A flurry of streaming video sources have grown in popularity over the past few years as the traditional brick and mortar rental stores are fading. Everyone should be familiar with Netflix by now. Hulu is a commonly known site as well, and others such as Crackle and anime-specific sites are known to those who spend a little more time streaming video content. The sites are convenient, usually have a great selection (albeit not the most recent movies usually), and are spanning across a plethora of devices (laptops, iPads, iPhones, Roku players, blu-ray players, and even internet-ready TVs). The more common problem these days is not if I can watch something online, but where do I want to watch it and how much will it cost. That's a question for the user to decide, and not something you can figure out definitively through one blog post, but I will discuss one subtle drawback that is usually unknown until you make a purchase that may influence decisions.
The issue recently came to light as I decided to make the plunge into Hulu Plus. Hulu is traditionally a free media source (with advertising), but has recently added a paid subscription component. At $7.95 per month, it is still cheaper than most basic cable options, but it is worth it if you already own a Netflix account and can access standard Hulu shows for free? For me, the answer was no, until Christmas rolled around. Then new devices tipped the scale. Hulu is great on the desktop or laptop, but can't be accessed on the iPhone, iPad, or Roku player without a Hulu Plus subscription. I decided to go for it, thinking about how great it will be to use the Roku to watch my favorite Hulu shows on my big screen, pause midway through, and to cozy up with the iPad in bed and finish the show before calling it a night. So, I went and signed up for a free two week trial (note: the Hulu site will offer you a one week trial, but search for "hulu plus referral code" in your favorite search browser and you will find codes for a two week referral, sites are even dedicated to it). Everything worked smooth and great, but I noticed I did not seem to have all my shows through my Roku player. I pulled up the ipad and discovered the problem. About half the shows that I wanted to watch are listed as "web only," which apparently means they can only be viewed on a computer.
So, much to my dismay and despite Hulu presenting their Plus service as a way to access a much deeper Hulu experience across all your devices, it fails to mention this large limitation. Perhaps this issue will be solved in the future, but for the meantime, it appears the Hulu Plus app has earned the low rating it has received in the marketplace.
The newest big competitor to the online streaming world is Amazon. They have offered their Video on Demand services for a while now, but just yesterday announced free streaming to thousands of programs for Prime users. However, like Hulu, there is an unfortunate hiccup for some users. The Prime account that you have must be a paid account. Therefore, any students or other users who receive a free account will have to pay the full $79 per year for a paid Prime account to view their "free for Prime" streaming content.
Fortunately, most of these services allow you to take a trial run of their services, but the lesson is, be wary of false transparency, wherein the company's marketing presents their service as something which it is not. Help others avoid the same mistake by clearly laying out these issues on forums, blogs, and reviews. All we want is to enjoy a service, get our money's worth, and not feel swindled in the process.
-joj-
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