Hulu won't stream to the iPad via Safari Browser - Did anyone expect that to happen?

> We continue to monitor developments on HTML5, but as of now it doesn’t yet meet all of our customers’ needs,” Wei wrote. “Our player doesn’t just simply stream video, it must also secure the content, handle reporting for our advertisers, render the video using a high performance codec to ensure premium visual quality, communicate back with the server to determine how long to buffer and what bitrate to stream, and dozens of other things that aren’t necessarily visible to the end user. Translation: We chose Flash in the first place not because it’s the best way to deliver video to users, but because it’s the best way to LOCK DOWN our videos for our broadcast partners. Injecting commercials, preventing copying, etc. That’s what matters here.

My guess is that this comment was taken down quickly not because it’s inaccurate, but rather because it was poor timing. Adobe just launched a major ad campaign trying to convince the world that Adobe cares about its customers. Comments like this demonstrate that it’s all about Adobe’s big clients, not end users.

Telling people that using H.264/HTML5 would be less restrictive to end users doesn’t exactly fit into Adobe’s message.

Of course, I don’t think anyone ever expected Hulu’s web site to suddenly just start streaming H.264 video. Hulu will get to the iPad via an app of some sort, not Safari. That way, they can better control the rights management and keep their partners happy. And maybe charge people some sort of subscription. That’s fair. People shouldn’t expect everything for free, but at the same time, claiming that Flash is the only appropriate way to send video to an audience is laughable.