Why People Pirate

It seems that Hulu will no longer be offering Season three of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. I suppose that's not a big deal for most people. Buffy is a ten-plus year-old show and most of its hardcore fans probably already have DVDs of it. But it does remind me of the big problem with web video.

It's unreliable. You depend on a website to stream video to you—video which can be pulled at any time for any number of reasons. For example if the studio which owns it wants more money.

Now compare that to a video sitting on your hard drive. Maybe you ripped it from your legally bought DVDs. Maybe you downloaded it illegally. Maybe you bought it legally through something like iTunes or Amazon Unbox. But the point is that the video is "yours" in the sense that it is on your computer and you can control it. (Now that's not necessarily true in the case of DRM encumbered video that you can buy legally but I think you get my point.) Video on the web can go "poof" at any time.

The movie and TV industries bitterly complain about piracy but it's largely a phenomenon of their own doing. Hulu largely exists because the TV industry wanted to have a place where they could stream their shows and maintain control of them, providing users with an alternative to piracy. And yet it is still hard to find complete series of many of Hulu's shows. And pulling shows doesn't help. (It's called "Video on Demand" not "Video When the Studios Feel Like Giving it to You.") The bottom line is that until people can rely on web video to always be there, they will be tempted to pirate movies and TV.

Mmm...TV

Hulu has released a standalone application for viewing it shows. It gives a very nice viewing experience—nicer than the website which is pretty nice in its own right. Thanks to modern TVs which can easily be attached to computers I can definitely see myself vegging out on the couch to this application. Of course I already do that with Boxee, Windows Media Center, Youtube, and Hulu's own website but another way to waste time in front of the TV is always welcome.

Update: By now I've had a chance to install both the Mac and Windows version of the Hulu Desktop and I have to say that the Mac version is better. This is mostly because of the way it handles remote controls. Hulu Desktop's support for the Mac Mini's Apple Remote is fairly seamless and it works exactly the same way that it works in Apple's Front Row media player application. Its support for Windows Media Center remotes however is much more limited and the experience suffers as a result.

Hulu Ad Nauseum

Hulu is great for watching TV on your computer. And since newer TVs often have VGA ports, it's easier than ever to hook up your computer to your TV. All in all it's a pretty sweet experience. But sometimes the ads can get a bit annoying....

The New Season of Chuck

It's fall and the new television season is beginning—slowly. Hulu has been trying to speed things up a bit by hosting sneak peaks at returning shows. So far the pickings have been slim but they just put up the first new episode of one of my favorite shows from last year, Chuck. It started a bit slowly as the first half of the episode was essentially a recap of the show's premise for newbies. But things picked up quickly and packed plenty of action and character development for all the characters.