly in an upcoming version.
OK, reading the Boxee blog, it appears they don't want to fight it.
But even if the original developers won't, somebody else will. It's based on XBMC, which is free software with the source code readily available to anyone. If there's demand for it, another XMBC fork will spring up soon enough.

Then the Hulu people might decide to keep on continuing the endless cycle by detecting the newer version and pulling the plug yet again, necessitating yet another update.

The only way they can stop it from happening is by killing the entire Hulu service completely.

[nweb]

The TV networks, the cable and satellite TV providers, and all the rest just need to fail. It's that simple. The world is changing all around them and they are determined not to change, nor to offer customers what they want.
I want 1TB per month super high-speed internet access with the ability to purchase JUST the TV shows that I want to watch. I'm happy to pay for that service. The bottom line is that I want the control.

[natmusak]

Jason Snell said:

@natmusak: Apparently Hulu and Boxee, while not having a formal agreement, had talked to one another and Hulu was well aware of what Boxee was doing. Now Hulu has asked Boxee to remove functionality.

In that case...WOW. What are they thinking?

I hope, for Hulu's sake, they're in talks with Apple on bringing the service to Apple TV users as a direct portal a la YouTube/flikr/MoibleMe galleries.

[ShutterBugGeek]

I think Apple has something up its sleeve. NBC just partnered with iTunes this fall, and probably wants AppleTV users to buy their content via iTunes to watch on an AppleTV instead of using a hacked model to watch Hulu via AT on a bigger screen. There are also rumours of a new model coming out, so perhaps AT will no longer be just a hobby for Apple IMHO.

[xStep]

This certainly is nuts. They are targeting a very specific media playback application. What about the others that exist out there.

I have to wonder if what they are really targeting is the Apple TV. Next my web browse on my Mac won't be able to view Hulu in full screen HQ mode.

[Boulder_Bum]

What do you want to bet the reason for Hulu's death on Boxee is because Apple has plans for either a subscription TV service of their own, or, less likely, their own flavor of Hulu integration with the next Apple TV?

[funnyboy88]

Ugh. I was very very close to buying an Apple TV to use Boxee for Hulu content. Not anymore.

[reallycrazy]

I'll bet the content owners make way more money if you buy the shows from iTunes vs whatever pennies they get serving ads via Hulu...