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Clones Are Overwhelming TiVo
jfruhlinger writes "The first line from this CRN/Associated Press story says it all: 'Debra Baker tells people she has TiVo. But she really doesn't.' As cable companies offer their own DVR boxes to customers for no upfront cost and a lower monthly fee than the original, people are using TiVo as a verb but are frequently not using using the product or service itself in real life. The article notes that the cable company's DVRs don't have some of the archtypical TiVo features, such as the ability to guess what you'd like recorded based on your viewing habits."
Similar to saying "I had a burger and coke for lunch," when you really had a burger and Pepsi. TiVo is becomming part of American culture.
Steal This Sig
TiVo's got the name-brand recognition, which is good, but it seems like they need to make some marketing efforts pinpointing what differentiates them from their primary competitors.
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. --Will
All it does is increase the likelihood that the shows you watch will get renewed so you don't have to go stand outside a building and cheer for some crappy show on UPN or the WB to get un-dumped.
"I need a Kleenex"
How many of you use the brand Kleenex?
"Man this headache is killer, gimmie a Aspirin"
or
"Aww do you got a boo-boo, let me get you a band-aid"
Are you really using Band-Aid brand bandages?
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
It reminds me of when I was young and my parents had to lease a phone from The Phone Company. What is amazing is that the same thing that was going on ~30 years ago is going on today.
If the F.C.C cared about competition in the broadcast/broadband arena they would force open-spec cable/sat networks where any player could pay to have their unit approved by a testing body. Then the consumer would get to choose their AV gear based on best-fit, not because their sole cable provider has locked everyone out and made a deal with a single provider.
If this were to happen you would see some amazing convergence applications - true home entertainment systems - that worked together seamlessly, in short order. The economies of scale would be there and the competition would drive product development.
Because "DVR" sucks.
We already have too many TLAs -- DVD, VCR, ATM, SUV. All because no one can come up with a decent name for a new class of objects, only too-verbose phrases. "Automatic Teller Machine" is clearly too much to say, so the lazy thing to do is acronymify it, and you get "aee tee em". T'would be better to come up with an easy, catchy, single-word, pronouncable term for it (as in some European countries -- "autobank" or "bankomat" do nicely).
But here we sit, saddled with "dee vee are". "Yuck. 'Teevoh'? Hey, neat!"
So TiVo it is.
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
"Such as selling your personal viewing habits to advertisers? I'm no tinfoil-hatter, but this is one of the main reasons I chose ReplayTV. I understand TiVo's data collection is aggregate, but the thought that someone keeps a record of everything I watch (or re-watch), and uses it for profit is a bit off-putting.
Kudos to the newcomers!"
Why do you care? TiVo hopes to use the information they can sell to increase their profitability and hopefully lower the subscription costs for their customers. How is that bad? Its not like they are going to tell advertisers and the government that "Joe Average" at 123 Average Way watches Cinemax (aka "Skinamax") every single evening. It is aggregate. And speaking as a TiVo enthusiast, I am happy they will be reporting viewing habits to advertisers. I want advertisers to know that they shouldn't advertise feminine hygene products during action programs and the like. I want to encourage advertisers to actually make decent commercials. And most importantly, I'm tired of 6,000 Nielsen homes dictating what is shown on television. There are over 1 million TiVo subscribers vs. 6,000 Nielsen homes. I want our numbers to count for something because I'm tired of seeing shows that I like (such as "Angel") getting cancelled. The other DVR/PVRs on the market, such as your ReplayTV (which has bankrupted two corporate owners and is now on its third and still has yet to get over 100,000 subscribers), do not have the power to save favorite television programs from cancellation. So in my book, TiVo's aggregate viewer data collection is a reason to sign up.
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
What's wrong with that?
If my cable company (or some satellite company) wants to bundle a DVR with the service, so what? If you don't want to use it you don't have to - go buy a Tivo or build yourself an HTPC or whatever floats your boat.
If my operating system company (or some really big software company) wants to bundle a Web Browser with the software, so what? If you don't want to use it you don't have to - go buy Netscape or code one for yourself or whatever flots your boat.
Uhm... wait a second.
The problem with a box provided by the cable operator is that its features are going to be tailored to meet the desires of the cable operator, not the end user. That's how we've ended up with crappy digital cable decoders that have program guides that devote more space to ads than programming, no s-video or component outputs, no reliable and standardized means of remote control, and slow/buggy software. The cable operator wants a zillion cheap boxes that integrate into their overall business strategy, which places little or no value on what any particular subscriber might want.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat