TIME's Best Inventions of 2008

The Other 49 Best Inventions

4. Hulu.com

Article Tools
Print
Sphere
RSS

When cable eventually dies, websites like Hulu will be held responsible. Unlike YouTube and other amateur-video-upload sites, Hulu is a hub for network TV shows and movies: Hulu offers shows from nbc, Fox, pbs and other channels, including free full episodes of SNL, The Daily Show, The Office and other hits the TiVo-less masses often miss, plus films like Ghostbusters, The Fifth Element and Lost in Translation. Created as a network-approved alternative to YouTube's grab bag, Hulu was at first roundly mocked as a ham-fisted corporate knockoff of the grass-roots glory that is YouTube. (It was also mocked for its weird name.) Instead it proved that suits can play in the Internet video space too and that studio content can coexist online with the user-generated kind. In doing so, it delivered the final blow that untethered TV from that box in your living room.

See TIME's picks for the 50 best websites of 2008.

View the full list for "TIME's Best Inventions of 2008"
Next: 5. The Large Hadron Collider >>

Cast Your Vote

Gadget of the Year

Which gadget is most useful or influential? Browse the nominees and cast your vote.

Invention of the Year

The Retail DNA Test

Your genome used to be a closed book. Now a simple, affordable test can shed new light on everything from your intelligence to your biggest health risks. Say hello to your dna — if you dare

Video

The Best Inventions of the Year

Run, ride, swim, and sing through some of TIME Magazine's best inventions of the year

Shopping

Tech Buyer's Guide

Gear up with these gizmos for the home, office, playroom, and pocket. Batteries not included

Most Popular »

Full List »
  1. The State of Hillary: A Mixed Record on the Job
  2. The Ft. Hood Hero: Who is Kimberly Munley?
  3. Hunting for Tuna: The Environmental Peril Grows
  4. Are You Getting Scammed by Facebook Games?
  5. The Meaning of Manny Pacquiao
  6. The Quicksilver Mess
  7. Indie Film Shakeout: There Will Be Blood
  8. Troubles for a Deal — and for Obama — in Honduras
  9. Is the Dollar Dying a Slow Death?
  10. California's Plan to Keep the Water Running
  1. Are You Getting Scammed by Facebook Games?
  2. Hasan's Therapy: Could "Secondary Trauma" Have Driven Him to Shooting?
  3. The Meaning of Manny Pacquiao
  4. Is the Dollar Dying a Slow Death?
  5. The Ft. Hood Hero: Who is Kimberly Munley?
  6. The State of Hillary: A Mixed Record on the Job
  7. 'I Am Autism': An Advocacy Video Sparks Protest
  8. Hunting for Tuna: The Environmental Peril Grows
  9. Environmentalism, the British Religion
  10. California's Plan to Keep the Water Running