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Hulu Sticking With Flash For Now, Says HTML5 Not Ready Yet

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Silicon Alley Insider reports on a blog post that briefly appeared on the site of television streaming service Hulu announcing a number of new features for the service. In addition to announcing the new features, the blog post, which has since been pulled for unknown reasons, also revealed that the company has decided against adopting HTML5 for the time being, preferring to stick with its existing Flash-based player. The decision means that iPhone and iPad users should not expect to see Hulu in their browsers in the near future. This doesn't eliminate the possibility of an iPad or iPhone app.

When it comes to technology, our only guiding principle is to best serve the needs of all of our key customers: our viewers, our content partners who license programs to us, our advertisers, and each other. We continue to monitor developments on HTML5, but as of now it doesn't yet meet all of our customers' needs. Our player doesn't just simply stream video, it must also secure the content, handle reporting for our advertisers, render the video using a high performance codec to ensure premium visual quality, communicate back with the server to determine how long to buffer and what bitrate to stream, and dozens of other things that aren't necessarily visible to the end user. Not all video sites have these needs, but for our business these are all important and often contractual requirements.

That's not to say these features won't be added to HTML5 in the future (or be easier to implement). Technology is a fast-moving space and we're constantly evaluating which tools will best allow us to fulfill our mission for as many of our customers as possible.
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Rumors of Hulu on iPhone OS devices have been somewhat popular, beginning with an April 2009 claim that an iPhone version would be appearing "within a few months". The iPad's arrival set off a new round of rumors, with suggestions that the platform could serve as a testing ground for a Hulu subscription service apparently set for introduction later this month.

Article Link: Hulu Sticking With Flash For Now, Says HTML5 Not Ready Yet
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/13/hulu-sticking-with-flash-for-now-says-html5-not-ready-yet/
Big whoop!
Waiting for the "Thoughts on Hulu" Letter... Bring it Steve !!!
 
If they didn't have to provide adverts, i am sure they would implement a model similar to iPlayer in the UK.
 
So that's just a really long way of saying "we can't lock everything down with DRM as easily," right?

I know they said that, but it's cute how they try to pretend it's not the main reason.
 
More importantly, not all video sites are owned by cable companies who are better off the less consumers use the video site. It's not in their best interest to increase access, as it's more likely to decrease cable consumption, which is their cash cow (what with little to no competition for cable service).
 
Small White Car said:
So that's just a really long way of saying "we can't lock everything down with DRM as easily," right? I know they said that, but it's cute how they try to pretend it's not the main reason.
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What part of "not all video sites have these needs, but for our business these are all important and often contractual requirements" makes it unclear that they need to protect their content? They aren't pretending to be a charity, and it's juvenile to imply that they weren't honest; moreover, they pretty much came right out and said they need flash because of their business model.
 
I have surfed the web and still haven't found one single browser that fully supports HTML5. Not even the Flash hater's own browser, Safari, supports HTML5, which according to him is the one and only true standard. So, just in case you haven't noticed it yet, Steve Jobs gives you guys neither Flash nor HTML5.

Or, to rephrase it: HTML5 isn't yet there and ready. But Flash is.
 
Herein lies the crux of the whole problem. Advertising.

This is actually a battle between Google and Apple in the advertising space.

Google chooses to use Flash as the mainstream media for delivering advertising. Apple want's to do their own thing and it involves HTML5 ( read: NOT Flash )


May the people win and not the corporation.
 
note:

this just means it won't be in-browser.

It doesn't preclude a Hulu App. Which I think is what everyone was expecting anyway.

arn
 
So is HTML5 going to become a battleground for more open access (fewer controls over the user experience and easier copying) or is it simply a matter of nobody taking the time to write additional restrictions into the spec?
 
"...Yet"

I bet they're working on it and once the iPad and new iPhone do their thing, and Adobe continues to shoot their own feet, we WILL see an HTML5 version of Hulu.

I give it another year. Max.
 
Winni said:
I have surfed the web and still haven't found one single browser that fully supports HTML5. Not even the Flash hater's own browser, Safari, supports HTML5, which according to him is the one and only true standard. So, just in case you haven't noticed it yet, Steve Jobs gives you guys neither Flash nor HTML5.

Or, to rephrase it: HTML5 isn't yet there and ready. But Flash is.
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Flash is only working non mobile devices. It sucked on my net book.

Adobe, Google, Nokia, RIM. All have lots of money... How about they make mobile flash 3G device... That works..
 
arn said:
note:

this just means it won't be in-browser.

It doesn't preclude a Hulu App. Which I think is what everyone was expecting anyway.

arn
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Shush!
I was JUST about to post the exact same thing! Please wait a few more minutes next time. :D
 
I love MacRumors and Arn, and all the work everyone puts in here, but the one thing that irks me are the articles that continue to tangent off-topic from actual Mac rumors. Lately, this has become FlashNews.

This article strays further from Apple than most. I know a Hulu player for the iDevices was rumored, and it relates slightly, but this article today is purely Hulu news.

No disrespect, just saying.

Edit: I wrote that in Hulu-hate mode. Good article. :p
 
How DARE a company other than Apple have a desire to make money!

As long as I still get to watch my TV without having to pay a large chunk of money to the cable company or install an antenna on the top of my house, Hulu can use whatever the hell they want.
 
dante@sisna.com said:
hulu = Fail
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How about listening to what they're actually saying?
They've made an honest and mature assessment here. They're pinpointing the exact problems which ignorant end users think will solve themselves magically by racing to support technologies still in their cradle.

Flash is like gasoline. Just because there are promising biofuel alternatives doesn't mean that it's realistic, practical, viable or even safe to blindly adopt next generation technology. You need a long transitional period.
 
Great things take time. Eventually Hulu will switch to HTML 5 and from a buisness point it makes sense to wait. They probarly wan't to see what other companies test the waters first.
 
Even if Flash was available on the iPhone or iPad, Hulu’s Web site still wouldn’t work.

They purposely block mobile and even TV-centric browsers (like the PS3). Hulu wants you to view their content on your PC or Mac’s browser. That’s it.
 
Anuba said:
Flash is like gasoline. Just because there are promising biofuel alternatives doesn't mean that it's realistic, practical, viable or even safe to blindly adopt next generation technology. You need a long transitional period.
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We've known that gasoline sourcing and use was causing serious problems since the 1970's. I sure hope we won't have to wait as long for people to take a second look at Flash.
 
dante@sisna.com said:
hulu = Fail
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libmanj said:
Big disappointment.
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Oh please, be realistic. I don't like flash as much as the next guy, but hulu clearly has rational points. HTML5 is still in its infancy and cannot do a lot of the things flash can do at this point. They didn't say they will never adopt HTML5, they said what HTML5 does right now will not work for all the services they use. When it does, they'll probably adopt it. I hope html5 development continues to the point where it could provide all the services hulu needs (it probably will) so hulu can finally switch over, so I don't have to have the fans on full blast when watching a video. But for now, HTML5 would not work for what they do. There is really no argument here. If HTML5 at this point would be able to provide the services Flash can, they'd switch, but it doesn't, so they're sticking with flash, for now.
 
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