Hulu Requirements

• In order to watch Hulu videos on your computer, you need to have Windows XP or newer, a relatively new Web browser (Internet Explorer 7 or above, Firefox 2 or above) and a system capable of running Adobe Flash Player 10 and JavaScript. Hulu also works on the Mac OS 10 or above and Linux. There are a few portable devices that will work with Hulu Plus. These include the iPad, the iPhone and the iPod Touch.
  
  

Features of E-Readers

• Devices known as e-readers or e-book readers are portable devices primarily meant to allow you to read electronic books. Many have black and white screens that are made with a technology called e-ink, which is meant to mimic as much as possible the look of a printed page and not have the flickering associated with a color video screen such as is found on most smartphones and tablet devices. Most e-readers do not have a fully functional Web browser and are not capable of playing video. Examples of such devices are the Amazon Kindle, the Nook and several models of e-readers made by Sony.
  
  

Why it Doesn't Work

• The reason Hulu doesn't work on these devices is that they simply don't have the system requirements to run it. The black-and-white screen doesn't refresh at the rate needed for video. The e-reader technology does not support Flash video, which is another reason you can't watch Hulu on an e-reader.
  
  

Alternatives

• In our world of constantly changing technology, there are two things you can count on. One is that if you wait a while, things will change. And another is that once you come up with definitions for specific categories of technology, a new device will come along that doesn't fit neatly into any of these. So while we might say we know what an e-reader is, and that it fits the criteria mentioned above, e-readers are being made that are part e-reader and part tablet computer. These devices have a small form factor that is easy to hold in your hand and feature apps that will display e-books and apps that will play video. Examples of these devices are the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire. While these devices are able to play video, they can't play Hulu video without some sort of hack or root, which will probably void the product warranty and is almost certainly not recommended by the manufacturer.