Yet another content portal...

I saw the future of streaming video today (at least as far as NBC and Fox are concerned) and, it wasn't that exciting.

Hulu is NBC and Fox's latest attempt at a content portal. It's still in hush-hush beta-testing, but they've started leaking embeddable files, which is how I ended up watching the pilot episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer tonight on EW.com



There's a lot I could complain about the user experience, but I'm sure some of that will be tweaked before they fully launch.

My overriding feeling though?

Why would I want to watch this on my computer?

Buffy was better than I expected, but the tight confines of an embedded window only made it look murky. Despite the hype of better streaming quality, it completely froze 37 minutes in.

I'll grant that Hulu was a step up in quality from YouTube, but what's the point? I don't go to YouTube for hi-def. What I do go to YouTube for is a one-stop shop for content (preferably in small bites).

When it comes to TV shows and movies. I prefer to watch on those nice big flat screen TVs we have in the living room and bedroom. You know, where you don't have to squint to see things for 43 minutes.

It used to be "57 channels and nothing's on." Cable and satellite have already exploded that number. I don't think we really need thousands of Hulus to comb through on top of that, along with their annoyingly incompatible, or undownloadable, file types. Don't get me started on Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD, either.

At some point by throwing so many darts at the board, are media companies making it too much of a bother for me to find their media anymore? I'll stick mostly to CDs and DVDs until they're done pissing on each other.