# Hulu+ = Big Rip-Off!



## Emacee (Dec 15, 2000)

IMHO Hulu+ really sucks. It's supposed to be one of the big selling points for upgrading to Tivo Premiere and Elite, the service not available on Series 3/HD. It's not worth it. Hulu+ requires a $7.99 a month subscription. I don't mind paying for content (a reasonable price). But Hulu+ is loaded with commercials. Lots of commercials. Interrupting shows or movies seemingly at random with no regard for content. Frequent interruptions. And the same commercials over and over. No way to skip or fast forward. And you have to pay for the privilege.

Hulu+ lets you watch shows and movies on devices other than your PC (like Tivo, Roku, tablets and smartphones). But you can watch Hulu for free on your PC. They hint there is some exclusive content available only to Plus subscribers but I haven't found it. And for free you get the same commercials and the same amount of interruptions as with Plus. Why the <bleep> should I pay to watch commercials I am not interested in, over and over?

I can do without all these extra services that keep bloating my Tivo. Netflix doesn't work very well and all these "extras" seem to do is slow down the system and cause performance issues. But even with good performance, Hulu+ is worse than useless. I read the TV networks are pulling their shows. Good. Hulu deserves to go under.


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

Yeah, I don't get the value proposition for Hulu Plus. There are some shows that, even with Hulu Plus, you can't watch on "connected devices" (IE: you have to watch them on a computer)


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Emacee said:


> IMHO Hulu+ really sucks. It's supposed to be one of the big selling points for upgrading to Tivo Premiere and Elite, the service not available on Series 3/HD. It's not worth it. Hulu+ requires a $7.99 a month subscription. I don't mind paying for content (a reasonable price). But Hulu+ is loaded with commercials. Lots of commercials. Interrupting shows or movies seemingly at random with no regard for content. Frequent interruptions. And the same commercials over and over. No way to skip or fast forward. And you have to pay for the privilege.
> 
> Hulu+ lets you watch shows and movies on devices other than your PC (like Tivo, Roku, tablets and smartphones). But you can watch Hulu for free on your PC. They hint there is some exclusive content available only to Plus subscribers but I haven't found it. And for free you get the same commercials and the same amount of interruptions as with Plus. Why the <bleep> should I pay to watch commercials I am not interested in, over and over?
> 
> I can do without all these extra services that keep bloating my Tivo. Netflix doesn't work very well and all these "extras" seem to do is slow down the system and cause performance issues. But even with good performance, Hulu+ is worse than useless. I read the TV networks are pulling their shows. Good. Hulu deserves to go under.


Many of us concluded Hulu+ wasn't worth much when it was released at least then we all got a free month to find out what we thought. There are several threads about it.

However you do get several things with Hulu+ that you do not with the free service:


Access on connected devices - free service is only available on a computer
HD content - all content on the free service is 480p or less much of the content on Hulu+ is 720p
Access to some content not available on the free Hulu service.
The bottom line is Hulu+ is what it is and everyone gets to decide if it is worth $8/mo or not. For my money it is not worth paying for, but then I do have a HTPC connect to my home theater so I have access to lots of stuff from the web including the free Hulu service.

If I was trying to or all ready had (which I have) "cut the cord" and didn't have a HTPC I am sure at least one of the 3 monthly streaming services would be of interest to me (Netflix, Hulu+, & Amazon Prime). So it is good that the Premiere offers access to Hulu+, of course it would be better if they updated their Netflix app and added Amazon Prime.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

Are they still offering a free period of Hulu for us premier owners? I would like to take it for a test run...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I find Hulu+ to be well worth it for $8. Maybe not as good a deal as my Netflix streaming, but I do use Hulu+ on a regular basis. Just not as much as Netflix. The commercials of course suck, but I don't mind when they are 30 seconds or less. It's the longer commercials that are a pain. But at least there are a third less commercials than on broadcast.


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## aadam101 (Jul 15, 2002)

Hulu+ is just one more reason to use BT.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

aadam101 said:


> Hulu+ is just one more reason to use BT.


?????????????


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

aaronwt said:


> ?????????????


I think he means BitTorrent


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

Emacee said:


> IMHO Hulu+ really sucks.


Then don't buy it. I don;t, and evidently neither do you. So what's the beef?



Emacee said:


> It's supposed to be one of the big selling points for upgrading to Tivo Premiere and Elite, the service not available on Series 3/HD.


From what I have been able to tell, other than network performance, there are no selling points for "upgrading" to a Premier.



Emacee said:


> I can do without all these extra services that keep bloating my Tivo.


How do they bloat the TiVo?



Emacee said:


> Netflix doesn't work very well and all these "extras" seem to do is slow down the system and cause performance issues.


No, not really. The engines that provide these services aren't operational until they are put into use. Until then they do nothing.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Big rip off? No. They are providing a service, and you accept the terms or not.

I agree that it is not worth the cost. In my mind, you should get the benefit of commercial free viewing if you pay a subscription fee.
They're trying to get the best of both worlds, and I hope it fails. 
I think it's kinda sad. I'd bet Hulu+ would have double the subs if they did away with the commercials.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

If you have three shows that you want to record at the same time and one of them is shown on Hulu+, then you can still watch the third show later. The same is true if you forget to record a show. Hulu+ can act as a third tuner.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

I tried it. Too many commercials. I'd rather pay for Amazon or iTunes than watch commercials. Too bad NetFlix got so crappy. It was good for a while.

-Ted


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## steve771 (Dec 30, 2011)

shwru980r said:


> If you have three shows that you want to record at the same time and one of them is shown on Hulu+, then you can still watch the third show later. The same is true if you forget to record a show. Hulu+ can act as a third tuner.


Well, in theory. But for as often as this will happen, you probably could just as easily watch it 'live' (w/o Tivo) and save $8. Just sayin' for those limited times, there are alternatives (such as BT as someone mentioned).

I tried Hulu+. It's merely 'ok' and not worth the $8 IMHO. If they took out the commercials, maybe. If they broadcast all content in HD and did so right after broadcast maybe.

But hey, someone must be subscribing as it hasn't failed yet.


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

Well, they were making money before Hulu+. It's owned and operated by the networks, so this is just icing on their cake. They have very little costs, licensing is just moving money from one ledger account to another.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

heck if Hulu+ was a superset of Hulu i'd be interested but having things on Hulu that aren't on Hulu+ is just wrong.


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## Emacee (Dec 15, 2000)

From what I can see, regular Hulu has fewer interruptions during a show and less repetition of the same commercial(s) during a show. Less annoying; no charge. And with AdBlock Plus, you don't even have to see the commercials (you get black screen with a message telling you to disable your ad blocking software but then you go back to the show).

The rip-off is they want you to pay for Hulu+ and have more interruptions and more annoying interruptions. Just because I don't chose to buy it doesn't make it less of a rip-off. And people should say so until enough bad word of mouth gets to this company. 

I understand Disney, which has an interest in Hulu, is going to stop making ABC shows available on Hulu. So, it has even less value.

@lrhomer: I am not a tech expert but I've seen enough bloatware to recognize it. Since the more recent versions of Tivo software have been issued (forced on users) the degradation of throughput has been noticeable. It's like when Microsoft issued a new version of Windows and if you upgraded you saw the hourglass a lot more. Except Tivo has no hourglass or spinning circle - you push the remote, the little light on the front of the box flashes, but nothing happens (for several seconds or ever). This problem has been happening as Tivo keeps adding more ads and more non-DVR functions (and god knows what else that we can't see).


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## Turtleboy (Mar 24, 2001)

The Networks don't want you to subscribe to Hulu+. They want you to watch commercial TV (with the commercials).


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Turtleboy said:


> The Networks don't want you to subscribe to Hulu+. They want you to watch commercial TV (with the commercials).


spot on! they really have no interest in Hulu succeeding, they just want it there to show that they "care" about the changes to how we want out media.


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## Beryl (Feb 22, 2009)

Soapm said:


> Are they still offering a free period of Hulu for us premier owners? I would like to take it for a test run...


They did when I bought mine last year -- 6 months free. I plan to activate it at the last minute which is in a few months.


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## mikeyts (Jul 10, 2004)

Turtleboy said:


> The Networks don't want you to subscribe to Hulu+. They want you to watch commercial TV (with the commercials).


Some of them certainly don't mind . Hulu is a joint venture of NBC/Universal, Fox Entertainment Group and Disney-ABC Television Group.


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## Turtleboy (Mar 24, 2001)

mikeyts said:


> Some of them certainly don't mind . Hulu is a joint venture of NBC/Universal, Fox Entertainment Group and Disney-ABC Television Group.


Yes, I realize that. It was formed as a stopgap to bit torrent and other free illegal streaming services. When they formed it, they intended that people would only watch on their computers, and nowhere else.

When people hooked up their computers to their TVs, and streamed it out, they went nuts, tried to block it, and almost shut down the service over it.


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## mikeyts (Jul 10, 2004)

Turtleboy said:


> When people hooked up their computers to their TVs, and streamed it out, they went nuts, tried to block it, and almost shut down the service over it.


Yeah, I vaguely remember something like that. Obviously they've resigned themselves to it, as they sanction players on more and more connected devices like TiVo, Roku 2, Xbox 360 and sundry BD players and network connected televisions. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" .

EDIT: There was a big stink about Hulu on Boxee, ending with them blocking Boxee's access to it. See http://gigaom.com/2009/05/28/so-thats-why-hulu-hates-boxee/ , one article about it.


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## aadam101 (Jul 15, 2002)

mikeyts said:


> Yeah, I vaguely remember something like that. Obviously they've resigned themselves to it, as they sanction players on more and more connected devices like TiVo, Roku 2, Xbox 360 and sundry BD players and network connected televisions. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" .
> 
> EDIT: There was a big stink about Hulu on Boxee, ending with them blocking Boxee's access to it. See http://gigaom.com/2009/05/28/so-thats-why-hulu-hates-boxee/ , one article about it.


They also blocked the service to work on mobile browsers even when the mobile browser supported it. My old Window 6.0 phone had browsers that worked just fine with regular Hulu (this was before Hulu+) and they chose to just block the browser. Personally, I think this type of act should be illegal. They shouldn't be allowed to discriminate between browsers.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Heh, tell that to Google, I'm sure they'd agree with you. It's disgusting to me that the major network sites block GoogleTV.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

This weekend I watched some programs on the free Hulu because I have my laptop hooked up to my TV. The first show gave me the option of watching a 2 minute or so commercial and then it played the whole show without another commercial. Is this available with all their programs? I just set it to play and made a drink and when I came back it was ready to go.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Bob_Newhart said:


> This weekend I watched some programs on the free Hulu because I have my laptop hooked up to my TV. The first show gave me the option of watching a 2 minute or so commercial and then it played the whole show without another commercial. Is this available with all their programs? I just set it to play and made a drink and when I came back it was ready to go.


No that is not "normal" but I hope it becomes so. Most of the shows have multiple 30-60 second commercial breaks.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

atmuscarella said:


> No that is not "normal" but I hope it becomes so. Most of the shows have multiple 30-60 second commercial breaks.


More like 10 second to 70 second breaks. The more popular shows(Like Grey's Anantomy) will have longer breaks toward the end. But still the total minutes of commericals is around 7 or 8 minutes(still much less than broadcast) on the most popular content with other content being less, and some even having zero commercials during the program.


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## mikeyts (Jul 10, 2004)

aaronwt said:


> More like 10 second to 70 second breaks. The more popular shows(Like Grey's Anantomy) will have longer breaks toward the end. But still the total minutes of commericals is around 7 or 8 minutes(still much less than broadcast) on the most popular content with other content being less, and some even having zero commercials during the program.


It sucks that there are ads, but my problem isn't with the number of ads but the monotony. Often it's the same ad repeated over and over. During the time I was trying it out I must have seen every variation of the "Messin' with Sasquatch" many times. (It was a clever series but not very effective, since I don't remember what it was advertising ).


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## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

mikeyts said:


> It sucks that there are ads, but my problem isn't with the number of ads but the monotony. Often it's the same ad repeated over and over. During the time I was trying it out I must have seen every variation of the "Messin' with Sasquatch" many times. (It was a clever series but not very effective, since I don't remember what it was advertising ).


then change the behavior: https://secure.hulu.com/profile/ad_tailor


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## audioscience (Feb 10, 2005)

Soapm said:


> Are they still offering a free period of Hulu for us premier owners? I would like to take it for a test run...


If you sign up they are always giving out a free week trial. Every now and again you'll find a free month trial.


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## Beryl (Feb 22, 2009)

audioscience said:


> If you sign up they are always giving out a free week trial. Every now and again you'll find a free month trial.


They gave me 6 months free with my Premiere. I have 1 year to redeem it.


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## steve771 (Dec 30, 2011)

Beryl said:


> They gave me 6 months free with my Premiere. I have 1 year to redeem it.


That was a Tivo special, no longer offered. I missed out on the $10 a month OTA special too. Bummer.


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## Aero 1 (Aug 8, 2007)

steve771 said:


> That was a Tivo special, no longer offered. I missed out on the $10 a month OTA special too. Bummer.


yes it is, i just got a premiere two weeks ago and redeemed the 6 month hulu+ yesterday.

http://www3.tivo.com/promo/huluplusoffer/code/index.html


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

Hulu+ a big ripoff? I can't see how that is possible, I have never subscribed but I did know commercials are included. It is either worth the fee to the subscriber or it isn't, can't possibly be a ripoff since nobody has to pay a penny. I will assume it is worth the price to those that choose to subscribe or they weren't particularly well informed when they subscribed. 

A ripoff is something like the government's cash for clunkers program, I couldn't participate but have to pay my share of the billions of dollars it cost.


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## Magister (Oct 17, 2004)

Two Months Free is included with some of the new Roku 2 boxes. My mom likes it. I don't plan to pay for it.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

audioscience said:


> If you sign up they are always giving out a free week trial. Every now and again you'll find a free month trial.


Cool, maybe I'll give them a try but I can't think of any series or movies I don't already have (that I want that it). That new MeTV is really hooking me up with Gomer Pyle, Combat, etc...


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## Beryl (Feb 22, 2009)

Chris Gerhard said:


> A ripoff is something like the government's cash for clunkers program, I couldn't participate but have to pay my share of the billions of dollars it cost.


Analogy fail.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

Beryl said:


> Analogy fail.


Really, why shouldn't I think the cash for clunkers program was a ripoff? I am forced to pay my share of the taxpayer cost without being offered an option and without any possible benefit for me since I didn't own a qualifying clunker to trade in. I sure consider that a ripoff because it cost me money with no benefit and I had no choice.

Hulu+ on the other hand is something I could only pay for by accepting the terms and information is available which clearly describes the product before paying, including a free trial to make certain I want to pay for the service. I could never in a million years be ripped off with Hulu+, it is exactly the opposite of a ripoff.


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## turbobuick86 (May 3, 2002)

audioscience said:


> If you sign up they are always giving out a free week trial. Every now and again you'll find a free month trial.


Tivo has ruined/spoiled me. We never watch live TV in our home to avoid commercials. I would never ever pay for a service that doesn't at least allow me to avoid commercials. That would be anti-TiVo.


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## Beryl (Feb 22, 2009)

Chris Gerhard said:


> Really, why shouldn't I think the cash for clunkers program was a ripoff? I am forced to pay my share of the taxpayer cost without being offered an option and without any possible benefit for me since I didn't own a qualifying clunker to trade in. I sure consider that a ripoff because it cost me money with no benefit and I had no choice.
> 
> Hulu+ on the other hand is something I could only pay for by accepting the terms and information is available which clearly describes the product before paying, including a free trial to make certain I want to pay for the service. I could never in a million years be ripped off with Hulu+, it is exactly the opposite of a ripoff.


I must pay school taxes and never had children. My taxes go to subsidize Iowa farmers. I have the right to *feel* 'ripped-off' too.

You have a right to feel you are ripped off by 'cash for clunkers' just like those who think they are ripped off when they don't get value from Hulu+. Feeling ripped-off simply means that one feels there is insufficient value for the money.


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## mishafp (Nov 8, 2006)

If there was a show that I loved, couldn't get on netflix, was not available in regular reruns, but was available in full on Hulu+, then I'd get Hulu+ again for 1 month and watch it all. Someday, I'll get HBO for one month to do this with HBO GO and catch up on all their shows.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

Beryl said:


> I must pay school taxes and never had children. My taxes go to subsidize Iowa farmers. I have the right to *feel* 'ripped-off' too.
> 
> You have a right to feel you are ripped off by 'cash for clunkers' just like those who think they are ripped off when they don't get value from Hulu+. Feeling ripped-off simply means that one feels there is insufficient value for the money.


Again, how can someone not get value for their money with Hulu+ or avoid paying for it if it isn't wanted? Everybody has a choice and should know whether or not Hulu+ is worth the price before paying a penny. It starts with a free trial and ends when the subscriber chooses, nothing about it is a ripoff. A ripoff to my way of thinking happens when I am forced to spend money on something of no value to me or I spend money based on false or misleading information or buy a product that doesn't work as described, is cheap or defective.

Our public schools have been funded by property taxes for all of my life and the tax rates have been decided by the taxpayer/voter or by due process through the court system, I certainly don't consider that a ripoff but others could, I guess. I attended public schools so did my children and every citizen can attend public schools during their lifetime if they grow up here. I also have input in public school board members and school facilities.

Our farmers feed this country and pay local and federal taxes, I am unaware of anything I would consider a ripoff involving what tax breaks or subsidies farmers have received. If someone else disagrees and feels ripped off by that, fine with me.

I sure hate that idiotic cash for clunkers program and other entitlement programs I have no input into or option to avoid paying for. That is exactly what I consider a ripoff.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

Beryl said:


> I must pay school taxes and never had children.


Me too and I feel ripped off.


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## mikeyts (Jul 10, 2004)

"Such and so is a rip-off!" is common American idiom, translating to "I don't think that such and so is worth the price". It's obviously a subjective opinion--one man's rip-off is another man's bargain. It does not imply that "such and so is ripping everyone off" regardless of whether they've chosen to pay the price or not.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

mikeyts said:


> "Such and so is a rip-off!" is common American idiom, translating to "I don't think that such and so is worth the price". It's obviously a subjective opinion--one man's rip-off is another man's bargain. It does not imply that "such and so is ripping everyone off" regardless of whether they've chosen to pay the price or not.


Sorta... There are some real rip offs that are rip offs in both trash and treasure. Perceived treasure isn't the same as actual treasure. Prices are now based on what people will pay instead of the true cost of producing the goods/service + reasonable profit. There are unfortunately people walking around with cash in hand just looking for a place to be ripped off...

However, the point of your statement is accurate, like buying a hotdog at the movies, there is a consumer even for a rip off or they wouldn't continue to rip people off...


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

Beryl said:


> I must pay school taxes and never had children.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Did you attend public school? Student loans or grants? Someone paid for your education so you're returning the favor by paying for the next kid.

I for one like being a country with a low literacy rate but you would think it would produce a smarter consumer. That theory went to heck with the number of people who took those variable rate mortgages and loans with balloon payments. Then again bankers were loaning up to 125% of the value of the property so perhaps education just couldn't overcome greed...???



Beryl said:


> My taxes go to subsidize Iowa farmers. I have the right to *feel* 'ripped-off' too.


You'll either pay the subsidy or pay at the check out line. The subsidies stabilize the markets.

Without the subsidies and "regulations" there would be no family farms and we'd all be at the mercy of corporate growers. Corporate growers could then bypass the commodities market and companies like Del Monte could take the product strait from the ground to the can to the store shelf with a $5 or $10 price tag. And if no one buys that can of corn at $5 they will gladly reduce it to $4.99 along with the same product with a generic label and a $4.59 price tag for us penny watching consumers. Hunger will prevail in the end and you will consume or starve. Not every area is capable of producing a full year of home gardening.

Free market to control the prices??? The corporations could then sell their product for $00.01/can until the competition either folds or is bought by the corporation (sorry, merge). See Walmart for a good example of how cheap goods and low prices can get rid of the competition... (Anyone seen a Monkey Wards, Gems, Eakers lately???)

And who would make sure we're not consuming harmful pesticides and what ever else that might make a larger yield??? Who would enforce the standard for organic or guarantee that corn really is in the can or corn? Who would you turn to if Del Monte wasn't putting corn in the can? You going to write them a letter??? You got to eat???



Beryl said:


> You have a right to feel you are ripped off by 'cash for clunkers' just like those who think they are ripped off when they don't get value from Hulu+. Feeling ripped-off simply means that one feels there is insufficient value for the money.


I was born in 1962 and I remember riding behind those smoke producing cars that would make your eyes burn. Some of you probably don't recall what raw fuel burn was like but I'm glad to see those clunkers give way to cleaner air but like the other fella said, one mans trash is another's treasure.

I don't know who switched the discussion to global warming but I can look toward the city and see the brown cloud. Pollution is real, non disputable and we know the cause...

I wasn't trying to make this political but was giving another view to your comments. What you described as trash to me, in some way and a different perspective, really is a treasure... I do acknowledge how you stressed the word "feel" so take this in the light it was presented...


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## tre74 (Nov 12, 2010)

steve614 said:


> Big rip off? No. They are providing a service, and you accept the terms or not.
> 
> I agree that it is not worth the cost. In my mind, you should get the benefit of commercial free viewing if you pay a subscription fee.
> They're trying to get the best of both worlds, and I hope it fails.
> I think it's kinda sad. I'd bet Hulu+ would have double the subs if they did away with the commercials.


And yet, there are millions of folks paying high cable bills for many channels containing many more commercials.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Emacee said:


> And the same commercials over and over.


This is annoying. I was watching something via the ABC app on my iPad the other night. They played a promo for some new show called "The River" at the start of the program. Then they played the same promo for every single commercial break. Sometimes 2 or 3 times back to back depending on how much time was allocated for the break. Forcing people to watch commercials is bad enough, but forcing them to watch the same commercial over and over, sometimes back to back, is 10x more annoying. :down:

I don't personally have Hulu+, but I would never pay $8/mo for anything that forces me to watch commercials. If I'm going to be forced to watch commercials then I'll just hook my laptop to my TV and watch via the free version.

Dan


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

tre74 said:


> And yet, there are millions of folks paying high cable bills for many channels containing many more commercials.


And a good percentage of them also have DVRs that allow them to skip said commercials. Plus at least with normal broadcasting the commercials are all different. Read my above comment about my experience streaming via the ABC app. Over the course of an hour long program I was forced to watch the same commercial at least a dozen times. It was much, much, more annoying to me then watching live TV.

Dan


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## tre74 (Nov 12, 2010)

This is why before each program there is an announcement stating "This program is brought to you by so and so". The result is continued commercials from said folks. A break for commercials is hardly as annoying as commercials within shows. Watch an old Burns and Allen show and see a sketch about Carnation canned milk. Watch I Love Lucy and see Phillip Morris mentioned by name whenever somebody is offered a cigarette. Comes down to dollars and cents for me. I don't mind commercials on Hulu Plus. I do not mind using OTA. The cost savings is worth the commercials. Its not everybody's cup of tea. If they don't like it, they can drink the cable company's kool-aid.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

tre74 said:


> And yet, there are millions of folks paying high cable bills for many channels containing many more commercials.


Yeah, and it doesn't make sense to me. Why should I have to sit through commercials when I'm paying to access the content?
Cable seemed promising in the beginning. The movie channels HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, etc. were 'commercial' free, but you couldn't subscribe to just those channels. You had to take all the other crap channels that were on there.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

steve614 said:


> Yeah, and it doesn't make sense to me. Why should I have to sit through commercials when I'm paying to access the content?
> Cable seemed promising in the beginning. The movie channels HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, etc. were 'commercial' free, but you couldn't subscribe to just those channels. You had to take all the other crap channels that were on there.


Don't you like how they advertise 150 channels in the basic package??? 4 you might watch and 146 you have to thumb threw to get to the 4 you might watch...


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

tre74 said:


> This is why before each program there is an announcement stating "This program is brought to you by so and so". The result is continued commercials from said folks. A break for commercials is hardly as annoying as commercials within shows. Watch an old Burns and Allen show and see a sketch about Carnation canned milk. Watch I Love Lucy and see Phillip Morris mentioned by name whenever somebody is offered a cigarette. Comes down to dollars and cents for me. *I don't mind commercials on Hulu Plus. I do not mind using OTA.* The cost savings is worth the commercials. Its not everybody's cup of tea. If they don't like it, they can drink the cable company's kool-aid.


Exactly why I have a Tivo, I don't remember the last time I looked at live programming. I watch the recorded show so I can forward through the commercials if I so desire. But then again I pay Tivo for that privilege...


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

The more kids you have, the more school taxes you pay.


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## Beryl (Feb 22, 2009)

Soapm said:


> Did you attend public school? Student loans or grants? Someone paid for your education so you're returning the favor by paying for the next kid.


My parents paid a LOT of taxes. 

That said, I gladly pay taxes for the common good. The kids I pay to educate today may change my diapers in 40 years. I couldn't take advantage of cash for clunkers but I'm glad the program helped to get polluting cars off of the road AND keep some of my neighbors in their houses. I don't consider it a rip-off.

I used schools and farming subsidies as examples to show how anything can be considered a 'rip-off' - including Hulu+.



Bob_Newhart said:


> The more kids you have, the more school taxes you pay.


Where? Not in the last 3 US states in which I've resided.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

Beryl said:


> My parents paid a LOT of taxes.


Not mine, in 1969 my Dad was called to a church in Denver that paid him a whopping $80/week plus parsonage. I had to take my lunch and remember begging him to sign me up for the free lunch program. He said it was for the poor kids even though we more than qualified. He died in 96 making $350/week pastoring that same church.



Beryl said:


> I used schools and farming subsidies as examples to show how anything can be considered a 'rip-off' - including Hulu+.


I clearly understood your intent which is why I added my disclaimer.



Beryl said:


> Where? Not in the last 3 US states in which I've resided.


I thought it was just me because here we pay via property taxes.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

mikeyts said:


> "Such and so is a rip-off!" is common American idiom, translating to "I don't think that such and so is worth the price". It's obviously a subjective opinion--one man's rip-off is another man's bargain. It does not imply that "such and so is ripping everyone off" regardless of whether they've chosen to pay the price or not.


You are just saying the term has no meaning and is just a way of saying I don't believe it is worth the price to me. To your way of thinking Hulu+ isn't ripping off the OP but he feels ripped off because he decided to spend his money on a clearly described service which was delivered exactly as described at exactly the price described because he either didn't bother to understand what he was buying or decided to spend the money anyway so he could complain about being ripped off? That is just something that isn't worth the price to me and I have nobody to blame but myself if that happens to me, I would never claim that is a rip-off.

What would you call a service that isn't described properly or doesn't work as described and I spent my money based on bad information and therefore didn't receive what I paid for or didn't receive value for my money? I call that a rip-off, a rip-off requires a deliberate act by the party receiving the money. Rip-off means to take money from me, rip it out of my hands without returning proper value.


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## javabird (Oct 13, 2006)

tre74 said:


> And yet, there are millions of folks paying high cable bills for many channels containing many more commercials.


Television scripts are written in "acts" which allow for commercial breaks between each act. So, there are logical breaks in the story when the show goes to a commercial. Also, the commercials are lumped together so when you come back to the TV, you can get immersed back into the story (if you're watching live TV.)

I never sprang for Hulu+, but I gave up on the ABC player on my iPad because I thought the method of playing commercials at random intervals was too distracting -- they played where there were no logical breaks, which broke up the continuity of the story for me.

I know several college students who watch Hulu on their laptops because they don't have cable TV, so I can see the value for them, but it's not something I would personally pay for.


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## Bob_Newhart (Jul 14, 2004)

Beryl said:


> Where? Not in the last 3 US states in which I've resided.


That's the way it should be, I meant.

It should be a base amount and then if someone wants to squirt out 5 kids, they get to pay 5 times as much as me.


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## jhernandez86 (Dec 3, 2008)

i can not believe people pay for a service that is loaded with commercials.....must of the stuff on HULU PLUS is over the air programming which can be recorded on your tiro, with commercials and free.........great marketing strategy from the networks side......pay for dvr services, pay for free content, and force subscribers to watch commercials......I love capitalism.


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## mikeyts (Jul 10, 2004)

Chris Gerhard said:


> What would you call a service that isn't described properly or doesn't work as described and I spent my money based on bad information and therefore didn't receive what I paid for or didn't receive value for my money? I call that a rip-off, a rip-off requires a deliberate act by the party receiving the money. Rip-off means to take money from me, rip it out of my hands without returning proper value.


I see you point. There are rip-offs that are absolute (I paid you for a new Mercedes and you deliver a used Ford Pinto). But there are also rip-offs that are subjective--"I feel ripped-off; this isn't worth the cost to me".

The OP didn't do his homework if he didn't know that Hulu Plus had ad breaks before he paid for a month of it; he wasn't intentionally ripped-off, he just made a mistake. It was only an $8 mistake, which doesn't seem worth much complaining.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

Chris Gerhard said:


> *What would you call a service that isn't described properly or doesn't work as described and I spent my money based on bad information and therefore didn't receive what I paid for or didn't receive value for my money? * I call that a rip-off, a rip-off requires a deliberate act by the party receiving the money. Rip-off means to take money from me, rip it out of my hands without returning proper value.


Fraud or false advertisement... Good thing we have laws against that???


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

javabird said:


> I never sprang for Hulu+, but I gave up on the ABC player on my iPad because I thought the method of playing commercials at random intervals was too distracting -- *they played where there were no logical breaks, which broke up the continuity of the story for me.*.


Good thing you didn't pay, I once had a legitimate web account and would see a black screen with a countdown where the commercials would be. I think I prefer the ad over a blank screen... YMMV...


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

mikeyts said:


> I see you point. There are rip-offs that are absolute (I paid you for a new Mercedes and you deliver a used Ford Pinto). But there are also rip-offs that are absolute--"I feel ripped-off; this isn't worth the cost to me".


Another analogy would be a fancy restaurant. I can get full off a big mac and fries and never saw a steak worth $40. But some people think the ambiance makes $40/plate worth it.

Or how about those events that feed you chicken breast and rice pilaf. I'll gladly donate to your cause but the chicken breast is always dry, I don't like rice pilaf and sure don't want no "vegetable medley" so I end up stopping for a big mac and fries on my way home...

Those I see as rip offs but others might find worth...


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## Beryl (Feb 22, 2009)

Soapm said:


> I thought it was just me because here we pay via property taxes.


Yes. That is how it is funded in the states in which I resided. Many people who have kids don't have property so we subsidize them. I'm cool with that but sometimes I wish some of the bad-A kids would mow my lawn or shovel my snow as a 'Thank you'.

Your dad sounds like he was a good man.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

I think most people using Tivo skip commercials. Tivo users probably aren't gong to be receptive to Hulu+, a service that forces you to watch commercials. The the effort put towards Hulu+ should have been put towards improving the Netflix interface or the HDUI.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

Beryl said:


> Yes. That is how it is funded in the states in which I resided. Many people who have kids don't have property so we subsidize them. I'm cool with that but sometimes I wish some of the bad-A kids would mow my lawn or shovel my snow as a 'Thank you'.


Or at least show up and get good grades. I feel ya on that one...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

shwru980r said:


> I think most people using Tivo skip commercials. Tivo users probably aren't gong to be receptive to Hulu+, a service that forces you to watch commercials. The the effort put towards Hulu+ should have been put towards improving the Netflix interface or the HDUI.


For me, the main reason I don't mind the Hulu commericals is because I rarely watch commercials. I started time shifting my TV watching in 1984 and when I got my first TiVo ten years ago it took it to another level. So the few commercials in Hulu don't bother me much. At least the 30 second and shorter ones.


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## steve771 (Dec 30, 2011)

mikeyts said:


> The OP didn't do his homework if he didn't know that Hulu Plus had ad breaks before he paid for a month of it; he wasn't intentionally ripped-off, he just made a mistake. It was only an $8 mistake, which doesn't seem worth much complaining.


Agreed. And IIRC, Hulu+ has always offered some sort of trial (currently one week) to new subscribers. Seems fair, even if I don't care for the service myself, at least you get to try it out.


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