Slashdot Mirror
TiVo, PVRs Not Making A Splash
Sudderth writes "Too expensive? Too complicated? Lack of support from the TV industry (which depends on the commercials that TiVo users fast-forward through)? Newsweek has an excellent article on why personal video recorders like TiVo and ReplayTV, which have been embraced by tech-heads, are being ignored by almost everyone else."
Absolutely right. And that statement can be extended to my parents (who, by the way, are not Joe Sixpack).
In addition to this, I would say that general knowledge of the existance of TiVo is rather minimal in the non-geek catagory of TV viewers. We know about it because of articles like this one being posted on the `Net, but as the article pointed out, the networks stopped running commercials for TiVo because they realized its potential threat to kill their advertising revenue. People just don't know it exists in the first place. Before you go home, or tomorrow morning at work, ask your non-geek co-workers if they've ever heard of TiVo. I bet less than half even know what you're talking about.
Also, I know about it, but hear so little news that I quickly forget about it. I've intended to research the Sony TiVo pictured in the article for some time now and keep forgetting. I'll be swinging by Best Buy tonight to get another 'hands on' demo before I head to the house. This is really something we should all be jumping at.
~LoudMusic
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
Your exactly the type of person who would actually LOVE a TiVo if you gave it a whirl. Because when have you ever taped something that you didn't tape over a few weeks later? And to tape those special 9/11 events you never want to loose, you can still copy them from your tivo to a regular vcr.
A couple of months ago, I was about where you are, bnenning. I wasn't sure about the whole PVR thing, thought it might not be something I'd find useful. I had watched the PVR phenomenon from a distance. Watched the hype. Read a few reviews. It was interesting, but nothing about it *really* impressed me.
About the time my fiancee had to go in for some surgery that was going to have her laid up for several weeks, I decided to take one last close look at it to see if there was something that would help her be comfortable during the time she was going to be immobilized. I read some articles in DejaNews (I can't bring myself to say Gooooogle), and stumbled across one that described the experience for a new TiVo user in a way that I could identify with.
The writer was one of those who wrote in a way that indicated (convincingly) that he thought much the way I did, and I felt that I could benefit from his judgment. He had decided to take the risk, spent the money, had a very good experience, and felt good enough about it to write it up and share it with the world.
I decided to buy a TiVo for my fiancee. I expected to spend several hundred dollars. I made several trips and called around to the local stores -- TiVo's were largely sold out, mostly because they'd been "clearanced" last summer. A few more calls revealed that there might be a few available in neighboring towns. On a Saturday morning, I called a WalMart that had two low-end Philips units available for $100 apiece. I drove up and bought them both, figuring that I could use the second one myself at that price. Got one set up at in her room (impressive collection of cables came with it -- everything I could possibly have needed), and it started storing her favorite shows.
Turned out to be the best thing I could have done. While she was bedridden, that thing pulled in West Wing, all manner of Law & Order and enough movies to keep her from going stir-crazy during her down-time. I got the other one set up at my place and it's been grabbing science fiction movies and network programming according to my preferences.
Worked so well that I bought disk drive upgrades to substantially increase the capacity (I won't say how much it cost -- she might read this).
The people who write "it's more than a VCR -- it changes the way you watch TV" are right, but I think I'd say it a little differently.
It improves the whole television *experience* by completely freeing you from the scheduling set up by the networks and/or your cable company. It is easy to underestimate the impact of this -- it's the kind of thing that you only really appreciate after it's done.
Examples (and please substitute your own program names for my preferences -- don't pick on me for my choices):
1. Not missing episodes -- I was out of the house most evenings for a couple of weeks. TiVo stored up Babylon 5, Farscape, Enterprise and various Star Trek shows for me. When I was back and had the time, the TiVo menu gave me the option to watch everything I'd missed at *my* convenience.
2. Relief from schedule anxiety -- I didn't realize how much of a change this was until it hit me that I didn't have to *care* what shows were on at what times & channels. I just tell TiVo what I like and then forget about the schedule. When I have time, I browse the menu. "Oh, look! Five more ST:TNG, two Babylon 5's and three new movies! I think I'll make popcorn while I decide what to watch!"
3. Pause/rewind function -- while this is discounted by many, it really is *very* nice to be able to freeze the show when the phone rings or there's another distraction or something happens that you want to share with someone who's not in the room. Nested example (includes #1 above): when the Klingon on Enterprise was observing an image of Chronos using holodeck technology and he pointed and exclaimed "I can see my house from here!" I laughed out loud! I played it a number of times, and when the madness had been reduced to chuckles, I paused the program, called my fiancee and played the soundbyte for her. She checked her TiVo, found that it had stored the same program (this is a weeks-old episode) and watched just that portion herself. Yes, perhaps we're both nuts, but we got to share a very nice, humorous moment because both TiVos knew we liked that show. I believe the word for this is "Priceless."
Advice:
1. Don't pay full price for a unit from Best Buy without first checking around to see who might have them for a lower price. I saved a lot by calling local stores and checking prices.
2. Relax about the charge for the service. It's $9.95 a month for access to the program scheduling information and automatic software upgrades. Come to grips with that right up front. This whole thing is about having options that you don't have already, and this is the price (along with the up-front cost of the hardware). For *me* (and I guess for lots of others), it has definitely been worth it.
3. Read the manuals and look for tips on the 'net. You don't *have* to, but it can help to gain an understanding of how your preference info is used by your TiVo. It's not rocket science, but it's best to understand it.
For me, at least, this sure beats the TV experience the way it *used* to be.
TyZone