Only available in the USA

Story: Hulu Desktop arrives on LinuxTotal Replies: 34
Author Content
salparadise

Oct 11, 2009
2:17 AM EDT
Sigh.
montezuma

Oct 11, 2009
9:45 AM EDT
Swings and roundabouts. I can't use the bbc iplayer in the US (except with a UK proxy). I would trade it for Hulu.....
moopst

Oct 11, 2009
1:18 PM EDT
I think that's due to licensing issues. US studios still want to sell shows over in the UK and don't want them being watched for free.

I tried Hulu and I really like it. I missed the first season of Dollhouse but got to watch a few shows on Hulu (they didn't put the whole 1st season up there, gotta sell dvd's).
tracyanne

Oct 11, 2009
3:33 PM EDT
I can't use either in Australia.
montezuma

Oct 11, 2009
3:41 PM EDT
Oh well you'll have to watch the ABC:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/sorry.htm

I can't unfortunately.
techiem2

Oct 13, 2009
3:01 PM EDT
Yes, the Hulu US-Only is due to licensing issues. I haven't tried the desktop app yet, but for what I have watched on there I've had to use Opera since 64bit flash on 64bit Firefox likes to crash (and take out Firefox with it) when trying to play Hulu (and some other video sites, but youtube generally works...). It appears to be an issue with flash itself rather than firefox. When I was playing with Chromium, it was telling me that flash crashed about every 2 or 3 flash pages I visited...

/me grumbles about proprietary software
caitlyn

Oct 13, 2009
7:53 PM EDT
Of course Hulu is U.S. only. Every good 'ol red blooded American knows that the USA is the only country that matters. The rest of the world is full of foriegners, dagnabit!

[Ducks and covers]
azerthoth

Oct 13, 2009
8:10 PM EDT
Caitlyn so is the U.S.

/me runs the other way
gus3

Oct 13, 2009
8:13 PM EDT
Not me. I wuz borned here.
caitlyn

Oct 14, 2009
3:52 PM EDT
Me too, gus, but I never learned to spell the way you did :) I'm the daughter of two immigrants; both my parents were legal immigrants who eventually received U.S. citizenship.

Az's post was funny as was completely apropos for what I had written. No need to run.... this time. :D
Sander_Marechal

Oct 14, 2009
4:47 PM EDT
Quoting:I can't use the bbc iplayer in the US


Wish granted, apparently. The BBC announced today that they will be releasing iPlayer internationally.
tracyanne

Oct 14, 2009
4:54 PM EDT
Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.
montezuma

Oct 14, 2009
8:00 PM EDT
Sander, Looks like a pay service to me: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2009/gb2009...
Sander_Marechal

Oct 15, 2009
3:22 AM EDT
Looks like the business model may be different. iPlayer in the UK only shows the things that were aired in the last 7 days. It looks like the international version may require payment but then you get all the content, not just the last 7 days worth.
montezuma

Oct 15, 2009
2:12 PM EDT
I think the point being that the bbc restricts free access to UK content to UK residents on the basis that it is UK taxpayer funded while the international arm of the bbc runs on a payment model. So in the US BBC America and World can be obtained with a cable subscription. I guess they are selling the same content as this via iplayer in the US. The UK resident still get the freebies...

It would be nice if I could buy a UK television license and view all 4 mainline BBC channels internationally....
Sander_Marechal

Oct 15, 2009
2:45 PM EDT
Montezuma: I get BBC 1-4 and BBC World from my Dutch cable provider. I love BBC 3 and 4. Good shows, good comedy and a ton of Doctor Who :-)
montezuma

Oct 15, 2009
4:19 PM EDT
Sander, The bbc must have a higher opinion of the Dutch than Americans because all we get is dumbed down trashy BBC America (aside from BBC World which I watch all the time).
Sander_Marechal

Oct 15, 2009
5:54 PM EDT
Probably not so much the BBC having a high opinion of the Dutch as my Dutch cable provider is willing to pay the BBC :-)
montezuma

Oct 15, 2009
6:47 PM EDT
Interesting because here in the US lots of people are willing to pay a lot of money to PBS which is of a similar quality to the BBC. I would have thought therefore that there should be a market for BBC1-4.
Sander_Marechal

Oct 15, 2009
6:54 PM EDT
There probably is a market, but likely the networks aren't seeing it (kinda like Linux and OEMs actually, just to provide a tail back to FOSS).
hkwint

Oct 16, 2009
4:04 AM EDT
Probably Sander is paying more to his cable provider than I do (and I have old fashioned analog TV), because if you have the cheapest cable subscription you only receive BBC 1 & 2. No problem though, TopGear can also be watched at Dutch / Belgian TV a year later, and some of the documentaries are also broadcasted on ZDF - synchronized in German of course.
Sander_Marechal

Oct 16, 2009
6:32 AM EDT
You are correct Hans. I pay about 8 or 9 euro a month for standard cable with 30 channels (among which are BBC 1 and 2) and then I pay 7 euro a month extra for some 60 more channels and 100 extra radio stations. That extra package has BBC 3, 4, SciFi, 13th street and more.
number6x

Oct 16, 2009
5:49 PM EDT
Doesn't Hulu stream video over the internet? Why do I need a 'Hulu desktop' when I already have a browser to watch their content in?

Browsing their website, it says that the desktop gives a lean-back experience that can be controlled with six buttons.

I'm not sure what a lean-back experience is and I don't think I used more than six buttons when I watched some of the content on their website....

Checked again, I used one button on my mouse.

Does Hulu desktop allow you to watch content off-line? Does it reduce the commercials?

Is a lean-back experience (what ever that is) that important?
caitlyn

Oct 16, 2009
5:55 PM EDT
Here you only get BBC America if you order the very expensive digital cable with HD. We passed. BBC World News and some other BBC programming is available on PBS.
azerthoth

Oct 16, 2009
6:00 PM EDT
I use hulu fairly regularly, but I also function best with some kind of background noise going. Typically I use the pop out function, pin the little viewer to my desktop at a top layer so its always there and then get on with whatever I was doing. Typically either doing IRC support or researching the next thing I am supposed to be documenting.

A desktop ... no thanks, it already fills the roll I want it to.
montezuma

Oct 16, 2009
6:04 PM EDT
Caitlyn, In the NY Metro area they offer both BBC World (24/7 unlike PBS which is nice) and BBC America as part of a fairly standard package. I must say though that Sander is paying a lot less than me for a lot more which is annoying ;-) Why they can;t sell it for a few bucks a month on the internet is beyond me.
Sander_Marechal

Oct 16, 2009
6:57 PM EDT
Quoting:Why they can;t sell it for a few bucks a month on the internet is beyond me.


It looks like that is exactly what the BBC is planning to do with iPlayer international.
gus3

Oct 16, 2009
7:22 PM EDT
Quoting:BBC World News and some other BBC programming is available on PBS.
And Parliament on occasion on C-SPAN. Good for entertainment value... ;-)
caitlyn

Oct 16, 2009
9:39 PM EDT
C-SPAN2 also picks up Arutz HaKnesset (the Knesset Channel) from Israel late at night when a major speech is scheduled. I watched the speeches by Prime Minister Netanyahu and opposition leader Livni at the opening of the winter session on Monday. The translater wasn't great so I wish they had the original Hebrew sound and subtitles but I'll settle for having something rather than nothing.

BTW, the Prime Minister was heckled once or twice and Tzipi Livni was heckled mercilessly, to the point that the Speaker of the Knesset had two MKs removed from the chamber. If folks think what happens in the British Parliament or the one outburst during President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress are bad they really need to watch the Knesset in action. The British are positively mild by comparison.

I've found that watching democracy in action from any country is a bit like watching sausage being made. The process is ugly but the results are tastier than any alternative I've seen. It really doesn't seem to matter if the left, center or right are in charge or what country you look at.
hkwint

Oct 16, 2009
10:17 PM EDT
Quoting:I must say though that Sander is paying a lot less than me for a lot more which is annoying ;-)


Same here, and I'm only 50 miles away (I pay €16,25 a month). I'm doing something wrong probably.
gus3

Oct 16, 2009
11:12 PM EDT
Quoting:If folks think what happens in the British Parliament or the one outburst during President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress are bad they really need to watch the Knesset in action.
Or the fist-fights that break out in South Korea's legislature.

Quoting:I've found that watching democracy in action from any country is a bit like watching sausage being made. The process is ugly but the results are tastier than any alternative I've seen.
Uh.... Treyf?
caitlyn

Oct 17, 2009
1:00 AM EDT
You can make kosher sausage if you use kosher ingredients. Sausage does not equate to pork. My gtrandfather was a kosher butcher who most certainly made sausage to sell in his shop. Later in life he worked at a very fine restaurant in New York City that wasn't kosher so maybe he had to deal with pork there. I don't know.

BTW, the local Whole Foods sells fish sausage (various kinds), vegetarian sausage, chicken sausage, turkey sausage, etc...

In the last year or two where I've been involved in a couple of FLOSS development projects I have noticed that their development process is a lot like making sausage as well.
montezuma

Oct 17, 2009
5:34 PM EDT
Sander, No my understanding is that they will be selling BBC America and BBC World in the US unfortunately. Do you have any information contradicting this?
hkwint

Oct 17, 2009
7:54 PM EDT
Quoting:I have noticed that their development process is a lot like making sausage as well.


Hmm, and was the result just as tasty?
caitlyn

Oct 17, 2009
7:56 PM EDT
@Hans: In one case, maybe. In the other case, no, it seems it will never come to fruition.

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