I'm curious what kind of setup people are using who claim to have killed their television in favor of streaming over the Internet. 

The last couple of weeks, I've been playing around with Joost . This review on PCWorld.com summarizes my experience pretty well, "I liked the look and feel of the site, but found the picture quality and the video selection somewhat lacking."

Since my main computer is an Apple MacBook Pro, I was happily surprised to discover the Joost interface works with the Apple Remote I use to control Front Row . But after watching the first season of the CBS show Jericho , I didn't find much worth watching. The first three episodes of the second season of Jericho available on Joost were only available with the director's commentary turned on, not exactly the way I want to watch a show or movie for the first time. 

I turned to Hulu.com to see if Jericho was available there. Jericho is linked to from Hulu, but those links take you to the Jericho video recap page, which means watching the second season of Jericho through the official CBS Jericho website using their Flash player, which was problematic. The videos didn't want to play, and when they did, the player wouldn't operate in truly full screen mode. But at least the Jericho website was playing a different set of commericals. Joost wore me out with the same three Diet Mountain Dew commericals over the 22 episodes of the first season of Jericho. How annoying is that?

I could have turned to Limewire to search for episodes of Jericho, I suppose. Then I could have used any video player I wanted. But that is hardly legal. 

I really like the Joost interface, given that it works with the Apple Remote, so I can browse channels and shows from across the room. The downside to Joost is the thin content and too much repitition on the commercials. Hulu has better content overall, but videos are embedded in Web pages, meaning you have to be sitting in front of the screen with keyboard and mouse to manage the experience.

I like the direction both are headed. I would be happier if the Hulu content was available through the Joost interface. But neither are perfect, and certianly won't be replacing basic cable anytime soon.