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TiVo Files Patent For RFID Schema
JamesAlfaro wrote to mention an article on the site TechWeb, which reports that Tivo has filed a patent for an RFID-based preferences schema. From the article: "The multimedia mobile personalization system would have a remote control that recognizes the viewer's RFID tag closest to the PVR. The remote control identifies and notifies the multimedia device through the RFID chip in the person's clothing or body to tailor the media content to their preferences. The remote control device would identify and link the viewer to the system using an 'RFID tag that is attached to a key ring, necklace, watch, in his wallet, or even a sub dermal tag inserted somewhere in the user's body.'"
with Bill Gates's "new" house. (hah. You thought that was going to be a dupe joke, didn't you?) Anyway, he had/has a little tag you wear, and the TVs change as you move, only the closest phone rings, etc. Same thing? I don't know how far his "preferences" extended.
Haida Manga
Patenting the idea will discourage others from using it for this purpose. I like the idea of, say, having an RFID tag in your hospital bracelet, but this is just a way for advertisers to get their hooks even more deeply into us.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
We've survived thousands of years without tv, tv-remotes, radio, computers, the internet, (mobile) phones, electricity, soap, toilets, toiletpaper, shoes, penicillin and the list goes on and on and on..... so that stuff is all "Massive technological overkill" (if we'd follow your line of thought) because we can survive without it.
My point is: Your kind of argument is soooo lame, it is even lamer than TiVo's patent.
No, you managed to completely miss my point. The current solution (the remote control) has no flaws which this system solves. Television, toilet paper, the internet are all inventions to solve problems; this is just use of technology because it exists. And, use where it complicates the situation. Why not just have a button on the remote marked "Dad's prefs", "Mum's prefs", "Johnny's prefs"? That way conflicts can be managed sensibly (by talking about who wants to watch what) rather than some priority system which the TiVo attributes to different RFIDs. Why do *you* think this system is *not* overkill?
the layman's guide to computer science
I agree with the 1st comment: This is ridiculous for Tivo, or any other home entertainment device! Way to sign away your privacy, just to save yourself from having to push a button.
But it also brings up a good question... What if I have 3 or 4 people aprox. the same distance away from the box? For that matter, what if the person closest to the box isn't the person who should be deciding what to watch at that point in time?
But really, this is just another example of why I built my own PVR instead of going the Tivo route: They just don't seem to get what "I" want in a PVR. At the top of that list is that I don't want Tivo controlling what I watch, and what I can record (and they do both). Under that top item though are lots of other reasons as ridicuous as this idea... they just seem so out of touch with what consumers want, and instead of finding out, and tailoring their offerings to what consumers want, they kiss ass to the media companies, allowing them to dictate what Tivo users can and can't do/have.
"Why do *you* think this system is *not* overkill?"
1. Security. I don't want my girlfriend to be able to change my preferences. I don't want visitors (kids and/or family) to be able to select my "super ultra hardcore porn channel".
2. Speed. When I grab the remote with RFID-scanner my tv instantly knows who I am. I don't have to go through a list of users.
Disclamer: I actually don't think RFID is the best solution for this 'problem'. I think face-recognition is way better.
"Do you know people who will spend inordinate amounts of time searching for a lost remote instead of just changing the channel by hand? :raises his hand"
This brings up an issue which has always bugged me: Why don't they put a 'page' button on the set so you can FIND the damned remote? Geeze. This seems like a no-brainer to me.
There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come.
Of course, the real reason Tivo wants to have viewers identified by RFID is so they can sell the data to the television networks for advertising tracking. They already do this with the their data. Remember the Janet Jackson superbowl incident was said by Tivo to be the most rewinds of any event because they track everything their users watch/record/rewind. The obvious "holy grail" is to track it to an individual person, not just to the box.