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TiVo, MS, and the War for the Living Room
r-blo writes "Hot off his in-depth comparison of TiVo vs. Microsoft Media Center, Engadget has Thomas Hawk following up with ten things each that TiVo and Microsoft need to do to win the War for the Living Room. It won't be easy (like TiVo offering their OS as software for the PC. Not going to happen.) but I've got a feeling they might be better off listening up. Especially TiVo, since we're all rooting for them anyway."
Will never, ever happen. Not in an non-DRM format like MP3, anyway. The RIAA would be alllll over that.
Number one for both is easy - establish partnerships with cable / satellite companies.
TiVo is ahead here thanks to DirecTV but that is looking sketchy since DirecTV's NDS subsid. has DVR technology of their own. POD, cablecard, and other open standards aren't even off the ground yet.
Within two years both TiVo and (especially) MS will be trailing in marketshare to cable-delivered boxes (Digeo's Moxi, Motorola 620x, SA Explorer 8k) with built-in conditional access.
Think no upfront investment, no change in service, and ten bucks a month.
Pity for TiVo - thanks to the brand recognition, people will be recording their shows with box XYZ and still saying "haven't watched it yet, but TiVo'ed it so don't tell me."
Overall I thought the article was pretty good, but I feel it was off on a few points. I'll admit I own a TiVo, so I am going to focus more on them since I am familiar with the device/service.
MicrosoftPoint 2: The article suggests 4 tuners, but how many should be recordable at one time? The HDTV TiVo unit can only record from any two tuners at a time. Does anyone know if current hard disks could handle two HD streams and two analog streams? I think this is the reason why TiVo only allows recording on two of the 4 tuners in their HD model at any given time.
TiVoPoint 2: TiVo has already announced "TiVoToGo" which will implement what the article is requesting. It is scheduled for release this fall. The reason the ports are disabled on the Hughes model is because of DirecTV - not TiVo. TiVo has stated many times that if they had things their way, the DirecTV models would have all the features the standalone models do.
Point 3: I'm not really sold on needing a DVD burner in every unit if you can download the files to a PC to burn them to DVD like the author wants in the second point. If I have a DVD burner in my PC, I would rather not have to pay for another in my TiVo. I think the units should be available, but I don't think they should all be forced to have them.
Point 4: The HDTV unit from TiVo will almost surely have the Home Media Features and TiVoToGo. Again, the only reason the DirecTV HDTV unit does not is because DirecTV wants it that way for whatever reason.
Point 7: It might be a great idea to offer an external USB 2.0 add-on that you could use for simply holding media that has been already recorded. Meaning the TiVo still records to the internal hard disk, and manages everything like it always has, but you can copy a show to the external disk to free space on the internal disks. This saves TiVo from some tough questions (are the USB 2.0 ports fast enough for direct recording, how to handle if someone yanks the drive in the middle of a recording, which shows get stored where, etc), but still allows folks to get the additional space they need.
Point 9: I think TiVo's acquisition of Strangeberry will help implement features like these. Business 2.0 has an article right now that talks about what the Strangeberry purchase is bringing to the table for TiVo. Link to cut/paste of article (Business 2.0 is non-free/registration).
When I go over to parents/grandparents and see them checking their e-mail on AOL and having their VCR/DVD player (lesser so DVD Player) flashing midnight, I realize just how much abstraction needs to be done for all of that to be a smooth process. The article does talk a lot about practical features and de-jargonizing the whole thing. I know they were most likely targetting the early adopters with this, but to get the highest amount of saturation they will have to make a lot of changes, some sensible, some quite radical.
( o ) one could say I'm rather baked
0. Earn consumers' trust.
I personally don't trust MS very much. In addition, they've had a history of choosing convenience over security, and they're business model leaves a lot to be desired. Their products seem to be built on a methodology of expedience rather than robustness. MS also has a habit of trying to think for the consumer, and deal harshly with anyone who tries to move beyonds the bounds of the expected customer experience. Their EULAs are oppressive.
My gaming PC I can handle updating all the time and not using very much. My TV and DVR are "appliance-grade" items, and I expect them to work without fail, all the time. I don't see MS delivering there.
And even if they did, I wouldn't trust them with something as innocuous as knowing my family's TV viewing habits.
-B
Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.
Tivo should consider making business and selling their machines in Europe, Asia^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H the rest of the world too. The War in the Living Room is not only in North America. Is it?
Anyway, in Europe, AFAIK, it's too late. It has been a long wait for such Tivo-like products, but from now on the market exists here for 2 years.
Mayfoev [Damn Frenchy]
"Offer a software package for sale that will run on any Windows-based PC. TiVo should leverage their name brand recognition and become a powerful software player."
... you buy a Mac for the whole system, software AND hardware ... you buy a linux based system 'cause you're too cheap to buy anything else, or you hate M$, AND want to build your own system ... besides those who come to /., I doubt there's a large % of people who can go out and get the TiVo software, and build their own system for it.
If TiVo were to offer their software separately, why would I buy it, when I can go and get something like MythTV for free?
I know this is kind of a bad comparison, but that's like buying a Mac vs. buying a Linux based system
"The digital video recorder revolution is on, with two players, Microsoft and Tivo, having emerged as the most likely candidates to dominate "
Yeah, and let's not forget Ultimate TV flopped miserably. However it should be noted that Microsoft usually gets things right on the third revision. So maybe after the media pc flops the next thing they come out with will soar.
Some comments about the article:
"2. Offer quad (four) tuners - two for regular broadcasts and two for HDTV. There should never be recording conflicts."
If 1 doesn't work, where do you come up with 4? Can you never have any conflicts with 2 tuners, 3, no apparently 4 is the magic number to defeat conflicts. What if I want to record 3 things at the same time! Holy cow, let's go to 6, or 8, or a ba-jillion.
"10. Provide a host of additional remote services including email, voicemail, caller ID, vehicle tracking, home automation (lights, home alarm security, window shades, thermostat), and "My RSS" feeds. "My Art" should also be included. Wasn't Bill Gates running around buying up all the digital rights to fine art a while back? "
This guy is obviously confusing his devices. You start integrating too many features and your device looks less like a simple and straight forward toaster and more like an jerry-rigged explosive device.
Things tivo apparently needs to do:
"2. Provide Ethernet connectivity to their HDTV unit and include the ability to share recorded files with a Windows-based PC. "
This has already been announced, it's called TiVo2Go.
"3. Provide a DVD burner with all units. Copying should be as simple as selecting a program and pressing "Burn to disc" on a menu."
This is a complaint? There exists TiVo's with DVD Burners and this guy is saying that people can't afford the addition of a DVD Burner shouldn't be able to buy a TiVo? Will you start paying out for these people? Part of what makes IBM compatible computers so attractive is you can get what you need without having to buy the top of the line hardware/features - like you can save a bundle by skipping the DVD burner option at dell.com.
"4. Create a "My Pictures" and "My Music" option for their HDTV units that can access a music and picture library via an Ethernet connection. The current HDTV unit does not allow the TiVo Home Media option."
This guy is missing a clue stick. The HDTV unit is licensed to DirectTV - so this issue is their problem, not TiVo's; remember the guy's initial comment, "like TiVo making a version of their software for PCs? Not going to happen." Ummm, what the @#$#? What makes you think this? TiVo has already licensed their software to manufacturers. What makes you think they wouldn't port it to a PC if there was a market for it? Furthermore, if they did port it to the PC and your PC didn't have a DVD burner would this guy blame TiVo for Dell selling you a computer without a DVD Burner?
"6. Create WiFi-enabled devices to access TiVo media from any television in the house. I would also mention this as a must for Microsoft as well, were it not for the fact that they have already announced that this technology is on it's way in the form of "extender" units due out by the end of this year."
You can buy a second Series 2 TiVo and whammo, you get this feature. Who said the "extender" unit is cheaper/better than just buying a second TiVo?
"7. Provide the ability to connect external hard drives. The robust 250GB drive on my Hughes HR10-250 will be a dinosaur in a few years, and you shouldn't have to hack into your TiVo box to upgrade storage."
While agree with the thought here his reason for it is absurd. Just because the drive will be old doesn't mean it will store less shows! In a few years you'll still be able to store just as many shows. TV is not like your PC. If the TV stream gets larger then in a few years your TiVo simply won't be able to record the larger stream (without down-converting to an older analogue/digital format) whether you have a bigger drive or
(Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, an accountant, or a suit of any sort. But I play one on Slashdot. Nor do I hold any stock whatsoever. I wrote this last night while the DB was down).
1. Apple. They're going into A/V right now with the iPods and the various iLife stuff including the music store. Still no DVR offering though, either as part of OS X or as a box. Solution: buy TiVo, including most of the employees. Either manage as a wholly owned subsidiary or even better bring it into the fold and get the fruit on the boxes. People know who Apple is and almost everyone has QuickTime and therefore generally sort of has reason to trust them.
2. Sony, Pioneer, or Toshiba. All of these have had relationships with TiVo, and I believe some or all may already own part of it. Again, these are brands people know even better than TiVo. Most people have had a positive experience with Sony and/or Toshiba, and Pioneer seems pretty well known.
3. A high-end audio company, such as Harman/Kardon or Bose. I think these guys are making money and are already in the stuff-you-use-with-your-TV business. Problem is that they don't have much retail distribution, so TiVo boxes would be in few more places beyond where they already are.
4. A non-Apple computer company, such as Dell or Gateway. Very unlikely, since most of these are more likely to be promoting Windows Media Center. Though Dell sells TiVo boxes on the side so among this crowd they'd be most likely, particularly if Media Center fails.
5. A media company, such as Viacom or Virgin. This would mean bigtime cuts in the relative user-respect of TiVo -- scratch the DVD burning &c plans.
6. An electronics company not listed above -- GE might be looking for a new market, to go along with telephones, light bulbs, and everything else known to man.
7. Microsoft. I'll let this speak for itself.