Inside Hulu
- 0
- Add a Comment
The other day I received my long awaited E-mail from the Hulu Beta Team telling me that were ready for me to help beta test the new web site. As I stated in a previous post I am/was excited to check out the site and see if it lives up to its potential.
So What is Hulu?
Hulu is a website created by NBC and other television studios, including but not limited to FOX, Sci-fi, USA, etc, to show their shows in their entirety or just clips as in the case as Saturday Night Live. Also included in the shows, and even movies, are quick advertisements. While this sound like something that might be irritating you really don’t notice them, seeing as they are no longer than 30 seconds.
So is this just like YouTube?
No by no means is this trying to be like YouTube. Instead of a website filled with user generated material Hulu focuses on media that we see on TV and in the movies. So the community has no control on what is shown on the webstie. You can expect to see new content on there weekly as well. With new shows airing usually by the next day that episode is on the website, of course with the current writers strike there might not be a whole lot of new content. All of the shows/movies on the site are broken up in to four different sections, by studio, popularity, on air or not, and by name. All of this adds to a simplistic way of finding your content.
How is the viewing experience?
Well here I have had some gripes. First off not every video is presented in widescreen so most shows are done in the letterbox 4:3 aspect ratio, while this isn’t a big concern it would be nice to get the most out of my monitor. One plus side of the video is that it is much clearer then that of a YouTube video. Playing the video is simple as well but there are some problems that I have encountered. One of which is the “bogging down” of videos. Some videos freeze and slow down and do not speed back up without refreshing the page, this really does hurt the viewing experience. Also when highlighting the progress bar at the bottom of the video bar prompts the video to change that part of the show, thus making it frustrating to watch a show.
Even though it is still in the beta form Hulu has enough to offer to be a real standout on the Internet. The service is simple, fast, and free to use and the potential is unlimited. While I do have a few gripes with the site I see no reason for anyone not to sign up for the beta. Look out for Hulu in ‘08.