Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"There’s something the Joost folks, savvy as they were, failed to take into account. It’s a little something called choice. Joost failed for the same reason that broadcast, cable and satellite providers are losing viewers and subscribers. The “choice” offered by channel surfing revolves around searching for the least-boring junk content that is currently playing. It is choice, but not a very good one."

Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube need to take note. TV is a passive medium, the internet is an interactive medium. If someone is sitting on the couch vegging out watching TV, your main competition is them switching channels to another passive program. If they are online, there are a huge number of other choices of things to do besides watch your content. So, lesson is to make sure you have the content I want to see and don't make me jump through hoops to see it.

"Everytime somebody has said that Hulu killed TV, they were exaggerating. Until now maybe. Hulu Desktop sure looks a whole lot like the future of TV. It's a media center type of application—like Front Row or Boxee or Netflix or Windows Media Center—that gives you full access to Hulu with an Apple Remote or Windows Media remote or just your keyboard and mouse."

I sincerely hope viewers in the US appreciate all the cool Internet based applications you get access to. Hulu has already etched out a name for itself as being a great TV watching replacement. With a desktop application, the limitations of the browser are tossed aside and with that, the experience becomes much better. Their desktop application offers all the same features as the browser client, but with more panache, easier to use controls and a more fluid response. Of course, this is what Gizmodo tells me because Hulu hasn't taken it upon themselves to start offering services to other countries! One thing I do find interesting about this release is that it is in stark contrast to much marginalized competitor Joost, who ended going with a Flash based browser client only just last year. I imagine Joost switched for convenience reasons, while Hulu now has the base that customers want a more compelling experience that can't currently be offered through Flash.