3 ms·

People pay close to a hundred dollars a month for similar and non a-la-carte amounts of content that has about twice as many adds. Its called cable. Does $10

People pay close to a hundred dollars a month for similar and non a-la-carte amounts of content that has about twice as many adds. Its called cable. Does $10 a month really seem like that much money to you for something like this? I don't watch TV so i am interested, however I just get frustrated with the trend of people refusing pay for anything tech related such as apps or even services like Pandora. Seriously, my non tech friends refuse to drop a couple of dollars on iPhone apps that they will use all of the time yet they don't hesitate to buy soft drinks when they eat out or add bacon to their burgers for the same price... Sorry, I don't mean to single you out. This is definitely more generally directed.

Towle_ 16y ago
When consumers make the decision to purchase Hulu Plus, they won't be thinking about it in comparison to cable. They'll be comparing it to free Hulu, at it will lose. Sidenote: Cable comes on a TV; Hulu comes on a computer. Does this matter to you personally? Likely not, you're a tech person and would have no issue working around that to get your preferred service on your preferred platform. But most people aren't you, and for them, that difference is called a barrier to consumption. This is the same reason IE remains the majority internet browser. It's the easiest thing in the world to just download another, better browser. But some 60% of the US refuses to. Well, they don't refuse to. They just don't think about it.
- jpdbaugh 16y ago
  The market for people tech savvy enough to use hulu.com is probably a bit larger than you give it credit for. I really don't see this as an addition to cable either but rather a replacement and for $10 a month that is a hell of a discount. Besides there is simply no way Hulu could make this service advertisement free.. Hulu owns <i>none</i> of the content. They aren't just scraping these shows off of network sites but they are instead making deals with these companies who in turn impose the ads. Hulu is simply providing them a platform to reach a tech savvy audience and they aren't going to change their ad supported model. But really, if people wanted ad free content it would cost ten times as much as it does because they are making deals with other business to acquire their content. At $10 a month though its cheaper to me than pirating because of convenience. I guarantee I would save myself much more than the monthly price by cutting the time it takes to find a good torrent to download the entire backlog of a show I want to watch.
  - dantheman 16y ago
    Hulu is owned by the networks.
    - jpdbaugh 16y ago
      I just checked into this and I think you are right, but this is all the more reason why there are going to be ads no matter what.
    - ericd 16y ago
      To be specific, NBC, ABC, and Fox own Hulu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulu (see right sidebar for ownership breakdown)
- IgorPartola 16y ago
  I am a consumer and I will be replacing cable with Hulu. Just saying.
- paul9290 16y ago
  Hulu Plus will be offered through Playstation 3 and soon Xbox 360. Millions already have such systems connected to their TVs.
paul9290 16y ago
Im thinking regarding apps it will take time for your friends to come around and start buying them. Android and iPhone are still very early in their product life cycles and thus is the concept of buying apps.
baddox 16y ago
People pay for cable not so they can watch specific shows, but because they have adapted to always have the TV on no matter what. People use TV as their ambiance—an empty room with the TV blaring is considered "silent." Perhaps Hulu has a random play function, but I think people who pay for cable do so because it's a very important and indispensable part of their lives. If you've ever told anyone that you don't pay for or watch broadcast television at all, you've probably seen their surprise or disbelief.

Towle_ 16y ago

When consumers make the decision to purchase Hulu Plus, they won't be thinking about it in comparison to cable. They'll be comparing it to free Hulu, at it will lose. Sidenote: Cable comes on a TV; Hulu comes on a computer. Does this matter to you personally? Likely not, you're a tech person and would have no issue working around that to get your preferred service on your preferred platform. But most people aren't you, and for them, that difference is called a barrier to consumption. This is the same reason IE remains the majority internet browser. It's the easiest thing in the world to just download another, better browser. But some 60% of the US refuses to. Well, they don't refuse to. They just don't think about it.

jpdbaugh 16y ago
The market for people tech savvy enough to use hulu.com is probably a bit larger than you give it credit for. I really don't see this as an addition to cable either but rather a replacement and for $10 a month that is a hell of a discount. Besides there is simply no way Hulu could make this service advertisement free.. Hulu owns <i>none</i> of the content. They aren't just scraping these shows off of network sites but they are instead making deals with these companies who in turn impose the ads. Hulu is simply providing them a platform to reach a tech savvy audience and they aren't going to change their ad supported model. But really, if people wanted ad free content it would cost ten times as much as it does because they are making deals with other business to acquire their content. At $10 a month though its cheaper to me than pirating because of convenience. I guarantee I would save myself much more than the monthly price by cutting the time it takes to find a good torrent to download the entire backlog of a show I want to watch.
- dantheman 16y ago
  Hulu is owned by the networks.
  - jpdbaugh 16y ago
    I just checked into this and I think you are right, but this is all the more reason why there are going to be ads no matter what.
  - ericd 16y ago
    To be specific, NBC, ABC, and Fox own Hulu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulu (see right sidebar for ownership breakdown)
IgorPartola 16y ago
I am a consumer and I will be replacing cable with Hulu. Just saying.
paul9290 16y ago
Hulu Plus will be offered through Playstation 3 and soon Xbox 360. Millions already have such systems connected to their TVs.

paul9290 16y ago

Im thinking regarding apps it will take time for your friends to come around and start buying them. Android and iPhone are still very early in their product life cycles and thus is the concept of buying apps.

baddox 16y ago

People pay for cable not so they can watch specific shows, but because they have adapted to always have the TV on no matter what. People use TV as their ambiance—an empty room with the TV blaring is considered "silent." Perhaps Hulu has a random play function, but I think people who pay for cable do so because it's a very important and indispensable part of their lives. If you've ever told anyone that you don't pay for or watch broadcast television at all, you've probably seen their surprise or disbelief.