Engadget Interviews TiVo CEO

r-blo writes "We've got an interview of Mike Ramsay, CEO of TiVo, by Engadget correspondent J.D. Lasica. He's rather candid in his thoughts on Hollywood, Netflix, the FCC, the INDUCE act, their competition, and their latest technology, TiVo ToGo, which lets you take your TiVo-recorded shows with you on your laptop (or PC, as it were)."

Comments

PVR Newbie Questions

[lukewarmfusion]

The story summary didn't have any editorial comments... I need Slashdot to help me decide if TiVo (or Mr. Ramsay) is an evil company (tm) or a good company.

Seriously, though - I'm not a TiVo customer, I don't know anyone with a TiVo, and all I know about them is from the media (mostly Slashdot). I've thought about getting this kind of product/service - but with free software alternatives that I can put on my own hardware, here are my questions:

Is TiVo a company that I should support with my dollars? When I decide to plunk down some coin for a PVR, should I pay for it? If I should pay for it, is TiVo the best choice?

Re:PVR Newbie Questions

[lukewarmfusion]

I mean that question in the way that Google is a company I support. They do good work, they have policies that have earned my trust, and I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt as a result.

Before I buy a product, I try to research that product. But with a service (which is integral to the TiVo product's appeal to me) I prefer to research the company. If I have options, I try to pick the best one.

Didn't ask about copyright issues

[erick99]

I was surprised that the interviewer listened to this response:

Well, today one of the exciting things is the marriage of DVD recorders and TiVo.

Without asking about copyright, digital rights, copy protection, etc. It's a very big and contentious issue. It would have been great to hear his answer.

Re:TiVo Rocks

[Sc00ter]

But what's nice is.. They don't like it, they don't support it. But rather then going off and doing whatever on their own and get sued they got what they wanted by the FCC first so they covered their ass. This is why TiVo is a smart company.

Video on demand

[fiannaFailMan]

Instead of going to the video store or getting your Netflix in the mail, it's going to show up in your TiVo. It's a natural. It doesn't matter if it takes a day to get there, because Netflix takes a day anyway. People will get used to having a pipeline where content drips through. The transition to electronic distribution will be complete and we won't be dealing with physical media.

I've been hearing about the impending explosion of video on demand for about five years now. Video seems extraordinarily stubbornly stuck to physical media.

Suppose you download a video from the future TiVo/Netflix service and it takes the best part of a day. What if your local copy has been corrupted along the way? They'd better make sure and get their technology right and make it possible to download the screwed-up part alone -- I'd be a bit pissed if I had to retry a whole download from scratch if it took that long.

but when is the standalone HD Tivo coming?

[3gg_ch3n]

I wish there was something in there about plans/dates for release of a NON DirecTV HD Tivo. I just got HD service from my cable company and would like to get a Tivo that can record HD braodcasts...afaik -- there's no such animal from Tivo.

Tivo thinking far ahead...

[SuperKendall]

I think this quote was really interesting:

Nobody can stop us. You do the deals and you get distribution. You don't have to get carriage in the traditional sense. Anyone can buy bandwidth and deliver their content, and that will have a large impact on the cable and satellite industry over the next 10 years.

That's one thing I was wondering about the future of Tivo before. It seems like what they really do is take broadcast media and transform it to digital media, that we all know and love for the flexibility we have to use it.

So then over time as all broadcasting shifted to more of a digital media model where shows just opened up access to episodes at a certain time instead of "broadcasting" them, in that world what use would you have for a Tivo?

But they are smarter than that. They mean to make Tivo the box that starts the trend for delivering programs instead of broadcasting them. And they mean to do it with traditional media kicking and screaming the whole way.

Somehow, when a company you like as much as Tivo says "Nobody can stop us" it sounds more delightful than threatening. I guess that's because for once, as the consumer, I'm not on the short end of the stick.

Yeah, but where is HD TiVo for the rest of us?

[ErikTheRed]

I love the comment about the excitement over HD TiVo, followed by the mention you can only get it with evil DirecTV. Even if DirecTV wasn't evil, there's no way in hell I can hit their satellites from my home (my patio directly abuts the neighboring building, and I have an extremely narrow view of the sky from there).

Right now I use a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000HD (HD DVR provided by my cable company) which has to be the most under-powered (CPU-wise) piece of consumer electronics ever produced. Press a button (wait 3 seconds), press another button. Keypress caching is intermittent and unpredictable, so you get into situations where your device becomes unresponsive for a minute because you accidentally held down a button. Directly entering a channel from the remote can take 5 attempts. It crashes regularly and takes 10 minutes to recover from a crash. It's a complete piece of shit that I pay $10/month to use because for all of the hassle, being able to record in HD is pretty sweet.

So TiVo needs to hurry up and release an HD-capable device for the rest of us so I can tell my cable company where they can stick this stupid box. Can you hear me TiVo? I want to give you money!!!

Tivo is a rip-off

[bahamat]

I like the idea of Tivo, and you have to give them credit for being first to market. But the problem with both Tivo and ReplayTV is that they're greedy.

Here's what I mean. Both Tivo and ReplayTV set-top boxes cost somewhere between $100 and $300. You also have to subscribe $13/month in order to make full use of it. Otherwise it's just a glorified VCR (and not very glorified at that). The other option to bypass the $13/mo charge is to pay a "lifetime of the unit" fee of $300. Then you'll finally get the good stuff like "record all episodes of this show" (called Season Pass by Tivo).

On the other hand, most cable companies offer a DVR service for only $10/mo. I got one from Cox, and it's practically identical to the Tivo, except all those features you don't get unless you pay the subscription for with the Tivo, I get for only $10 with my DVR.

To break it down:
Tivo/Replay
box ~ $250
service = $13/mo

Cable Co
box = $0
service = $10

And, you get all of the worthwhile features. Of course, my cable company doesn't let me program my DVR over the Internet, but I'm not sure that feature is quite worth shelling out several hundred bucks right off the bat and an extra $3/month.

The moral of the story: why the hell would anyone want a Tivo when your cable company gives you a better deal? I posed exactly this question to both Tivo and ReplayTV. Tivo never responded, and ReplayTV apologized and offered me two months free service. I'm not sure they understand English.