I really like my Google TV, the Logitech Revue. It makes surfing the web and using my television a lot more engaging when I can simply sit on the couch and do what I normally would have to do on either a tablet, smartphone or a computer. Don’t get me wrong, it still has its drawbacks and some are more disappointing than others. The one that sticks out like a sore thumb now more than ever since this device was released more than two years ago is the lack of Hulu Plus support. It simply isn’t there yet by either app or through Google Chrome and we shouldn’t expect it to ever be based on Google’s intent to no longer support its premature and undedicated efforts to bring its services and products into everyone’s living rooms along with its refusal to come to agreements with TV networks.

The question I ask myself is what will I do with the device moving forward. Right now it basically provides my TV with some “Smart” sense but that’s not going to be enough when my family already heavily uses services like Hulu. Last year I went ahead and purchased a Roku 2 XS to replace my aging and incredible slow Roku XD. Although I don’t like the fact that the Roku 2 is not near as stable running as its predecessor, at least it provides the ability to access Hulu Plus content. 

Hulu Plus has become increasingly more popular in the past year. I bet it has probably seen its biggest subscriber growth just in 2012 alone. Back in April 2012, GigaOm reported Hulu achieved two million subscribers. I guess there’s no sense in babbling on about how popular the service has become in relation to Google TV since we can already see the writing on the wall that it will never, ever come to be.

I am thankful for one thing and that is I didn’t have to pay a single penny for my Logitech Revue thanks to winning Logitech’s Twitter scavenger hunt at CES 2011. I can only imagine how frustrated and betrayed paid customers must feel and especially the early adopters. In the case of Hulu Plus support, that’s not Logitech’s fault. The blame rests solely on Google not getting a long with TV networks and having it’s access blocked to this type of content. It’s funny how a company that makes billions of dollars collecting more than exabytes of data from us can’t simply negotiate a proper payment with TV networks to provide access to content it promised when it supposedly committed to bringing Google services into our home living rooms. The reason I think why: Google never was committed to its Google TV product line from the beginning and probably more-so when it learned how much it would cost to make it fully engaging. Alas, there are already alternatives out there that have made a home in our living rooms.

Check out my previous post regarding Google TV entitled: “Thoughts On The Logitech Revue.”