Thought & Theory

Personally, I don’t think the future of television lies soley in the realm of a browser based delivery, or even in the sometimes cumbersome flash player. However now that hulu is a few weeks into it’s initial launch, I can honestly say that at least three nights of the week I am doing just that. With my eyes glared over the subtle ambience of my backlit keyboard, I catch up on what I normally considered to be bland network television. SNL, House (FTW), The Office, Ghost Hunters, Conan and now even movies, all delivered “on demand” to my browser, with very few breaks in content for commercials. And did I mention it’s free?

Like hulu’s lush library of programming, it’s interface seems extremely considered. The search function does just what you want, finding shows and even related clips based on your query. A number of these clips are even broken up into highlighted subject matter, skipping a lot of the fluff which normally plagues the typical television experience. While the video player is the heart of the monster, it comes in a close second in terms of overall utility to that of TED’s video player. Delivering a rather sweet full-screen and “lights out” mode, the widescreen player also has nice little bookmarks highlighting all the areas of possible interest.

All in all, I have very little to complain about in how these media giants are delivering their 2.0 television experience. Apart from not being viewable on my iPhone or with little hope that it may be included in some of the newer web based television components, hulu has a bright future in my living room. But should my remote be scared that he and his media stand companion have met it’s match? Nope, but at least now we’ve got options. And it’s good to have options.