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Replacing Your Tired Old DVR
An anonymous reader wrote to mention a C|Net article about a possible replacement for the DVR. Called RS-DVR, it allows customers to record shows on centrally located business-owned servers. From the article: "One uncertainty is reaction to Cablevision's service by programming networks, which have bristled at some of the cable industry's previous attempts to record shows on their systems before negotiating new broadcasting rights. Cablevision argues nothing will be recorded on its network unless the viewer orders it from the remote control--an important difference from other failed experiments. Earlier controversies had centered on Time Warner Cable's aborted Maestro service, which had proposed to automatically store programs on its network so viewers could order up just about any show that had been previously broadcasted." There are a number of possible media ownership issues here, I think. Personally, I'm happy having the shows right here on a hard drive in my home.
Agreed. If I move or my service otherwise expires, I should be able to pull up previously recorded programs any time I wish. I doubt any cable provider will let me plug up to their service after I disconnect and freely watch my recorded movies or shows.
All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
It's hacked, so I suck the shows off that I like and recode (actually, just re-parse - no recoding required, but sans extra fluff sections) to mpeg2. That gets stored on my Firewire hard drive tower. Some get burned for on-the-road use. Some go onto my MiVX box. Others are just stored for future reference.
(BTW, before you suggest Myth - Myth won't work for me - I have DirecTV and HD. DirecTV has already massivly compressed the shows, I've got 2 tuners in one box, and there is no full rate HD input card in my price range)
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Wow... I used to actually have one of those colored plastic sheet things to put on our BW TV! My dad was always waiting for color TV to be "perfected" so we had BW for a long time. IIRC, it had a warm flesh tone area in the center (only white people were on TV in those days)... it worked amazingly well.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Actually, there's a device for viewing a black and white TV in color that's cool and dangerous enough (involves viewing through a 31" disc spinning at 600 RPM) to warrant some serious consideration as a DIY project.
Now I realize that this is Slashdot, and the majority of us here have the capability of building a homebrew MythTV or other home DVR setup, but keep in mind that your average Joe Lawyer or Suzie McCashier don't have that option. That's why the cable system I work for has about 900 DVR's out in the field in customer's homes. I think Cablevision is on the right track here, because with a simple update to the cable box software, every digital customer can have DVR access. Instant market penetration.
I can't speak for Comcast or Cox, but the MSO I work for imposes no DRM on recorded material. I can't mention the company with whom I am employed, but it's a digit less than "CableTwo".
A centrally located file server brings huge advantages to the DVR distribution model. When a digital box fails to work properly, whether it be due to lightning strike, age, or a customer filling it with water, our only option is to replace it. In the traditional home-located hard drive DVR model, any recorded shows the customer wanted to save are gone. However, if such a thing happens for a Cablevision subscriber, all you need is to slap in the new box and away you go. Also, this can reduce the number of truck rolls for a company. Anyone who currently has digital service and a box will only need to call the office, and they can enable the DVR functionality.
DVR is not on-demand, as it is the responsibility of the customer to choose which shows get recorded and when. Another Slashdotter claimed that cable co's have been trying to force VOD down customers' throats for years. In actuality, it is the public and Congress demanding that cable co's provide VOD and a-la-carte programming...which is a topic for another day.
The disadvantages of such an operation are those typically associated with putting all your eggs in one basket: If the file server goes down without appropriate backup, many customers lose their DVR files.
In response to an earlier post regarding subpoenaed TV shows: The cable co DVR is usually leased,not owned; and in the case of a subpoena, the courts STILL get the files.
khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.