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The Programmer Who Could Save Tivo
Damon Darlin from Business 2.0 writes "We just posted a story on Arthur Van Hoff, the programming legend who now works at TiVo. He was one of the Java geniuses at Sun (has almost as many patents as Bill Joy) and started Strangeberry, which Tivo bought in January.
the story tells how his Strangeberry software will be given away to developers of web content. The next generation Tivos will then be able to recognize web content and direct it to the appropriate home device. This could be the stuff that saves tivo because none of the set top boxes will have this ability.
Yeah, they were doing poorly, but have enough subscribers that they have a decent revenue stream. In fact, on the second page they even explain this. So this guy isn't 'saving TiVo', he's simply trying to make it enormous.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
The death of TiVo is greatly exaggerated. Time Warner offers the DVR in my area. I got it after using TiVo for 3 years. I sent it back within a week. The thing sucks.
TiVo's wealth of advantages are it's software. Season Passes, rating show thumbs up/thumbs down getting other shows based on your ratings, etc. I've used them since 2000. With the recent price reductions in the monthly charge it's well worth it. I've got one on both TVs and use my wireless network to connect for the updates/transfer files between them.
When I wanted to upgrade, I get a new one for $199 - $299 or whatever and keep paying the $12.95 for the first / $6.95 there after makes more sense than the $299 up front because I've yet to keep a TiVo for two years due to upgrades, change in whatever, etc.
As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.
Change the channel guide like this:
* Go to your guide,
* Hit the "info" button on your remote,
* Change the style from DirecTV grid to Tivo Live Guide.
The Tivo style guide is better (IMO) and super fast. I'm guessing that they had to include the DirecTV grid for some contractual reason, but really want to folks to use their EPG.
Jonathan
Arthur Van Hoff's resume replete with list of patents here.
Want to (temporarily) save TiVo? Add a feature that will take a certain segment of the recorded video to an on-board dual-layer DVD recorder. Let the viewer have the option of cutting out the commercials, starting the recording at a certain spot and ending at a certain spot, pick up recording when the actual program restarts, etc. Once you are all done, you have a DVD for your collection.
What, you mean like the Pioneer DVR-320-S and Pioneer DVR-520H-S?
Okay, they don't have editing out commercials capability yet, and I doubt they are dual layer. So it's not totally there. But they do have Tivo+DVD Recorder.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
maybe even a less invasive phone-home spying scheme
Seriously, take off your tinfoil hat and shut the fuck up. If you can't see that TiVo aggregates data for your benefit, then you just tell them not to do it.
The privacy policy is exceedingly clear about this. Please come back with you have read it.
http://www.tivo.com/5.11.3.asp
Paid $600 total for my 20 hour TiVo two years ago:
$200 for the TiVo itself,
$100 per 80 GB hard drive (2 of them)
$200 for the lifetime subscription
Everyone forgets to factor in that subscription cost. Had I gone with the recurring monthly fee, I would have paid $110 more than the above by now. I expect to have my series 1 TiVo for at least another two years. I figure by then I will be convinced by new features to spring for a new one. Now the new TiVos are $99 each, but I would still have to get another subscription to support it, and that is what keeps me from doing it. Were that fee 1/2 of what it is now, I feel many people would trample their friends to get a TiVo in the house.
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
TiVo has a published API for the existing Home Media Option, which JavaHMO takes advantage of. It wouldn't be surpising if they do the same for their next generation Home Media offering.
If you ever decide to drop your TiVO subscription and centralize your capture efforts and media collection, MythTV is really the way to go. I, too, have gone through the nightmare of trying to get it to work. BUT -- someone has made a working Knoppix-based Myth installer, called KnoppMyth. You boot up raw hardware (no OS needed) off this CD and it takes it from there. Basically converts any PC with a tv capture card and s-video out into a tricked out no-sub TiVO. Try it sometime. You might be impressed.
Intelligent Life on Earth
TiVo is as much a service as it is a box. You can buy the box and dig up the data yourself, programming it to blindly tape channel 59 every Friday at 8, and then having to guess on the Now Playing list which manual recording is the one you want, or you can pay a few bucks a month to know that you're going to record Stargate SG-1 every time a new episode comes up.
Personally my time is valuable enough that I can pay someone $13 a month to help me find shows I will enjoy watching in the limited time I allocate to television watching, plus alert me to things I might enjoy watching that I wouldn't otherwise know about, plus automatically search for shows I want to see that aren't currently on the schedule (my current list includes watching for The Seven Samurai, the musical Damn Yankees! and anyone who decides to rerun Due South), plus the ability to skip through commercials . . . but of course you are the one who is competent to judge what your time is worth, and your mileage may vary.
As for DirecTiVo . . . I'd check into that before I buy, based from what I've read in this article. It might be perfect for you, or you might find that it takes 30 seconds to change channels and you get to pay extra for the TiVo data anyway. (I don't know, I don't have DirecTV and I'm happy with what I have.)
Someone you trust is one of us.