Thoughts On An Open TiVo

Shiraz Kanga writes: "I think this article on suggested hacks for TiVo needs to be reviewed on Slashdot (especially the last section)" A humorous and intelligently written article on the problem with tivo, and why it comes so close to perfect. But also why it is flawed. Great article on the future of television, and digital VCRs.

Comments

How dare they!

[larryj]

A company trying to make money! The nerve!

Seriously, of Mr. Blount's goals, how many are realistic for a company trying to make a profit?

1) Not paying for the service. Buy the box, nothing more. ReplayTV likes to point out that they have no service fee. Their box is $200 more than a TiVo. A lifetime subscription to TiVo is $200. TiVo and ReplayTV aren't making money on the boxes, it's the service and the potential for advertising revenue.

2) Privacy. TiVo's privacy policy is pretty well defined on their web page ( http://www.tivo.com/care/privacy.html ). Yes, they sell info about what TiVo users are watching, but only at the zip code level. I'm comfortable with their privacy policy.

3) Network connection. I agree, this would be great, but again, is it realistic for a company trying to put a set-top box in every household? Remember, they aren't just trying to appeal to the geek market.

4) Skip all ads. ReplayTV took the approach of "screw the networks, we don't need 'em" and added a 30 second skip button. Since then, they've hired a former CBS exec and have realized that they will have to work with the networks in the future. The skip button is still there, but it is never advertised. TiVo decided early on that they would try to work with the networks and feature 3 levels of fast-forward, with auto correction (it backs up a bit when you hit play). Is it realistic for TiVo and ReplayTV to basically tell the networks "we don't care if no one sees the ads that make up your revenue stream"? NBC has invested in both companies BTW.

While there is still room for improvement, I don't understand all of the criticism towards TiVo. Yes there are features we would like to see but this is still a fairly new market. For a product that has only been available for less than two years or so, I think it's a very impressive device. Plus, you can upgrade 'em to 100 hours plus with relative ease. :)

I want a *modular* digital VCR solution

[JoeShmoe]

Why, oh, why did ReplayTV have to bend over for the TV stations and disable/remove the firewire ports on the back of their competing device?

Here's what I want...someone make this, dammit!

JoeShmoe's Modular Digital TV system:

1) The heart of the system would be a hub or switch. Gigabit ethernet or fiber.

2) To this hub, connect "Input Units". These input units would come in a variety of flavors. They would each have one analog input (RCA or coaxial or SVHS or composite), the hardware to do real-time video compression (MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 or MPEG-4) and a gigabit or fiber NIC to broadcast the stream over the the hub or switch from #1.

3) To this hub, connect "Storage Units". These storage units would come in a variety of flavors. Different size hard drives, removable media, etc. They would also have a gigabit or fiber NIC so that they could receive a stream from the input unit in #2 via the hub from #1

4) To this hub, connect "Output Units". These output units would come in a variety of flavors. They would each have one analog output (RCA or coaxial or SVHS or composite), the hardware to do real-time video decompression (MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 or MPEG-4) and a gigabit or fiber NIC to receive the stream from the input unit in #2 or the storage unit in #3.

5) Some kind of control unit that would allow you to route streams from one unit to another, either with an LCD interface or a connection to a computer via USB or serial.

~~~~~

So...how would this work? I buy the starter kit with one hub, one input unit (coaxial/MPEG-1), one storage unit (6GB hard drive), one output unit (RCA/MPEG-1) and the control unit.

I tell the control unit that at 5PM on Friday I want it to tune the input unit to channel 40 and send the stream for one hour to the storage unit. Repeat weekly.

Then, when I come home at 7PM...I tell the control unit to send the stream from the storage unit to the output unit which is connected to my television.

Oh! But what if there are two shows I want to watch and they are both at 5PM on Friday?

No problem! I buy another input unit (coaxial/MPEG-1) and tell the control unit that at 5PM on Friday, tune the new input unit to channel 13 and send the stream for one hour to the storage unit.

Oh! I'm running out of space! What do I do if I want to record a lot of shows?

No problem! I buy another storage unit and tell the control unit to store streams on whichever has the most space available.

Oh! My kid sister wants to watch Buffy while I watch Star Trek! How do I watch more than one show at a time?

No problem! I buy another output unit (RCA/MPEG-1), run CAT-5 or fiber to kid sister's room and tell control unit to send stream from storage unit to new output unit.

Now...do you get how absolutely wonderful a modular system like this would be? If you like to record lots of things, buy more input units. If you are a packrat who never wants to delete anything, buy more storage units or one with removable media. If you share a house with many roommates, give everyone their own control unit and output so you can all watch whatever you want at the same time.

This is the system that puts the consumer first, and television companies second! This is the ultimate evolution in personal media management! Cheapos can stick to MPEG-1 quality, videophiles can move to MPEG-2 and power users can try MPEG-4. People can add more storage anytime as they find they need it. Fancier control units with GUIs running on Linux can take over for the simple LCD models, and maybe add more scheduling and TiVoish features.

Now...please...please...please...can someone start a company before all the venture capital dries up and start pumping out high volumes of these specialized devices? Nothing I have said can't already be done with existing technology (except maybe realtime MPEG-4) if you are willing to spend a boatload of money and buy individual computers to act as "input", "storage", "output", and "control" units.

I don't want to buy a dozen G4 cubes just to get this type of functionality. But as long as companies like TiVo and ReplayTV keep selling out the the television studios...that looks like the only way I'm going to be able too.

- JoeShmoe

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