The RIAA is nowhere close to losing money. They are making it hand over fist.
Their complaint is that they are not making as much as they did last year (or two years ago).
The RIAA's revenues are down... That's not the same thing as "losing money." (To them, yeah, it's the same thing, but objectively, there's a big difference.)
On Fox News this morning before I left for work, they had a guest that was talking about the French on the UN Security council, and the consessions they forced on the Iraq resolution.
The guest quoted Groundskeeper Willie on the Simpsons:
"The French are nothing but a bunch of cheese-eating surrender-monkeys."
God damn, that's some funny shit. (Yeah, yeah... Off-topic. Blah, blah, blah...)
How about several nuclear detonations, at strategic points on the surface of the Earth...
It may not alter the tragectory of the asteroid, but it would probably make the asteroid less noticable, in the "if a tree falls in the woods, but nobody hears it, does it make a sound" sense.
Ok, totally addicted to tabbed browsing, here's your chance to shine...
I could easily become addicted to tabbed browsing. I usually open links in a new tab, and switch back to the original while waiting a page load (very nice, especially when a site is being cruched under the load of a good Slashdotting).
It'd be perfect if someone would tell me the keyboard shortcut for switching between tabs... Please tell me that such a shortcut exists...
I've been sitting on tremendous stockpiles of 5.56mm ammo for my AR-15 since Y2K. I really need to reclaim the storage space, but I don't think I could bear to part with the ammo unless it was one round at a time, at 3100 fps (feet/second)!
I'm curious... Where is the evidence that subscription models don't or won't work?
Back in the day, cable TV was introduced to serve people in mountainous regions, or outlying areas where TV reception was problematic. Then they found that people were willing to pay for something that was previously free, assuming it provided some measurable benefit (Cable offerred more channels, and premium programming), so they began to offer cable TV service in areas where reception was not a problem. Satellite providers do the same thing.
The fact is, most people are willing to pay recurring charges for a unique or desirable service. Shareholders know this.
Tivo's problem is not their model... It's a failure to deliver the message. There are still too many people out there that don't know what a Tivo is, or how it would benefit them.
You erroneously describe Tivo's service as providing TV listings, which you already get for free. Certainly, the listings are part of it, but the real service is not the listings. It's what the box does with those listings, behind the scenes, without user intervention.
Can you VCR arbitrarily decide whether or not to record a show in a given timeslot based on whether or not the show is a first run, or a repeat?
Does your VCR know to reprogram itself on schedule changes?
Does your VCR have a 35+ hour long tape that never needs changing?
Does it overwrite previously recorded programs based on your preferences?
Can it choose additional programming based on the genres that you have expressed an interest in?
Tivo does all of this, and more. Unfortunately, the message when delievered in commercials focusses on Tivo's ability to pause live TV, which is nice, particularly for sporting events, but it's hardly the feature I'd focus on were it my product to market.
In addition to doing all of this, and more, it does it all well, using an interface that children can utilize.
This is what the monthly subscription buys, and for people that hear the full message, instead of just the TV commercial, it's a pretty compelling service.
As for the box becoming useless if Tivo goes under, don't bet on it. The underground community has already solved this problem, but has not made the hack generally available, because they don't want to do anything that may harm Tivo's revenue stream, nor do they want to damage the relationship that Tivo has with the hacker community.
If Tivo went under, people would be able to use their boxes just like they do today, using freely available guide listings obtained over the Internet (Just like all you would-be hackers that always say "Just build your own tivo." Yeah, I'm sure it'll be great.).
As we've discussed in numerous other Tivo threads, Tivo is trying to extricate itself from the set-top box market. They are transitioning from a box maker to a technology company, licensing their software to third parties so that the DVR function can be integrated into other people's products. Other have already mentioned AT&T and DirecTV. Tivo software will no doubt find it's way into other cable boxes, and most likely it will be integrated directly into TVs themselves.
Digital content makes this transition very easy. It reduces the costs of the functionality dramatically, as the need for MPEG encoding hardware will evaporate. Instead of encoding the picture, it will simply record the digital stream, just as occurs in the DirecTV / Tivo Combo boxes. Hardware costs will continue to fall.
If none of that holds any appeal to you, then by all means, continue to sit it out on the sidelines, and enjoy crappy programming on someone else's schedule.
Actually, I think I got hooked up just this past week.
I had a hinge problem on my Inspiron 5000e, and they ended up coming out for the service call with a completely new upper for my laptop, including a new LCD.
It's far brighter than what they replaced... I don't know that it's the UltraSharp. I only know that I can't find anything to complain about at all.
The panel is made by Toshiba (as was the old one). There are no dead pixels (there weren't any in the old one either).
Actually, Dell's been shipping 1600x1200 Laptops for over two years now. I got mine back in October of 2000.
You're correct about one thing though... You can't go back to a laptop with a crappy screen once you've become accustomed to staring at these beauties.
I'm finally getting around to looking at LCDs for my desktop machines. I've got my eye on the Samsung Syncmaster 191t. I saw it while at Best Buy last weekend, and it was stunning. It's only 1280x1024, but the image quality doesn't lie. Maybe not as sharp as my laptop, but it's by far the best looking desktop LCD panel I've yet seen.
I'm not entirely comfortable with the premise of this review. Thi author prefaces the review with this:
This is a critical review of Debian 3.0, but I want to say right from the start that I'm not trying to bait anyone. However I feel that reviewers often root for Debian as the open-source underdog, and give it marks which it doesn't deserve. If RedHat 8.0 came out with installation software like Debian 3.0 it would be savaged. I think it's time for an honest review, to spur the Debian developers into making the best possible distribution. I really want Debian to succeed. I want to use it daily, and recommend it to my friends. But I can't do that right now and I think it's important people understand why.
The Redhats and Mandrakes of the world are dependant upon user adoption because they have a financial interest at stake. User adoption means increased revenue, and with that, provided they run their business well, financial success.
In courting users, Corporate Linux vendors have to appeal to as broad a cross-section as they can, in an effort to become all things to all people. There's nothing wrong with this, and I applaud their efforts, but there's no reason to hold Debian to the same standard as distributions with mass-market appeal.
The Debian project does not cater to the same people, nor are it's goals in line with these other Linux distributions. Those of us that choose to run Debian tend to look at issues other than "ease of installation," or "latest and greatest" software packages.
It is far closer to a server-class distribution than these others can claim to be, in my opinion.
When I'm looking to play Quake III, I don't install it on my server. I install it on my desktop system, where I run Mandrake.
When I want to ensure that my infrastructure is sound and stable, I run Debian. I want my upgrades to come off without a hitch. I want to upgrade in place, with little to no downtime. I don't want to worry about dependencies that need to be satisfied. I want it all to happen cleanly, and efficiently.
Debian is unmatched when viewed from that perspective. If the Developers decide to allocate their time and resources toward a fancy installation routine, that's fine, but it's not what concerns me most. I hope they never sacrifice the things they do well so that they can chase after the userbase. It's a niche distribution that suits me just fine the way it is.
It's not a bad idea... I just don't know if it's economically viable for them to do at this point. I think others have pointed out how much operating capital Tivo has at thier disposal, and I don't know if they could afford the float right now.
It makes good sense in one respect: Tivo's revenue lies not in the sale of the hardware, but rather in the long term subscriptions. (This is starting to change, as Tivo moves from a "box" company to a capability company, with their technology inherent to various set-top boxes (Satellite recievers, Cable boxes, etc.)
Lowering the unit cost simply pushes out the break even point on a per unit basis. It's a good strategy, long term, but to pull it off you need to be able to stay afloat until you reach profitability.
Do they have the cash cushion that it would require? I'm not sure.
Maybe someone that has better knowledge of their financial picture will jump in.
The standalone units require expensive MPEG encoding hardware... That's why they are more expensive than DirecTivo combp units.
I bought my first DirecTivo last year, new, at Best Buy, for $119.00. (Practically free)
My new Series 2 DirecTivo only cost me $199.00 (I've pre-oredered it... It hasn't yet arrived).
The manufacturers (Sony, Phillips, Hughes) get a kick back (subsidy) from Tivo that already keeps the price down to where it is today. Tivo really can't afford to subsidize them any further. With the subscription, it already takes a while to make up the cost of the subsidy, and still longer to hit the break even point.
A person that bought a unit, and bought the lifetime subscription at the time of purchase, represented a loss for Tivo.
I don't know where that stands today, but I can't imagine it changed that much. That's why the lifetime subscriptions are going away.
It's true that adding an additional tuner to the standalone Tivo would add cost. Aside from the tuners themselves, which are actually fairly inexpensive (what does a vanilla cable box cost? $30), the real cost lies in the MPEG encoding hardware. That's why you don't see such a product today.
However, all of the DirecTivo models (Sony, Phillips, and Hughes) have dual tuners built-in. DirecTivos don't need MPEG encoding hardware, because it's an MPEG digital stream coming down from the bird. DirecTivos simply record this stream directly to the unit's hard drive.
I routinely record two shows simulateously while viewing a third that I'd previously recorded.
For cable TV, yes, this would work just fine (Using a splitter).
For Satellite, it's far more complicated. Each input needs to be able to arbitrarily tune in even or odd transponders, and cannot do both simultaneously. You have to use multiswitches, and other assorted voo-doo to make it all go.
It is not only theortically possible, but actually exists in practice.
You correctly cite the 1934 NFA. In order to satisfy the requirements of the NFA, you simply have to pay the transfer tax ($200), which also serves as a de facto registration.
I know a number of people here in VA that have silencers (but I don't know anyone that has one for their AR-15). I have been shooting with a number of the folks from ar15.com.
That said, I doubt that this guy is utilizing a surpressor. To be effective, a silencer needs to be utilized with subsonic ammunition. One of the characteristics of subsonic ammunition is the dramatically reduced muzzle velocity of the round. Reducing the muzzle velocity that degree with 5.56mm (.223 Remington) would totally destroy the ballistic properties of the weapon, dramatically reducing the effective range of the rifle (due to the loss of accuracy).
This guy is a good shooter. He hits with a single shot. He's taking his shots from 200-300 yards away (most likely), perhaps even further. He needs the accuracy. From that distance, this is not even a difficult shot to make with this type of weapon.
In the Marine Corps Known Distance Course, the fifth stage of fire is at the "Able target," a 12" black circle representing the head of an enemy soldier, from the 300 yard line. This stage is fired from the sitting position (essentially Indian style). From the prone position, it would be a cake walk. Hitting a human target center mass from this distance would be a trivial exercise, especially when you consider that Marines shoot at a similar sized target from the 500 yards line during their training, and marksmanship qualifications.
From that distance, the origin of the sound would be very difficult to pinpoint. Depending on the level of ambiant noise in the environment, it might not even be noticed. The shooters concern would probably be about people hearing him from near to the shooting position. He simply has to be selective when choosing the shooting location, and ensure that he has a good avenue of escape. It seems that so far, he has made good choices. (Further evidence of his professionalism, and military training... He could be a local. Marine Sniper School is right here, at Quantico, VA, 15 miles north of Fredericksburg, 30 miles south of DC, and 12 miles from Manassas.)
I'm not making light of what is going on. I'm here in the area. I work all over DC, and the surrounding areas, and live 3 miles from the Michael's craft store where the Lady was hit last Thursday. My wife has dragged me into that store countless times, and we do most of our shopping up and down that street (Rt. 3).
I'd love to say that I think they're on the brink of catching him, but because of my background, my guess is that it's going to take a while. This guy is very good, from a technical perspective, and because of the randomness of his targets, there's no good way to predict the site of his next assault.
If you factor in the media's itiotic reporting of Police procedures, such as blabbing about the geographic profiling, it makes his job that much easier. He can easily alter his locations to make that software totally worthless.
I hope I didn't leave anyone with the impression that I think any business is successful simply because they "deserve" to be. I am not naive.
I agree absolutely that if a business cannot find it's way to profiability, then they should be relegated to the dustbin of history. I'm a big fan of the "selective destruction" inherent to capitalism.
I simply meant that Tivo is an innovative company, with a great product, and because of their well documented attitutes toward their consumers, they are "deserving" of success from a non-business, emotional perspective.
From a business perspective, they are doing the rights things now. Instead of being a "box" company, they are transitioning into a "technology" company.
People are no longer going to buy a "Tivo," but instead they'll be buying a DirecTV tuner, with PVR capabilities, powered by Tivo.
Their winning move is to get their software into as many set-top boxes as possible. Then it will be the other vendors that have to sell the boxes at a loss, rather than Tivo Inc. These other vendors don't care... They (Satellite companies and Cable companies) are much better poised to recoup these up-front losses than Tivo is.
I only hope that it's not too late. I hope they have enough cash to get to that point.
Slashdot Mirror
My wife used to work at Sams's Club, and once explained the system to me (quite a while ago, so this may not be entirely accurate).
Products ending in 9 are as they were originally priced when Walmart began offerring the product.
Products ending in 6 have been marked down.
Products ending in something else (I forget the digit) have been reduced as far as they are going to go, and are essentially clearance items.
How this is useful is best left an excercise to the reader, but I guess someone could put it to use. (Probably not though.)
The RIAA is nowhere close to losing money. They are making it hand over fist.
Their complaint is that they are not making as much as they did last year (or two years ago).
The RIAA's revenues are down... That's not the same thing as "losing money." (To them, yeah, it's the same thing, but objectively, there's a big difference.)
'Nuff said...
On Fox News this morning before I left for work, they had a guest that was talking about the French on the UN Security council, and the consessions they forced on the Iraq resolution.
The guest quoted Groundskeeper Willie on the Simpsons:
God damn, that's some funny shit. (Yeah, yeah... Off-topic. Blah, blah, blah...)It may not alter the tragectory of the asteroid, but it would probably make the asteroid less noticable, in the "if a tree falls in the woods, but nobody hears it, does it make a sound" sense.
Chalk one up for the nuclear age!
Next problem, please.
Now I can simply complain about the keys that are involved, particularly when on a laptop.
I could easily become addicted to tabbed browsing. I usually open links in a new tab, and switch back to the original while waiting a page load (very nice, especially when a site is being cruched under the load of a good Slashdotting).
It'd be perfect if someone would tell me the keyboard shortcut for switching between tabs... Please tell me that such a shortcut exists...
I've been sitting on tremendous stockpiles of 5.56mm ammo for my AR-15 since Y2K. I really need to reclaim the storage space, but I don't think I could bear to part with the ammo unless it was one round at a time, at 3100 fps (feet/second)!
Back in the day, cable TV was introduced to serve people in mountainous regions, or outlying areas where TV reception was problematic. Then they found that people were willing to pay for something that was previously free, assuming it provided some measurable benefit (Cable offerred more channels, and premium programming), so they began to offer cable TV service in areas where reception was not a problem. Satellite providers do the same thing.
The fact is, most people are willing to pay recurring charges for a unique or desirable service. Shareholders know this.
Tivo's problem is not their model... It's a failure to deliver the message. There are still too many people out there that don't know what a Tivo is, or how it would benefit them.
You erroneously describe Tivo's service as providing TV listings, which you already get for free. Certainly, the listings are part of it, but the real service is not the listings. It's what the box does with those listings, behind the scenes, without user intervention.
Tivo does all of this, and more. Unfortunately, the message when delievered in commercials focusses on Tivo's ability to pause live TV, which is nice, particularly for sporting events, but it's hardly the feature I'd focus on were it my product to market.
In addition to doing all of this, and more, it does it all well, using an interface that children can utilize.
This is what the monthly subscription buys, and for people that hear the full message, instead of just the TV commercial, it's a pretty compelling service.
As for the box becoming useless if Tivo goes under, don't bet on it. The underground community has already solved this problem, but has not made the hack generally available, because they don't want to do anything that may harm Tivo's revenue stream, nor do they want to damage the relationship that Tivo has with the hacker community.
If Tivo went under, people would be able to use their boxes just like they do today, using freely available guide listings obtained over the Internet (Just like all you would-be hackers that always say "Just build your own tivo." Yeah, I'm sure it'll be great.).
As we've discussed in numerous other Tivo threads, Tivo is trying to extricate itself from the set-top box market. They are transitioning from a box maker to a technology company, licensing their software to third parties so that the DVR function can be integrated into other people's products. Other have already mentioned AT&T and DirecTV. Tivo software will no doubt find it's way into other cable boxes, and most likely it will be integrated directly into TVs themselves.
Digital content makes this transition very easy. It reduces the costs of the functionality dramatically, as the need for MPEG encoding hardware will evaporate. Instead of encoding the picture, it will simply record the digital stream, just as occurs in the DirecTV / Tivo Combo boxes. Hardware costs will continue to fall.
If none of that holds any appeal to you, then by all means, continue to sit it out on the sidelines, and enjoy crappy programming on someone else's schedule.
I had a hinge problem on my Inspiron 5000e, and they ended up coming out for the service call with a completely new upper for my laptop, including a new LCD.
It's far brighter than what they replaced... I don't know that it's the UltraSharp. I only know that I can't find anything to complain about at all.
The panel is made by Toshiba (as was the old one). There are no dead pixels (there weren't any in the old one either).
You're correct about one thing though... You can't go back to a laptop with a crappy screen once you've become accustomed to staring at these beauties.
I'm finally getting around to looking at LCDs for my desktop machines. I've got my eye on the Samsung Syncmaster 191t. I saw it while at Best Buy last weekend, and it was stunning. It's only 1280x1024, but the image quality doesn't lie. Maybe not as sharp as my laptop, but it's by far the best looking desktop LCD panel I've yet seen.
In either case, you appear to be an Evil Genius [tm].
You should join S.P.E.C.T.R.E (Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion).
Christ! How'd you find Slashdot? Do you compose your posts by beating a drum? Smoke signals? RFC1149 (or RFC 2549 (Qos!))?
Bwahahaha... (I'm from the U.S., just for the record.)
Ok, ok... The US ranks 10th, but there are 16 other countries ahead of it.
*snicker*
I'm not entirely comfortable with the premise of this review. Thi author prefaces the review with this:
The Redhats and Mandrakes of the world are dependant upon user adoption because they have a financial interest at stake. User adoption means increased revenue, and with that, provided they run their business well, financial success.
In courting users, Corporate Linux vendors have to appeal to as broad a cross-section as they can, in an effort to become all things to all people. There's nothing wrong with this, and I applaud their efforts, but there's no reason to hold Debian to the same standard as distributions with mass-market appeal.
The Debian project does not cater to the same people, nor are it's goals in line with these other Linux distributions. Those of us that choose to run Debian tend to look at issues other than "ease of installation," or "latest and greatest" software packages.
It is far closer to a server-class distribution than these others can claim to be, in my opinion.
When I'm looking to play Quake III, I don't install it on my server. I install it on my desktop system, where I run Mandrake.
When I want to ensure that my infrastructure is sound and stable, I run Debian. I want my upgrades to come off without a hitch. I want to upgrade in place, with little to no downtime. I don't want to worry about dependencies that need to be satisfied. I want it all to happen cleanly, and efficiently.
Debian is unmatched when viewed from that perspective. If the Developers decide to allocate their time and resources toward a fancy installation routine, that's fine, but it's not what concerns me most. I hope they never sacrifice the things they do well so that they can chase after the userbase. It's a niche distribution that suits me just fine the way it is.
It makes good sense in one respect: Tivo's revenue lies not in the sale of the hardware, but rather in the long term subscriptions. (This is starting to change, as Tivo moves from a "box" company to a capability company, with their technology inherent to various set-top boxes (Satellite recievers, Cable boxes, etc.)
Lowering the unit cost simply pushes out the break even point on a per unit basis. It's a good strategy, long term, but to pull it off you need to be able to stay afloat until you reach profitability.
Do they have the cash cushion that it would require? I'm not sure.
Maybe someone that has better knowledge of their financial picture will jump in.
However, you can get Circuit City to go $10 cheaper if you take a printed copy of this receipt.
Tivo Community is your friend.
The standalone units require expensive MPEG encoding hardware... That's why they are more expensive than DirecTivo combp units.
I bought my first DirecTivo last year, new, at Best Buy, for $119.00. (Practically free)
My new Series 2 DirecTivo only cost me $199.00 (I've pre-oredered it... It hasn't yet arrived).
The manufacturers (Sony, Phillips, Hughes) get a kick back (subsidy) from Tivo that already keeps the price down to where it is today. Tivo really can't afford to subsidize them any further. With the subscription, it already takes a while to make up the cost of the subsidy, and still longer to hit the break even point.
A person that bought a unit, and bought the lifetime subscription at the time of purchase, represented a loss for Tivo.
I don't know where that stands today, but I can't imagine it changed that much. That's why the lifetime subscriptions are going away.
It's true that adding an additional tuner to the standalone Tivo would add cost. Aside from the tuners themselves, which are actually fairly inexpensive (what does a vanilla cable box cost? $30), the real cost lies in the MPEG encoding hardware. That's why you don't see such a product today.
However, all of the DirecTivo models (Sony, Phillips, and Hughes) have dual tuners built-in. DirecTivos don't need MPEG encoding hardware, because it's an MPEG digital stream coming down from the bird. DirecTivos simply record this stream directly to the unit's hard drive.
I routinely record two shows simulateously while viewing a third that I'd previously recorded.
Which is why ReplyTV is catching more flack from content providers, and Tivo is catching almost none.
For Satellite, it's far more complicated. Each input needs to be able to arbitrarily tune in even or odd transponders, and cannot do both simultaneously. You have to use multiswitches, and other assorted voo-doo to make it all go.
For detailed information, go to here.
You seem to be mixing companies, and their respecitve product lines.
Tivo does not make mp3 players. SonicBlue's DVR product is called "ReplayTV." SonicBlue also makes mp3 players.
Tivo 30 Second Skip
- Press Select
- Press Play (Not the Yellow Play/Pause button)
- Press Select
- Press "3" and then "0"
- Press Select
Three Tivo tones indicates that the feature has been enabled.You correctly cite the 1934 NFA. In order to satisfy the requirements of the NFA, you simply have to pay the transfer tax ($200), which also serves as a de facto registration.
I know a number of people here in VA that have silencers (but I don't know anyone that has one for their AR-15). I have been shooting with a number of the folks from ar15.com.
That said, I doubt that this guy is utilizing a surpressor. To be effective, a silencer needs to be utilized with subsonic ammunition. One of the characteristics of subsonic ammunition is the dramatically reduced muzzle velocity of the round. Reducing the muzzle velocity that degree with 5.56mm (.223 Remington) would totally destroy the ballistic properties of the weapon, dramatically reducing the effective range of the rifle (due to the loss of accuracy).
This guy is a good shooter. He hits with a single shot. He's taking his shots from 200-300 yards away (most likely), perhaps even further. He needs the accuracy. From that distance, this is not even a difficult shot to make with this type of weapon.
In the Marine Corps Known Distance Course, the fifth stage of fire is at the "Able target," a 12" black circle representing the head of an enemy soldier, from the 300 yard line. This stage is fired from the sitting position (essentially Indian style). From the prone position, it would be a cake walk. Hitting a human target center mass from this distance would be a trivial exercise, especially when you consider that Marines shoot at a similar sized target from the 500 yards line during their training, and marksmanship qualifications.
From that distance, the origin of the sound would be very difficult to pinpoint. Depending on the level of ambiant noise in the environment, it might not even be noticed. The shooters concern would probably be about people hearing him from near to the shooting position. He simply has to be selective when choosing the shooting location, and ensure that he has a good avenue of escape. It seems that so far, he has made good choices. (Further evidence of his professionalism, and military training... He could be a local. Marine Sniper School is right here, at Quantico, VA, 15 miles north of Fredericksburg, 30 miles south of DC, and 12 miles from Manassas.)
I'm not making light of what is going on. I'm here in the area. I work all over DC, and the surrounding areas, and live 3 miles from the Michael's craft store where the Lady was hit last Thursday. My wife has dragged me into that store countless times, and we do most of our shopping up and down that street (Rt. 3).
I'd love to say that I think they're on the brink of catching him, but because of my background, my guess is that it's going to take a while. This guy is very good, from a technical perspective, and because of the randomness of his targets, there's no good way to predict the site of his next assault.
If you factor in the media's itiotic reporting of Police procedures, such as blabbing about the geographic profiling, it makes his job that much easier. He can easily alter his locations to make that software totally worthless.
I hope I didn't leave anyone with the impression that I think any business is successful simply because they "deserve" to be. I am not naive.
I agree absolutely that if a business cannot find it's way to profiability, then they should be relegated to the dustbin of history. I'm a big fan of the "selective destruction" inherent to capitalism.
I simply meant that Tivo is an innovative company, with a great product, and because of their well documented attitutes toward their consumers, they are "deserving" of success from a non-business, emotional perspective.
From a business perspective, they are doing the rights things now. Instead of being a "box" company, they are transitioning into a "technology" company.
People are no longer going to buy a "Tivo," but instead they'll be buying a DirecTV tuner, with PVR capabilities, powered by Tivo.
Their winning move is to get their software into as many set-top boxes as possible. Then it will be the other vendors that have to sell the boxes at a loss, rather than Tivo Inc. These other vendors don't care... They (Satellite companies and Cable companies) are much better poised to recoup these up-front losses than Tivo is.
I only hope that it's not too late. I hope they have enough cash to get to that point.