Zoot Alors, Hulu may have decided to end the “free lunch” for users, and instead start providing paid for content. There’s no word on if it’ll be an across the board change, or if it’s going to be for the iPad only, but it’s starting to look like Hulu wants to get a mobile subscription model up and running.
It’s turning into a bit of a messy situation, and it might include reclassifying the iPad as a “mobile device”, along side its iPhone counterpart. Peter Kafka, of All Things D fame, has noted that “broadcast owners–GE’s (GE) NBC Universal, News Corp.’s (NWS) Fox and Disney’s (DIS) ABC–have repeatedly said they want to introduce some sort of premium version.” It’d certainly be a smart move for the broadcasters, but would users really be willing to start paying for Hulu? What would a premium service have to include for it to be worth the money?
Is it a case of just not getting it?
What makes Hulu successful? Is it the content, or is it the fact that the content is free? It’s probably a little bit of both, but the fact that users can get their shows on demand (pretty much) for free is a huge plus for the service. People have flocked to the website for that reason alone. They’re willing to sit through the ads just so they can have access to the experience that Hulu provides. That’s Hulu’s golden ticket, and turning around and changing that delivery model is going to be a tough sell. Consumers don’t like the bait and switch approach, and what Hulu’s doing could certainly be classified as such if the end goal is to completely convert to a subscription based model instead of an advertising model.
If Hulu decides to provide a “premium” experience that goes beyond their current services and still provide the classic model that they’ve built their follow on, then they’ll have a standing chance, and probably convert some people along the way. If it becomes an entire subscription model approach, people will resort to the same practices they were using before Hulu came along–torrenting TV shows for free.
We’ve spent the last couple of days amongst a ginormous mess that is our audio setup. I’ll spare you the details, but essentially yours truly’s mic wasn’t plugged in all the way, so we got a bunch of dead air.
So instead of our typical video podcast we thought we’d send out the Macworld segment that we put together. Hopefully, everything will be back to normal tomorrow.
Neal Pann (he did a great job!) was kind enough to hit the show floor for us. He managed to snap some footage of some really cool apps and hardware. Hope you like it. If you do, don’t forget to add us to your iTunes subscriptions.
If you’ve had your eye on RapidWeaver or LittleSnapper, but haven’t gotten around to making a purchase just yet, the Realmac team have given potential customers some incentive. From this moment through to the end of the weekend, they’ll be offering a 20% discount on all of their applications.
If you’re not sure what either of those applications do, you can get screencasts that explain each software package on their website.
LittleSnapper is by far my favourite application. It lets you take snapshots from around your desktop, and it stores them in a clean and concise manner. It also gives you the ability to make quick edits as well as annotations to your screenshots, then upload them to the web or export them to your filesystem so you can email them. It’s super handy and I use it on a daily basis.
It’s been an interesting week for Apple Inc. All week long pundits, competitors, and partners have been lambasting Apple for their overly pre-cautious practices of hiding information from the public. We’ve gotten word from Reuter’s that suppliers are starting to get a little annoyed with Apple’s veil of secrecy, Cracked put together a hilarious, yet truthful, article titled 5 Reasons You Should Be Scared of Apple, and now we’re getting word that Apple’s blocked access to information on their shipping containers. Many speculate that it’s iPads coming from factories overseas, some are speculating that it could be new iPhones as well, but there’s no real information on what Apple is shipping en masse to the western world. Heck, it could be more Shuffles, fixed 27in iMacs, or those new Macbook Pros that people have been speculating about.
A couple years ago Apple 2.0 spilled the beans on the iPhone 3G before Apple had a chance to make the announcement based on shipping manifests. Apple quickly reshuffled their shipping practices after the Apple 2.0 announcement, and many are wondering if this shipping container debacle could be an attempt by Apple to keep things under wrap this time.
There’s a whole industry that surrounds shipment manifests, companies study the information, track down manufacturing information, and then sell off what they’ve learned piece by piece. So, is it really a surprise that Apple’s trying to hide their assets from the public eye considering what we know about the paranoid antics at Apple?
There’s always going to be leaks, and the propensity of that happening only increases when you’re a multinational company, shipping across multiple borders, through multiple customs. It’s a mini-miracle every time they get shipments from point A to point B without a slip.
News of Apple increasing the 3G download limit to 20MB is streaking across the internet like wildfire. The rumors about why are even more rampant. The rumors and my thoughts on each:
Related to impending release of the iPad–if so, this would indicate that Apple can not limit download size by device, which seems rather unlikely or indicates that Apple cannot differentiate between the iPhone and iPad because of the common OS.
More access to larger applications–Well, okay. This is a no-brainer inasmuch as Apple wants to generate more revenue and the larger applications tend to be more expensive.
Improvements in bandwidth–this seems more likely, as any significant increase in download capacity would require the bandwidth to support it. AT&T has been aggressively rolling out HSDPA 7.2 and 3G speeds and coverage has noticeably improved with the rollout of 850 MHz in several areas previously serviced only by 1900 MHz.
In summary, if AT&T can support the additional strain on their network, it only makes sense for both AT&T and Apple to increase the download cap because it increases revenue (the bandwidth cap applies to both the App and iTunes Music Stores), decreases customer dissatisfaction, and increases customer stickiness and loyalty for both AT&T and Apple. As long as the AT&T network can truly support the increased cap, this is a win-win for iPhone customers, AT&T, and Apple.
During CES I wrote a quick article about Samsung’s AMOLED displays being the future for Apple’s mobile devices. I admit that I didn’t think they’d be rolling off the assembly line and into Apple products so soon, but rumours are starting to ramp up, and words coming down the line that the AMOLED display might just be making its way into the next generation iPhone.
MacNN is reporting that Apple is said ” to have a ” lifetime” deal [in place] with Samsung for AMOLED screens but to have held back on using it for now.” But, the move could mean a thinner and larger screen in for the iPhone, which would be a welcomed change for many. A transparent screen on a mobile device opens up the device for a slew of more innovative applications. Augmented reality applications could easily become the next major step forward in this particular computing space. Like the Samsung representative says in the video below, these screens are perfect for heads up displays.
The AMOLED display is pretty badass, and instead of rehashing what it is I’ve added the video from CES below.
As I reported earlier, Telltale Games is porting the majority of their games to OS X. As of this past week, Tales of Monkey Island has been released for the Mac. As a display of my solidarity, I have purchased the $34.95 bundle of all five episodes of the game. I want to support independent game development on Mac OS X. If you do too, head over, and BUY BUY BUY! Or, you know, you can try out the demo first if you want.
Each of the five episodes are downloaded and operated separately. Once you move the applications from the .dmg to the Applications folder on your Mac, it starts a splash window. Once you log in with your Telltale Games account (DRM, boo!), you can launch the game itself. I went straight into the options, and then changed the resolution to fit my monitor. Your milage may vary as it comes to default settings. So far, the game runs like a dream on my year-old MacBook Pro. As long as your Mac doesn’t use integrated graphics, you’re probably good to go!
Currently, they are holding a poll to see which game should be the next to be ported to Mac OS X. If my opinion holds any sway to you, please go vote for Sam & Max. I have been a huge fan of the freelance police since the days of Hit the Road. Trust me, you want to play this game. It is awesome.
What do you think? What game are you most excited about? Comment on this post or hit me up on Twitter.
This past Monday, Apple posted on their support page notification that MacBooks purchased between May 2006 and December 2007 that experience a hard drive failure may be eligible for a free hard drive replacement. It’s pretty easy to know if you are one of the affected. Upon starting your computer, you will see a flashing question mark on your screen. Importantly, if you have already paid to fix this problem, Apple may be able to reimburse you.
If you purchased your MacBook between May 2006 and December 2007, but have not experienced this problem, there are two things to keep in mind. First, you may feel like your computer is a ticking time bomb, waiting for the most inconvenient moment to keel over and die. However, Apple does indicate that it is only a very small percentage of hard drives that fail and only under certain conditions, although they do not specify what those conditions are. So probably there is no need to worry. That being said, the second thing to keep in mind, which Apple subtly points out in their notification, is that you should probably make sure you are backing up your hard drive regardless. Of course, this is generally just a good practice to maintain.
It’s always great to see a company acknowledge flaws in their products and offer adequate compensation.
Zoot Alors, Hulu may have decided to end the “free lunch” for users, and instead start providing paid for content. There’s no word on if it’ll be an across the board change, or if it’s going to be for the iPad only, but it’s starting to look like Hulu wants to get a mobile subscription model up and running.
February 19, 2010
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