The Hulu beta version launched today and there’s surprisingly little to criticize.  The video player is massive in its smaller form and the full-screen version loses little clarity.  They even allow something you’d never expect from a Hollywood entertainment company, a trick stolen right out of YouTube’s playbook (and a smart steal at that): the ability to embed clips on your webpage, really the only social networking feature on the site.  Check out this clip from Saturday Night Live, “People Getting Punched in the Face Right Before Eating.”    

Hulu boasts an impressive amount of content, and it’s displayed nice and clear, with few distractions.  It’s also a reminder of just how much content NBC and News Corp owns, and you begin to understand the interest they had in protecting it.  

Hulu, content-wise, makes competitor TV 2.0 sites like Veoh and Joost look like they're run by a high school yearbook team.  It’s the beginning of the way TV ought to be, in many ways. 

Perhaps one limitation is the amount of content offered for particular shows.  Take King of the Hill for example.  How does Hulu benefit from showing four episodes rather than, say, an entire season?  Ah, yes, the DVD sales.  We must keep those in mind.  But four seems paltry and cheap.  If they’re hesitant to offer a full season for fear of cannibalizing DVD sales, why not scatter more episodes over several seasons instead?  Voila, problem solved.

Does Hulu lack the fun of YouTube?  Not really.  How often do you find yourself mindlessly browsing YouTube anyhow?  It’s the viral nature of the site that makes it what it is.  Hulu, on the other hand, presents a destination website, a place you’ll visit on your own.   

It also has something YouTube lacks: With so much television-based content, expect no shortage of references to the site, constantly reminding you it’s there.  And with a strong follow-through in the product quality arena, you’ll gladly visit.

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