The DVR vs Internet Video

"Let me ask a simple question, if everyone had a DVR that could record any and every series they liked, enabling them to watch the shows they missed immediately, why would they go to Hulu ever again ? Lunchtime at work you say ? I respond simply with “slingbox enabled DVR”. Let them stream the shows from their homes."

Hulu offers a wide selection of content no longer broadcast on cable or satellite TV. Next problem is extremely limited upload speeds on most US ISPs. This would result in sub-SD quality streams. Hulu is about ~2Mbit/sec streaming. Average residential broadband is sub ~1Mbit upload. So half the quality on average under best conditions (hope no one is home using the Internet or get used to circa 1996 animated GIF quality video)

"Traditional media should be blasting the cable/telco/sat companies for not adding DVR features and dropping pricing fast enough."

They should be kicking themselves for raising prices of programming to the point where cable/telco/satellite providers need to overcharge for equipment to help offset the higher costs of programming which are so large over the last ~3 years that the providers were actually unable to pass all of it onto the consumer. They were terrified of $10-$20/month price increases. People accept <$5 increases on a yearly basis but it's not enough to keep up anymore.

Eventually it all merges into the same thing. Look at music to the way video will go. iTunes, Amazon MP3, physical discs from brick&mortar or online locations, there are lots of places to acquire the same music from different channels. Video tends to be a bit more difficult to negotiate the rights to so it's lagged behind in this trend, but it'll get there eventually.

Money talks. A giant quantity of money talks loud enough for even those currently deaf to the promise of online distribution (due to prejudice, stubbornness, and fear) to hear it. Online distribution is easy and very profitable, there will come a tipping point where online distribution grows large enough to where the business potential becomes immensely obvious to everyone. And at that point every media publisher will flock to it like pigs to a trough. It's really only a matter of time at this point.