The only thing keeping me from full-on Hulu evangelism is the television experience. I want to access Hulu's content through my flat panel without resorting to patch sticks and expensive work arounds.

According to VentureBeat, I'm in for a long wait:

The company [Hulu] has been receiving some criticism of late for blocking the popular content player startup Boxee from accessing its content. Hulu's content partners, it seems, do not want their content on Boxee even though Boxee isn't doing something like blocking advertisements. It seems likely the content partners are afraid of the fact that Boxee users are hooking up devices to their televisions capable of playing content just as if they were watching normal TV. [Emphasis added; links included in original post.]

There's two reasons why the "normal TV" issue is moot:

1. Technologically, screen size and resolution are the only legitimate differences between televisions and computer monitors. If you port a video feed from your laptop or you own an Apple Cinema Display, those difference start to evaporate.
2. I can use TiVo's well-documented 30-second-skip code to blow by all the ads in my recorded programs, but Hulu forces me to watch ads in three short, innocuous blocks. If I have to endure advertising -- a reality I fully accept -- Hulu offers the most elegant option. Industry execs concerned about Hulu cannibalizing TV advertising aren't acknowledging the realities of DVRs: I'm not watching your ads.

The content providers' myopia (the eternal return of media) obscures a huge opportunity. A Hulu set-top box could be the Wii of DVRs -- a scaled-down product that opens new markets by focusing on a core experience. All those folks who don't own DVRs could get DVR-like utility through an ad-supported model, and people (like me) who don't need a full DVR experience on a second or third television could use Hulu as a "good enough" solution.

And while I'm on the topic of TV-Web convergence, I think the days of Apple selling one-off TV episodes for $1.99 or $2.99 a pop are numbered. There's no reason to pay a premium for access when access is free elsewhere. Apple should take a note from the DVD world and position its TV offerings as high-resolution collector editions packaged with commentary, deleted scenes, podcasts, etc. (i.e. "Battlestar Galactica, the Complete HD Series With Every Extra We Could Find").

Hand-Picked Related Links

• Content Owners and Consumers Need Digital Quid Pro Quo (TOC)
• Hulu Withdraws its Content from TV.com, Boxee (Wall Street Journal)
• Doing hard things (Hulu Blog)
• The Real Format War Has Yet to Begin (The Indiepub Blog)