Thing 43: Online TV and Video

I do not own a television set or a DVD player; I watch all of my TV and movies through the computer, so I am always searching for free television and movie sites. I have not used Hulu before, though, so I signed up for an account.

Hulu is going to keep me aware of the new television shows that come out so that I can get a taste of them. I was happy to see that there is a new "Welcome Back Kotter"-inspired show out called "Yo Teach!"; I put some clips in my queue and asked Hulu to send me email notifications when they had episodes available to watch.

Having on-demand access to TV shows and movies on the Internet has changed my viewing behavior a great deal. For one thing, like I said, I do not own a television. Second, I am less likely to go to a movie theater now that there are sites like The Only Device out there, where I can watch brand new movies like "Up" or "Star Trek"...for free...

For people who watch a lot of television or like the experience of going to a movie theater, I do not think that free Internet video entertainment will impact them much. I think people like the experience of "flipping through the channels". Traditional television as we know it will stay in business because many Internet/Cable/Phone providers now bundle their services, forcing you to pay for basic cable even if you do not own a television.

The biggest impact that free Internet video entertainment has had on my partner and I is that we share a lot more video links with each other to brighten each others' day; we also put the laptop on the kitchen table while we are cooking together.