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Feb 18, 09 - 08:13 pm Comment from: Tommy Boy

Fox and NBC are not known for their great brains.

Feb 18, 09 - 08:21 pm Comment from: Willie G

One thing I don't understand (maybe I would if I could read the source article) is exactly what the content provider's motives behind this move are? Based on the available facts at hand, this is a move that benefits NOBODY, not Boxee, not HULU, and not the content providers making the request.

There is nothing about this that makes any sense to me on any level.

Hulu is not worried because apple will be adding them to their next appletv update.

So what does this mean for all us Apple TV Boxee users? I guess it means more visits to the newsgroups and BitTorrent is what. What a shame - I've only had my license for a little over two months and it's been great.

So Ed, where have you heard this? I've always been hopeful that Apple would add Hulu content to Apple TV, but I don't see them doing that and eroding their iTunes revenue stream.

Feb 18, 09 - 08:38 pm Comment from: HolyMackerel

In commerce the customer (not the store owner) is always right.

Time will show this to be true again.

@HolyMackerel -

Right; be sure to tell that to AT&T;Wireless, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, Comcast, Cox Cable, TWC...

wow...and I just started using this a couple weeks ago. It's a bad move on NBC's part and they just continue to shoot themselves in the foot.

Perhaps the plugins will still work for XBMC or Boxee if we don't update?

Maybe the Hulu guy should add something along the lines of "Until our content providers get their heads out of their asses, Boxee users are invited to go back to BitTorrent to download all the content that users were legally watching via Hulu"...

Oh, these silly "content providers." Seems they will never learn.

Just like the PC (and entertainment world) should (and need to) follow Apple, the "content providers" need to follow Trent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njuo1puB1lg

MW: Business (as in, most Businesses have no Business Sense)

"One thing I don't understand [...] is exactly what the content provider's motives behind this move are? Based on the available facts at hand, this is a move that benefits NOBODY, not Boxee, not HULU, and not the content providers making the request."

Well, neither missive says. So I'll just have to make a guess.

The concept behind Hulu was that you could watch TV shows on your computer with a web browser. That's what the content providers thought when they licensed their content. However, placing it on a set-top box (yes, I know, it's still just a computer...) is something else. The content providers will want to renegotiate with Hulu and get more money from Hulu to allow their content to played on Boxee's set-top box.

Now, Hulu could rightly argue that Boxee is just a "weird web browser," but it sets a bad precedent. Basically, it means that Hulu "controls" where the content is displayed. So if they don't object now, they will have a harder time objecting of one of their licensees does something ("You let Hulu do this, why can't we do that?! It's basically the same thing!") So, when in doubt, complain.

It might also potentially conflict with other possibilities that content providers might want to explore, such as licensing it directly to Boxee (or one of their competitors).

Feb 18, 09 - 09:02 pm Comment from: Brilliant Sandwich

So sad... goodbye Boxee. This does make me think that Hulu may be coming to the AppleTV or NBC is looking to release their own set top box.

You think they woulda LEARNED something from the RIAA.

Our content providers requested that we turn off access to our content

?!?!?!?

Imagine someone telling a major distributor to stop offering their product. WTF?? That's a blunder even Microsoft couldn't accomplish.

Anyway if that's what the providers want, then we should certainly give it to them. There are plenty of other things to watch.

Hulu through Boxee, and Boxee in general, has never been a well thought out product. Perhaps NBC and Fox want the content pulled because the user experience is so poor though Boxee. Apple would not allow Boxee's poor user interface/experience anywhere near one of it's products. For once I agree with the bozos at NBC/Fox, that they don't need their products diluted by bad user interface design.

Feb 18, 09 - 09:41 pm Comment from: ken1w

Translation - We (the "content providers") don't mind if you watch our content through Hulu on a computer screen. However, if it's going to appear on a TV screen, we want you to watch our content through our archaic broadcast and cable channels.

No wonder Apple is avoiding the current set-top box and DVR game with Apple TV. Apple is waiting for the day when the "content provider" dinosaurs begin to die off and the Internet becomes the primary source of content.

Feb 18, 09 - 09:43 pm Comment from: occams razor

In the UK, <cough> mininova/transmission/iSquint <cough> sorted, all the latest US TV shows, too easy.

Feb 18, 09 - 09:59 pm Comment from: mr_matalino

I guess it's time to download the "TV Shows" application from versiontracker and automatically download these shows.

When will Hollywood ever learn...

Feb 18, 09 - 10:15 pm Comment from: Spark

Ironic that while I won't cramp myself watching Hulu.com on computer, I actually went to great lengths to hack my ATV with Boxee expressly for Hulu. Now all those advertisers who would have captured my eyes will not. Isn't a content provider's first goal to capture viewers for their advertisers? The reality is that if there is something good on regular TV, no one is apt to be in there little office watching Hulu on their computer. Hulu on Boxee was for times you wouldn't watch anything currently on, and watch it in the comfort of the living room with a big screen. So, this move assumes that television watchers will sit in the glow of their TVs to see any old thing that moves across the screen. In other words, business as usual, the content providers think we are stupid cows and treat us as such.

Feb 18, 09 - 10:40 pm Comment from: TowerTone

So how is Alec the Alien going to eat my brain now?

...just because I have a 42" plasma computer monitor....

...well, hello, Mac Mini!

i think it means that AppleTV will get Hulu.

Feb 18, 09 - 11:48 pm Comment from: ericdano

What the F***. This sucks. Ass holes. That was THE thing I was using Boxee for.

Idiots

Feb 19, 09 - 12:26 am Comment from: schininis

I just sent this to Jason Kilar CEO, Hulu <jason@hulu.com> I hear he likes his inbox full ; )

Dear Jason,
You guys are killing me! You say the reason you are pulling support for Boxee is because your content suppliers are asking you to. They are in turn supported by ads that fund the "free" tv. OK, I get that . . . but do the advertisers know that Hulu is usually viewed by one person on a computer . . . while Hulu by way of Boxee is viewed by several viewers at the same time. This can easily QUADRUPLE the amount of impressions that their ads generate. Seems to me that if you explain that in detail to the advertisers . . . they will FULLY support the idea of the Hulu through Boxee, leaving the content providers no choice but to agree. Is everyone involved REALLY so stupid that they can't understand? I think not. I think you are not telling us everything and there is a power grab going on. I think you are simply trying to make sure that Hulu is the brand we remember not Boxee. It's a huge mistake. This is the kind of fumble that will allow Apple to pick up the ball and steal the game. Or maybe that's what already is happening . . . and Hulu will simply become an ad supported "channel" (like YouTube) on Apple TV.

Please don't be narrow minded and build walls around your service to exclude it's use . . . please continue to work hard to deliver an alternative, ad supported, time flexible, platform so we can watch your content on any device we like.

Sincerely,
Stephen

I hacked my Apple TV to use Boxee/Joost/Hulu et al. . . The video plays more fluidly via Boxee on my MacBook, than Boxee on my Apple TV. Strange.

Until this quality issue is resolved, as a content provider I would be reluctant to have my content available in a virtually unwatchable condition.

In the end though, this decision is probably something that will only make any backward sense, in retrospect. Stay tuned, this story is not over yet.

What's this "request from our content providers" stuff?

Isn't Hulu a joint venture between Fox and NBC Universal? Then it's not like "The Man" threatened to pull their content, because...well...they ARE "The Man."

Am I missing something?

Wait a second... there's something worth watching on the TV? I say sell the bandwidth and give the money back to... uh, well, I guess the zombies glued to their content providers.

MDN magic word = soviet, as in "Da, Da, comrade give me more of the shits to stare at for hour after endless hour."

where there goes the use for Boxee

I've been watching old TV shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Dragnet on Hulu through Boxee on my AppleTV. The quality is not that great, but it's free. I can't imagine another revenue stream from these TV shows besides the ads from Hulu. It's not like I'm going to go buy the DVDs.

Feb 19, 09 - 10:25 am Comment from: Demon

Build Safari into the Apple TV and integrate Boxee so it connects to Hulu using Firefox that why the traffic all looks web browser driven and not application driven.
Then their is nothing to turn-off and you've just sidestepped the issue all together.

So, Understudy works just fine, except that it doesn't, on my Quicksilver. It installs fine, but getting an RSS feed put on is hit or miss (I tried countless times and it randomly worked eventually) and playing the videos in the feed results in a playback error. At least I'm seeing videos through the RSS though. My Queue and Subscription feeds don't see any videos, even after I followed the steps somebody posted, in some forum, for manually pointing Understudy to your user name. It's definitely an early build because it's not consistent and misses many obviously features. Waiting updates eagerly though. :D

Feb 19, 09 - 10:45 am Comment from: MacintoshSoftwareList.com

What about the Understudy Front Row plug-in?

Is there any other way to use Understudy, than as a Front Row plug-in?

This just really, really, really sucks for AppleTV users. Hulu was the only reason I hacked my ATV with Boxee. It was an acceptable, reasonably performing, LEGAL method to watch ad sponsored shows I wouldn't otherwise watch. And I even tolerated the Boxee interface to get access to Hulu on my big screen.

So these M f'ers take away an ad sponsored legal method of viewing content, and they expect me to play nice? I'm with MDN on this one, Bittorent is justified in this case.

@Demon: I would love for Safari to be built into Apple TV, but unfortunately Apple has shown that they want to lock your ATV into their artificial little iTunes world to limit your choices.

I have my doubts, but hopefully they noticed that Apple TV sales started to take off in part thanks to Boxee on ATV, and will build more flexibility into ATV with applications like Safari.

Why would Apple/NBC let Hulu be included in the next Apple TV update? Do you think they would rather have you purchase episodes or season passes through iTunes or watch through Hulu with limited commercial interruption for free.

Apple would have to negotiate new revenue models if Hulu were included.

Feb 19, 09 - 02:17 pm Comment from: NCIceman

Just another reason why I like my decision to skip apple tv (for now) and just hook a mac mini up to my tv, which lets me do nearly everything on the big screen.

Sounds like Apple, Microsoft, and the major content providers are about the converge on the new system of DRM that was heralded by the appearance of the mini-Display Port in the new laptops.

What is Apple waiting for? Why don't they deploy some of that $28 billion to generate some programming content and kill off the dinosaurs with direct competition?

There's nothing to stop APPLE from running it's own record labels and TV/Film production units and giving the people what they want!

Feb 20, 09 - 12:23 am Comment from: TheConfuzed1

They'll be back. It will be just like when NBC left iTunes.

help is on the way: look what i found:

how-to-reinstall-a-working-hulu-in-boxee

http://lifehacker.com/5157615/how-to-reinstall-a-working-hulu-in-boxee