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Tivo and SonicBlue Settle Dispute
Shippy writes "According to this article at the Stereophile Guide to Home Theatre, Tivo and SonicBlue have
decided to dismiss all patent-infringement claims 'without prejudice' and instead focus their energies on energizing the DVR market. 'We believe our energies are better spent expanding the market for DVRs rather than fighting each other,' the former adversaries said in a joint statement. The article also discusses their plans for marketing and also how they plan to respond to criticisms that the DVR market is doomed."
how they plan to respond to criticisms that the DVR market is doomed.
I wont buy a PVR right now, due to the monthly payment required. I already have too many monthly payments in my life - I dont need one more. And, I don't want to pay UBER stupid prices for a 'lifetime' subscription.
I want a PVR that will act just like a VCR - programmable, by channel and time. Too much to ask? Is there something out there that will do what I want, that isn't a DIY soloution?
"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." - Thomas Jefferson
"...they plan to respond to criticisms that the DVR market is doomed."
Time Warner doesn't think it's doomed. They just launched the Explorer 8000 Digital Video Recorder here in Austin, TX.Warning! Keep Out of Eyes! Wash Out with Water! Don't Drink Soap! Dilute! Dilute!
Man, ain't that the truth.
People don't know what they're missing. One of my kids (less than 5) had no idea we couldn't watch her shows whenever we wanted to on one of the other (non-Replay) TVs.
I never miss my favorite shows anymore.
The day my Replay dies is the day I go out and buy another. There's no way I can do without this.
The "Back 8 seconds" button.
You never realize how handy it is until it's not there. Also, I don't know how many times I wished I had just that button on my stereo: "Where was that accident? Speed trap, etc" again?
With all due respect, you don't "get" Tivo. That's ok, I didn't "get" it until I used it for a while. I received (won, actually) my Tivo a couple of years ago. I wasn't going to pay for the service; I was just going to use it as a digital VCR, as you describe.
That idea lasted about a week.
I would suggest that you and the "several others" who won't buy a Tivo without service talk to some people who do have the service and see what they think about. My guess is that they'll get a good laugh ar your suggestion that the service isn't worth it.
Uh, my TiVo records a given channel start at X time and end at X time... It's under "Manual Record" or some similarly-named menu.
If you never let it dial in (mine uses my local network (DSL) connectoin), then all you've got is a basic VCR with no program knowledge. I have heard of a hack where you can set up your own server for it to dial into for program guides, but I don't follow the Tivo hacking market much...
-mrv
The subscription fee is for downloading the guide data only
No it's not!
I wish people would stop saying this. Because it gives the naysayers a wedge -- the guide data is less than $3/mo in raw format (note - that particular guide data is nowhere close to the detail that the TiVo provides, but the naysayers ignore this).
It's also not just to provide the guide data - which is an ever-reducing cost. DirecTiVos capture their data from the sat feed, which already provides it. Stand alone (SA) TiVos now get much of their data from late-night TV "shows" on cable TV, which is a much cheaper distribution method than TiVo paying AOL for local dialup access or for 800 access.
So what, exactly, is the fee for then?
The software. You are leasing the software, plain and simple. That's why you get free software upgrades, which contain new features, on a fairly regular basis. I bought my TiVo with v1.2 of the software on it. Since that time it's been upgraded to 1.3, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0. And it keeps getting better and more useful.
If you're against software leasing, fine. Don't buy one. If you want a PVR, but don't want the monthly fee or lifetime sub - go for it. Buy a TiVo and wipe the hard drive clean (or at least delete the proprietary bits). Because, frankly, you're not legally allowed to use the software that came on the drive (it requires a subscription), and if you think it has so little value then you can clearly build new software yourself.
Funny that nobody's done that yet.