Hulu for iPad Likely to Be a Paid Subscription Service

[nagromme]

The iPad is a joke.

The only reason it exists is to sucker gullible people into thinking they are getting a cool "tablet" type device when in reality, it's just a virtual shopping cart.....nothing more.....not even by a little margin.

Apple creates a virtual shopping cart; developers/media all start charging for things left and right; idiotic consumers buy into it and drain their pocketbooks while the smart consumers save their cash and pass up on the iPa-thetic.

Very persuasive name-calling I’m convinced. Yeah, they should really add a Web browser, or games, or free YouTube, or touch-based productivity apps, or some way to develop apps, or something. Otherwise the iPad is just the iTunes store, which as we all know, is packed with music and movies nobody wants.

And maybe they could somehow come up with a way that those things are simpler to use than a regular computer—so that a tablet isn’t just about portability but a better interface. I don’t know.

And you’re right about developers charging left and right. Some apps aren’t even free! I don’t know how App Store apps got so expensive, sometimes a dollar or more. PC, Mac, PSP and DS apps don’t cost nearly so much.

 

[Disc Golfer]

Now, the $20/month for Hulu would cover my old $70/month cable television budget and the TV is portable (seems using Hulu native on the device would be more flexible than Slingbox.)

This only makes sense if you can access as much content on hulu as you can with $70/month cable, and last time I checked hulu was unbelievably limited in what you can access. As it stands now hulu doesn't provide content worth paying for. It barely provides content worth sitting through ads for.

 

[kiljoy616]

Better be more than PC

I can see how they would want this and there is a possibility of it working but it would have to be more than what we see online or it will be a short lived idea.

Maybe 720p as well as added features like you find on blu-ray, we will have to wait and see if they do it smartly or drop the ball. But if they do, Flash could be on the way out. I wonder if they will move over to silverlight?

 

[PeterQVenkman]

All hail the great and powerful Steve. Now we get to pay for everything.

 

[ShiftyPig]

Very persuasive name-calling I’m convinced. Yeah, they should really add a Web browser, or games, or free YouTube, or touch-based productivity apps, or some way to develop apps, or something.

But I already have all of those

Otherwise the iPad is just the iTunes store, which as we all know, is packed with music and movies nobody wants to pay for.

Corrected for you

 

[spillproof]

Reason #406 why the iPad will fail.

 

[flyguy206]

hulu was going to charge anyway.

 

[WhySoSerious]

I might be considered an Apple crusade, I have got 3 Apple PC, 2 older 2005 models and 1 2009 MacBook Pro, I have also advocated for about 4 people to get their MacMinis as the main computer set ups. I have bought a total of 4 Ipod/Itouch/Iphone combos and currently have at least 4 Ipod/Iphone combos, but I will be not deluded to think that the Ipad is worth much more than just a standard Ebook reader. The price ratio for what is provides or mostly lacks to provide is uncomfortably close to a low end MacBook and the like and if you just add a wireless card dongle to give you mobile broadband, it will do Flash and some other stuff much better than the Pad.

So flame me people all you want, for not saying that the Ipad is a game changer, it is too expensive to have many people adopting it and I am thinking about the fragility of the units on the go. I am not payin' not friggin' cents more for questionable, unreliable 3G service that has been so emasculated due to AT&T craptacular networks. You have to call it what it is, people have got to get real.

Moreover, the idea of "carrying" 200 books on a Ipad for vacation? What kind of nonsense is that, people can barely read a book on Summer vacation somewhere, but carrying 200 books that have been paid for, no sense whatsoever. Nevertheless, if they have $$$$$ to burn, be welcome, in these economic times not too many people will have that sort of money to burn.

I buy my books, physically, through either used or super discounted prices from Amazon, I got no regrets about it.

i bow down to your post. bravo!

 

[sbrhwkp3]

Thanks Hulu, but I'll stick to my stored HD videos from iTunes if that's how it's going to be.

 

[PeterQVenkman]

The real kicker will be if Hulu stays free on your PC/Mac, but charges on the iPad. We'll see!

 

[troop231]

Reason #406 why the iPad will fail.

Rule #1: Cardio
Rule #2: Double Tap

 

[kiljoy616]

Honestly... just lol...


Newspaper subscription(s)...

Hulu subscription...

3G payments...

App Store...

iBooks...

Hezuz only knows what other subscription(s)...


Disaster!


Forget it...

don't buy it then, I for one will not get the 3G considering where I will be using one. Maybe in a year or two when its 4G, plus i would like open to other carriers not just AT&T.

Some things I can see paying for it if its the right price, other things make no sense unless its worth my time, books yes, hulu, nope just use my tv or computer for that.

Same for netflix if silverlight is moved over, that will be great, but I would not pay netflix extra just to watch it on an ipad.

 

[barkomatic]

The iPad is clearly going to be a money pit. I'm not gonna get nickel and dimed for every little piece of content that is free on other platforms. This is one more brick in the wall for Apple's carefully constructed "ecosystems" where content is ultra convenient but very expensive--and closed.

 

[cfountain72]

Separate and not free...

The folks who have been lauding Mr. Jobs personal crusade against Flash can now get in line to help pay for it. Granted the current Flash version of Hulu may not stay free forever, but why should a firm have to hire an entirely new department of HTML5 code jockeys to provide content for a niche device and not charge for the extra expense?

Peace be with you.

 

[a.gomez]

right!, or they can just let people install a free web Flash player like everyone else

 

[OpenWheelFan]

Yeah, let's put this in historical perspective.

In the OLD days, TV was FREE. You put up your rabbit ears, and watched the major networks. It was FREE, because they paid for it by selling ADS. You put up with the ADS because if was FREE.

Then cable came along. You pay for cable, but you get arguably much better reception (and more channels). But here, you're paying for the delivery service, NOT the content! There are still ADS to pay for the CONTENT.

Sure you were around for the start of cable? The initial promise of cable was "better reception, more channels, no commercials"! Of these, "no commercials" didn't last too long...

 

[bit density]

No Ipad for ME!

If the lack of keyboard encourages content providers to charge and overcharge for their services, there is no way I am getting an Ipad.

I am not going to pay extra to have something like this. A Macbook is touchy enough for me. But if Apple continues down the path of monopolist, us first attitude. There will shortly be no reason for me to continue with their devices, and instead go where there is choice.

 

[Reed Rothchild]

I'm surprised that so many other people are surprised about this. The whole iPad/iTunes model will be all about providing a locked down walled garden environment in which to generate incremental revenue from the "users" (or a better word, "subscribers"). Personally I have no problem with this, as this type of device is not targeted at me.

People the world over pay large monthly subscriptions for things like cable and satellite TV. The hilarious thing is that Jobs is out-Murdoching Rupert Murdoch in his quest to squeeze the last penny out of his subscriber base, and yet still appears to be the "good guy" in comparison. The RDF is strong in this one...

 

[ghostface147]

I wouldn't mind a suscription fee if it was 5 bucks a month and offered the entire back catalog of shows already on Hulu. The 5 most recent would still have to be free though...

 

[kiljoy616]

so you would not pay for no commericals

Unless they get rid of ads and make content available the day it airs Hulu will lose a lot of viewers on a subscription based model.

I would say they would take out commercials and add content that makes it worth the payment, going even to the level that there be two tier, pay and you get it all, free and you get the slim version and delayed. Now that makes sense, but if not your right who would pay for no added value, unless its people from outside the states.

Now that would be a whole new world, maybe BBC would do the same and I could be up to date with Dr. Who and all the other cool stuff BBC does.

 

[CalCanuck]

This is what devices like EyeTV and Slingbox are for...

I've been using Elgato's EyeTV for awhile now. I set it up to record the shows I want using the over-the-air HD broadcast and the software automatically creates a mobile version. The iPhone app allows me to watch any of my recordings over 3g as well as streaming live TV. Slingbox is basically the same thing. So you need to invest in some hardware ($200) to get everything going but then no need for Hulu or Flash to watch Free TV on all of your devices anytime, anywhere.

 

[Bodhi395]

I see this in a growing line of company's going for a money grab with the ipad. The internet is geared towards 'free' content. Almost every popular site out there you don't have to pay for. Hulu is popular because its free, facebook is popular because its free, youtube is popular because its free. People pay to access the internet, and thus want the things on the internet to be free. That's just how the internet has evolved and what people have grown to expect.

Yet, I think these companies are seeing the closed environment of the ipad as a way to start charging for things they never did before. Hulu is doing it here, New York Times is going to try and do it, and expect others to try. But I think it will fail, since people are too accustomed to getting things for free.

 

[kiljoy616]

I wonder what Apple would do If Hulu changed all of it's content to HTML5 (which Apple is said to prefer). Greed is a bitch.

Last time I remember no one works for free for long, I know I don't, your sick no problem, do you have insurance, oh you don't sorry try across the block.

Altruism is fine but does not pay my electric bill.

 

[marksman]

Really. Hulu has been hemorrhaging cash. How much longer do you think Hulu is going to be free? Maybe they can use a subscription service to finance a stripped-down free service, but it's gonna be stripped down and nothing like what's available now. And with Hulu going that direction, so will all the others. Subscription is going to be the only game in town guys.




Heh. Makes you wonder how long Hulu and Apple have been discussing this...


/

I doubt they have been discussing it much at all.

That is what people are missing here. Hulu makes no money now. It loses money. They were going to a subscription model anyways. All the content is NOT likely to remain free on macs and pcs much longer. To access all their content you will need a subscription, period.

This has been fairly common knowledge, so I am not sure why the idea of the iPad requiring a subscription is some kind of shocker.

I think I posted several times in the last month or so that they would likely announce an iPad app at the same time they announced subscription based pricing.

The problem here is not Apple or anyone else. It is the inability of the tv networks to properly monetize viewers of their tv shows outside the traditional avenues. The reason this is, is because the tv networks have been conning advertisers into overpaying for ads for 50+ years. You get to online resources and you know exactly how long someone watches a show, if all the ads are run, and how many people have seen it.

Seems like it would be cake monetizing those people right? But no. Both because accurate, real data makes it harder for them to sell, and also because advertisers are using this as a chance to get revenge for the beating and robbery they have suffered for many years, they can't monetize online tv for some reason. Which is stupid and backwards, since it is much easier to force commercials and such.

 

[flyguy206]

why are people making a big deal over something they don't even know is going to happen? To many people take anything on the net as fact. if they do charge and the price is worth it to you pay it. and if it is not worth it don't pay and find another site. and why are ipad haters even in the thread we get it you don't like it you are not buying it so why do you care so much about it.