I first heard of Hulu the old-fashioned way: I saw commercials for it on television. Like Internet radio, online TV wasn't much use to me as long as I had a slow connection, but I've been testing it out a bit now that I can actually watch the episodes. Stripped of most commercials, this will be a faster way of watching TV, but I'm still a bit hesitant to really get into this for fear it's going to eat up a fair chunk of my time. I'm not going to underestimate the instant gratification factor. I'd missed a few episodes of Dollhouse, and normally I'd have to wait until they came out on DVD to see them, but hey, now I can just wander over to Fox's website and see them there.
This will also let me see programs I just wouldn't be able to see otherwise. Since I don't watch a lot of TV, I don't spring for anything except the most basic level of cable. Except for the very few programs I'll buy in DVD, cable-only television is a mystery to me. Mystery no longer, it seems. So what is The Colbert Report like, anyway? Well, now I can find out. I suppose I'm going to want to hook my TV up to my computer at some point.
I'm not sure how much of an impact this will have on broadcast TV--will they notice after the long-term impact of cable? Cable is another matter though. Will people be willing to pay exorbitant fees if they can get good stuff for free? And how will advertisers respond? Print media is disintegrating almost daily because people realized they could get the same stuff for free online, and advertisers haven't figured out how to capitalize on that. Television may follow suit in a year or so for the same reasons.
Incidentally, I can't see any applications for personal mashups, Internet radio, or online TV for our library. Alas, we're dull. :)
