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I Think I Owe Hulu Plus an Apology

People are free to change their minds about things, right? Sometimes you may grow to love a movie you hate - or a song you thought was junk - or become friends with the kid in high school you thought was a real tool.

Or you can change your mind about an online video service, right?

When Hulu Plus first came out on Roku, I quickly joined to give it a try - and about 10 minutes later I canceled my membership. I was not a fan of the service and made it known in a blog post that believe it or not I posted exactly two years ago today.

But a lot can change in two years.

The biggest one being my cable bill. Back in 2010, my wife and I were trying to sell our condo in Florida, living with my parents, and did not have a cable bill other than our TiVo monthly fee. I had access to HD, onDemand, DVRs, and Hi-Speed Internet for no cost.

Flash forward two years later, the condo is gone and my wife and I have our own apartment. We’re FiOs members, and we had HD, onDemand, DVRs, and Hi-Speed Internet - for a lot more than no cost.

After our promotional time ran it’s course, my cable bill jumped to $120, which is a lot considering we only have two televisions. I started cutting down our packages, but it still wasn’t enough. We needed to save money, so I decided to cancel television all together and give Hulu+ another try.

Well, it turns out you can’t just “cancel” a service you signed up for without major penalties. If I canceled my bill all together, I’d have a $200 fee.

But, if I just turned in my multi-room HD DVR boxes, and got two super simple non-HD boxes, my bill shot down $40. That basically covers my cell phone every month.

The problem is - I’m a massive television junky. So, I talked my wife into joining Hulu+ and I have to say - I am so glad that I did.

I know people have their issues with it. Why are there commercials? Why aren’t all my shows on there? Why are some shows not viewable on my TV? But I look at it this way - I’m paying $8 a month for an almost “online DVR.”

Most of the shows I watch are on there, and the ones that aren’t I watch online through other services. I can jump from my laptop to my TV to my iPod over to my iPad and watch my shows when and how I want.

Another thing I never even thought of when joining - I’d discover new shows that were only exclusive to hulu. To be honest, I’m not sure if I needed a Hulu+ membership to watch these exclusive shows, but I know if I want to watch them on my iPad or TV, I did need the premium service. And, I’ve found two shows that I am already a fan of (the Brit import “Fresh Meat” and the dramedy “Battleground”.)

I still have the basic cable box on my TV, so I could watch all the shows I want when they’re on - but I’m spoiled nowadays and I never watch my favorite shows unless I know I can pause/rewind them.

Finally, with Thanksgiving coming up, I have to give a big thank you to Hulu. We are heading to Laconia, NH to spend 5 days with my in-laws. There are only so many books and comic books I can read, only so many podcasts I can listen to while walking my dog. Now, with Hulu - I have a bunch of stockpiled shows ready to watch so that - when the football and food is done - I have a nice distraction to pass the time.

Thank you Hulu plus - and um….I take back that first blog post…..
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