Now that it's here, I wonder if the sticking point was Apple's cut of any new subscriptions. If you start a Hulu+ subscription from the Apple TV itself, it seems to be charged to your Apple account, instead of being billed by Hulu directly.

I wonder if that means Apple is getting a lifetime 30% cut, like they've recently started enforcing for iOS apps with subscriptions?

[1] http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/31/hulu-plus-app-is-ready-for-app...

It complements NetFlix well in that regard too.

Comparing it to piracy seems silly.

Also, the Daily Show isn't a great example since episodes deal with news so I can't imagine many people buying up old episodes. (And you can get free episodes going back a month at http://www.thedailyshow.com/)

Edit: The Daily Show is actually an okay example now that I realize that you wanted Hulu+ for the non-desktop experience rather than for back episodes.

I just don't understand the statement "It complements NetFlix well in that regard too." in the context of your previous comment. Hulu+ complements Netflix in a different way than it complements iTunes. While Hulu+ offers a way to get a lot of iTunes content for a flat monthly rate (albeit with commercials), Hulu+'s advantage over Netflix is getting newer content.

My meaning was that both fill in the "current season" gap that Netflix has.

The point was that for most TV shows the viewer is likely going to watch the entire series not just the current season. The GP's point was not that the back catalog is available for free in a clunky way, but that that most viewers won't care about old episodes. `

I will say, though, that for every time this happens, there have been ten other times where Hulu only had the previous five episodes. If Hulu+ offered the full current season it would be so much more worth it.

In my opinion, this is a problem with Hulu Plus and Netflix: it's too cheap. Unlimited access to a catalog of movies should/could be more expensive. That could possibly allow them to have a better offering/no commercials.

Given that all the big box movie rental stores have died, this would make them a player vs iTunes and Amazon who manage to have better selection than Netflix.

I'm no fan of commercials, but it certainly beats paying $3/episode from iTunes.

Sorry I don't watch adverts at all if possible - after 10 years of Tivo, I get jittery when forced to.

Apple TV can be awesome if they allow app developers to create apps for it. As it stands, the Netflix + Hulu Plus combo is nice but Roku has had that forever. Roku also has HBOGO, Amazon Instant Video, Dish World, a few news channels, live sports and more.

The nice integration between OSX, iOS and Apple TV is not enough reason to jump to Apple TV just yet but I'd switch in a heart beat if/when they add App Store to it.

What's crazy to me is that Google develops the Nexus Q, and then makes the terrible decision not to allow you to run apps on it. It obviously is technically capable, as seen by the various mods people are doing to it. But for the price they are asking, I want access to more than just Google's inferior media offerings.

The Boxee netflix app is painful to use. It's so much faster to load up Netflix on the iPad and then use Airplay to stream to the Boxee.

PIRACY IT IS!

It's kind of ridiculous how much more stuff is on US Netflix and HuluPlus compared to Canadian Netflix.

I wonder how many roadblocks they've put into the way for signing up on Hulu Plus from Canada? You might need a US iTunes account as well to get the app.

A. Want to reduce their network bandwidth costs

B. Want you to pay for their TV services in which to watch said programming

[1] http://allthingsd.com/20110826/apple-pulls-the-plug-on-tv-re...

1. http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/07/24/apple-tv-xbox

I feel that if renting media still exists in the future, it would be a solid niche for physical media to exist for. I always imagine that one is more likely to watch Netflix DVD's that arrive in the mail, because it exists in physical form and are more of an "incentive" to customers to continue with their experience. Whereas I always see my friends with Netflix's streaming library on endlessly scrolling through it, unwilling to commit to watching any particular film or show. Is there a random function?

A physical rental is like an investment that you've already committed to.

Not to mention how much easier it is to shoot content from your mobile device to an AppleTV, vs getting off the couch, going to your PC, starting the content, starting Airplay...

The problem with the Apple TV is that it's not intuitively easy to understand what it does or why you would want one.

For example, when someone sees my Apple TV for the first time, they always asked "how much does it cost per month?" and they are always amazed at the amount of content that can be viewed, purchased, rented, etc. (I always explain it as "iTunes for your TV", but I feel like that's a disservice to the device.)

Apple TV is great if you have kids since you can easily view videos (like PBS's "Word Girl", "Curious George"), look at family pictures or watch family movies.

[1]http://www.geekwire.com/2012/apple-tv-outsells-xbox-360-late...

Otherwise I completely agree.