I picked up a Dreamcast when the price dropped to $99. I had not had much interest in console games for some time, but figured for $99, what the heck.
I wish I had gotten one earlier.
Yes, I know the system is 'dead'. Strangely, my games still work though. I bought a new game a couple of weeks ago, Daytona USA with online racing. There are some games still in development that I'll buy. Yes, quite a few projects have been cancelled, but if I never buy another new game, it will still be a great system.
So far, I've bought NBA2k1, NFL2k1, Soul Calibur, Crazy Taxi, Shenmue, Chu Chu Rocket and Phantasy Star Online. I'm having a blast. I've updated my NBA and NFL rosters using the modem. I play PSO online with no lag at all. I've easily gotten my $99 out of it. The games are just good.
For $99, I don't care if it's dead or not. I wish it was more successful and games were coming out for the next 5 years, but the 2 months I've gotten out of have been worth it.
Maybe it's the younger customers who can't afford to buy a new console every couple of years, but I don't understand this "my system rules and yours sucks" attitude. I know the PS2 is more powerful and is capable of better graphics. I haven't seen anything for it that makes me wish I had spent more money on a PS2 yet, but if the games pick up, maybe I'll get one. Until then, I'm happy with my dead DC.
I'm pretty sure ReplayTV gathers the same type of information. Has their policy changed or am I mistaken? TiVo likes to point out that they at least have a privacy policy. I can see where that might not be as reassuring to a lot of people though.
Unfortunately all of the VCRs at the asylum are Beta, so you'll have to start a new video collection. Begin discussion on why Beta always was, and still is better than VHS anyway.... NOW.
I think I have a plan for you. You can dump your shows from TiVo to... get this... VHS!! So, other than the fact that your particular VCR sounds like it might intimidate a meek and mild mannered TiVo, you could have a match made in heaven.
Personally, I'm happy to say that I haven't had to rewind a VCR tape in about a year and half. I agree that you may need to be slowly weaned off your VCR though.:)
Have you ever set up your VCR to record a show, started watching that show 20 minutes into it and fast forwarded through the commercials, finishing the show at the top of the hour? Watching the first part of a recorded show while the last part is still recording is just one way that makes TiVo better than a VCR (among many others).
One of the problems with TiVo is that it does so much, that it's hard to describe. Initially, it just comes across as a fancy VCR. You have to really look at all of the features to get a good idea of how it changes TV.
I can't count the number of people who have thanked me for turning them on to TiVo. They always seem amazed that it took them that long to try it out in the first place. Don't dismiss it as an inferior VCR. Try it. If you don't like it, take it back.
BTW, When's the last time you used a calculator or a spreadsheet? Wouldn't doing those calculations by hand make you "think" and thus be far better?
Pepsi's more popular in the U.S. than Coke? I thought Coke had bigger sales. Maybe it's just because I live in Atlanta where the only time you hear 'Pepsi' is when you ask for Coke and they ask you, "will Pepsi be OK?". Not really, but I think I'll live...
I agree. I thought the Pepsi ads were kind of lame. The Bob Dole was OK, but you could see the Karsparov one coming a mile away. They're just not that funny (IMHO) and they're too 'easy'. And what's with 'the joy of cola'? It's a soft drink. Anything's better than that annoying little girl though.
Along the same lines, someone tell Cingular that it's just wireless service for cryin' out loud. The disabled artist who expresses himself was just a bit much.
I also think the Budweiser 'wasssup' commercials have run their course. Let it die.
Expect a lot of opinions on this topic. Without claiming that it's the best, my system consists of the Boston Acoustic 9000 series speakers and a fairly low end Denon Dolby Digital receiver, both of which I'm extremely happy with.
The speakers are a satellite system, with the fronts being small, but impressive for their size. Pretty good bang for your buck ($1,000 for the whole package, 2 fronts, center channel, 2 rears and a sub).
As for the receiver, I have a Denon Dolby Digital model that isn't too far from the bottom of their product line, but it puts out enough power to keep my home theater sounding great.
Make sure the receiver you're interested in has enough inputs for the equipment you'll be using (and the correct type, such as optical ins, s-video, etc).
Overall, my speakers and receiver were a little over $1,500 (afer taxes). I prefer DVDs at home now vs. going to the movies a lot.
Regarding 2.0 using part of your hard disk: it won't be a part that you'll miss. More recent TiVos have extra space allocated that you can't use anyway. IIRC, a 30 hour TiVo has an extra 4 gigs tucked away to be used for something (no one really knows at this point). The rumors include localized movie and weather info and of course, ads. As long as it's not required viewing and it's targeted to me, I'm OK with it. For example, say I record a lot of sporting events. I may find the extra space has a 3 minute infomercial from Sports Illustrated one day. If that's optional viewing, I may actually like that.
I don't think the 'hows' behind the recommendations/suggestions is a big mystery. It's just a suggestions algorithm on the box itself. If you look at your suggestions, rate a show or two and then check the suggestions again you can see the changes being applied. At the very least that tells me that the suggestions aren't being downloaded to your machine on the daily call.
4. ReplayTV can record based on expressed preferences, it's just not an automatic function. I appreciate that as I usually record 45 hours every week on a 30 hour machine and don't have the space to waste on what the machine thinks I want to watch.
TiVo's suggestions don't waste any space. Shows that you have specifically told TiVo to record will always take priority over suggestions. When the TiVo needs space to record something, suggested shows are the first to go.
It basically comes down to this: Say you have a 30 hour TiVo and it's half full of 15 hours of your favorite shows (that you have season passes for or have told TiVo to record). Since you give thumbs-up ratings to your favorites, TiVo tries to fill the remaing 15 hours of disk space with shows that match your ratings criteria.
If the TiVo does fill up the hard drive with 15 hours of suggested shows and you pick a new show to record, enough suggested shows will be deleted to make room for your new recording (at the time of the recording).
Your shows are never in jeopardy of being deleted or not recorded due to a suggested show.
You end up with a hard drive full of shows you specifically requested along with suggested shows that more than likely you'll like (the suggestion algorithm is good to the point of being spooky).
The initial response to TiVo's suggestions is usually one of paranoia. It must be a big brother thing. The box keeps track of which shows you give 1-3 thumbs-up or thumbs-down to and builds a list of shows that match based on genre, actor, etc. When there's free space available and the TiVo isn't recording anything else, it will record one of those shows. It replaces suggestions as it needs space (or with other suggestions).
BTW, if you just don't like the suggestions feature it can easily be turned off.
30 second, 47 second, it doesn't matter to me. At 60x FF speed with auto-correction, I'll get through it pretty quickly. Just hit play when you see your show is back and it rewinds a bit and starts playing. It's actually pretty accurate. The 8 second 'instant-replay' button is there for any overshots too.
Weren't there scripts that you could use/modify that would dictate the default behavior of each character? IIRC, you could set it up so your magic users would cast offensive spells first, then retreat, etc. I think you could choose default weapons too.
Seriously, of Mr. Blount's goals, how many are realistic for a company trying to make a profit?
1) Not paying for the service. Buy the box, nothing more. ReplayTV likes to point out that they have no service fee. Their box is $200 more than a TiVo. A lifetime subscription to TiVo is $200. TiVo and ReplayTV aren't making money on the boxes, it's the service and the potential for advertising revenue.
2) Privacy. TiVo's privacy policy is pretty well defined on their web page ( http://www.tivo.com/care/privacy.html ). Yes, they sell info about what TiVo users are watching, but only at the zip code level. I'm comfortable with their privacy policy.
3) Network connection. I agree, this would be great, but again, is it realistic for a company trying to put a set-top box in every household? Remember, they aren't just trying to appeal to the geek market.
4) Skip all ads. ReplayTV took the approach of "screw the networks, we don't need 'em" and added a 30 second skip button. Since then, they've hired a former CBS exec and have realized that they will have to work with the networks in the future. The skip button is still there, but it is never advertised. TiVo decided early on that they would try to work with the networks and feature 3 levels of fast-forward, with auto correction (it backs up a bit when you hit play). Is it realistic for TiVo and ReplayTV to basically tell the networks "we don't care if no one sees the ads that make up your revenue stream"? NBC has invested in both companies BTW.
While there is still room for improvement, I don't understand all of the criticism towards TiVo. Yes there are features we would like to see but this is still a fairly new market. For a product that has only been available for less than two years or so, I think it's a very impressive device. Plus, you can upgrade 'em to 100 hours plus with relative ease.:)
The first 'setup' call must use the toll-free number. After that, you can (and are encouraged to) switch to a local number. Depending on where you are, there are one, many or no local numbers available.
TiVo has stated in the past that they do not send your thumbs-up/thumbs-down ratings back to their servers. It's just a preference algorithm that picks shows you may like. Both the suggestions and the method for determining them stay on the box (as I understand it).
TiVo does collect information regarding shows recorded, commercials fast-forwarded through, etc. but only at the aggregate level. They don't use anything lower than the zip code level.
I don't have a problem with this. It's the best money I've ever spent. I'd sooner give up the rest of my home theater components. Um, except the TV. I kinda need that with the TiVo.
This reminds me of a slightly off-topic, but interesting story... When I was in college (Athens, GA), I worked at Waldensoftware. We had a regular customer who did some pretty good graphics work. He flew out to interview with ILM and told us a bit about it. He said when he was there, they were working on "some dinosaur movie, after which, they are starting the next Star Wars". This was around 1993 (give or take, I can't recall). If that were true, I guess it would be possible that the Vancouver guy is already working on Episode 4, but it could be years before we see it.
Nope. Check out Tivo's Privacy Promise for more info. 3 bullet points that basically say that no one outside your home (not even Tivo) will know your personal viewing info. They do collect 'anonymous' info (at the zip code level, no more specific IIRC), but you can request that they not include you in that data by calling a toll-free number.
Was the call-in vote on SNL overwhelmingly in favor of booting Kaufmann? I watched a documentary recently and seem to remember that it was only a few thousand votes in favor of 'no Andy'. No big deal, but Katz implies that it was a landslide.
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I picked up a Dreamcast when the price dropped to $99. I had not had much interest in console games for some time, but figured for $99, what the heck.
I wish I had gotten one earlier.
Yes, I know the system is 'dead'. Strangely, my games still work though. I bought a new game a couple of weeks ago, Daytona USA with online racing. There are some games still in development that I'll buy. Yes, quite a few projects have been cancelled, but if I never buy another new game, it will still be a great system.
So far, I've bought NBA2k1, NFL2k1, Soul Calibur, Crazy Taxi, Shenmue, Chu Chu Rocket and Phantasy Star Online. I'm having a blast. I've updated my NBA and NFL rosters using the modem. I play PSO online with no lag at all. I've easily gotten my $99 out of it. The games are just good.
For $99, I don't care if it's dead or not. I wish it was more successful and games were coming out for the next 5 years, but the 2 months I've gotten out of have been worth it.
Maybe it's the younger customers who can't afford to buy a new console every couple of years, but I don't understand this "my system rules and yours sucks" attitude. I know the PS2 is more powerful and is capable of better graphics. I haven't seen anything for it that makes me wish I had spent more money on a PS2 yet, but if the games pick up, maybe I'll get one. Until then, I'm happy with my dead DC.
With no lag at all too. Phantasy Star Online is sooooo smooth when you're playing with 3 others.
Racing online in Daytona is pretty sweet too. I've noticed the online opponent's car jump around a bit, but for a 56k modem, it's great.
NFL2k1 and NBA2k1 also offer online play, although I've never really tried it. I just play the computer or someone else using another controller.
What's really nice is downloading the recent NBA trade updates. Now when I play NBA2k1, Mutombo plays for the 76ers. Same thing with NFL2k1.
Maybe the modem wasn't used as much as it could have been, but it hasn't been a total waste.
I'm pretty sure ReplayTV gathers the same type of information. Has their policy changed or am I mistaken? TiVo likes to point out that they at least have a privacy policy. I can see where that might not be as reassuring to a lot of people though.
Unfortunately all of the VCRs at the asylum are Beta, so you'll have to start a new video collection. Begin discussion on why Beta always was, and still is better than VHS anyway.... NOW. I think I have a plan for you. You can dump your shows from TiVo to... get this... VHS!! So, other than the fact that your particular VCR sounds like it might intimidate a meek and mild mannered TiVo, you could have a match made in heaven. Personally, I'm happy to say that I haven't had to rewind a VCR tape in about a year and half. I agree that you may need to be slowly weaned off your VCR though. :)
Have you ever used a TiVo?
A VCR isn't even close, much less 'far better'.
Have you ever set up your VCR to record a show, started watching that show 20 minutes into it and fast forwarded through the commercials, finishing the show at the top of the hour? Watching the first part of a recorded show while the last part is still recording is just one way that makes TiVo better than a VCR (among many others).
One of the problems with TiVo is that it does so much, that it's hard to describe. Initially, it just comes across as a fancy VCR. You have to really look at all of the features to get a good idea of how it changes TV.
I can't count the number of people who have thanked me for turning them on to TiVo. They always seem amazed that it took them that long to try it out in the first place. Don't dismiss it as an inferior VCR. Try it. If you don't like it, take it back.
BTW, When's the last time you used a calculator or a spreadsheet? Wouldn't doing those calculations by hand make you "think" and thus be far better?
Call TiVo customer service (1-877-FOR-TIVO) and ask to opt out of the anonymous data collection.
I was actually defaulted to not having any data sent. I never requested to be removed, but they said I was set to not send any anonymous data.
Pepsi's more popular in the U.S. than Coke? I thought Coke had bigger sales. Maybe it's just because I live in Atlanta where the only time you hear 'Pepsi' is when you ask for Coke and they ask you, "will Pepsi be OK?". Not really, but I think I'll live...
I agree. I thought the Pepsi ads were kind of lame. The Bob Dole was OK, but you could see the Karsparov one coming a mile away. They're just not that funny (IMHO) and they're too 'easy'. And what's with 'the joy of cola'? It's a soft drink. Anything's better than that annoying little girl though.
Along the same lines, someone tell Cingular that it's just wireless service for cryin' out loud. The disabled artist who expresses himself was just a bit much.
I also think the Budweiser 'wasssup' commercials have run their course. Let it die.
The running of the squirrels was my favorite.
Expect a lot of opinions on this topic. Without claiming that it's the best, my system consists of the Boston Acoustic 9000 series speakers and a fairly low end Denon Dolby Digital receiver, both of which I'm extremely happy with.
The speakers are a satellite system, with the fronts being small, but impressive for their size. Pretty good bang for your buck ($1,000 for the whole package, 2 fronts, center channel, 2 rears and a sub).
See Boston's System9000 for more info.
As for the receiver, I have a Denon Dolby Digital model that isn't too far from the bottom of their product line, but it puts out enough power to keep my home theater sounding great.
Make sure the receiver you're interested in has enough inputs for the equipment you'll be using (and the correct type, such as optical ins, s-video, etc).
Overall, my speakers and receiver were a little over $1,500 (afer taxes). I prefer DVDs at home now vs. going to the movies a lot.
Regarding 2.0 using part of your hard disk: it won't be a part that you'll miss. More recent TiVos have extra space allocated that you can't use anyway. IIRC, a 30 hour TiVo has an extra 4 gigs tucked away to be used for something (no one really knows at this point). The rumors include localized movie and weather info and of course, ads. As long as it's not required viewing and it's targeted to me, I'm OK with it. For example, say I record a lot of sporting events. I may find the extra space has a 3 minute infomercial from Sports Illustrated one day. If that's optional viewing, I may actually like that.
I don't think the 'hows' behind the recommendations/suggestions is a big mystery. It's just a suggestions algorithm on the box itself. If you look at your suggestions, rate a show or two and then check the suggestions again you can see the changes being applied. At the very least that tells me that the suggestions aren't being downloaded to your machine on the daily call.
4. ReplayTV can record based on expressed preferences, it's just not an automatic function. I appreciate that as I usually record 45 hours every week on a 30 hour machine and don't have the space to waste on what the machine thinks I want to watch.
TiVo's suggestions don't waste any space. Shows that you have specifically told TiVo to record will always take priority over suggestions. When the TiVo needs space to record something, suggested shows are the first to go.
It basically comes down to this: Say you have a 30 hour TiVo and it's half full of 15 hours of your favorite shows (that you have season passes for or have told TiVo to record). Since you give thumbs-up ratings to your favorites, TiVo tries to fill the remaing 15 hours of disk space with shows that match your ratings criteria.
If the TiVo does fill up the hard drive with 15 hours of suggested shows and you pick a new show to record, enough suggested shows will be deleted to make room for your new recording (at the time of the recording).
Your shows are never in jeopardy of being deleted or not recorded due to a suggested show.
You end up with a hard drive full of shows you specifically requested along with suggested shows that more than likely you'll like (the suggestion algorithm is good to the point of being spooky).
The initial response to TiVo's suggestions is usually one of paranoia. It must be a big brother thing. The box keeps track of which shows you give 1-3 thumbs-up or thumbs-down to and builds a list of shows that match based on genre, actor, etc. When there's free space available and the TiVo isn't recording anything else, it will record one of those shows. It replaces suggestions as it needs space (or with other suggestions).
BTW, if you just don't like the suggestions feature it can easily be turned off.
Panasonic has a new 'DVD Recorder' too. It's DVD-RAM (differences? It's 4.7 gigs too). http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd/ dvd_recorder.htm
While the TiVo is doing it's daily update, one of the LEDs turns yellow. It's not everything you're looking for, but it does have that.
You were told wrong. It does not run any variation of Windows.
30 second, 47 second, it doesn't matter to me. At 60x FF speed with auto-correction, I'll get through it pretty quickly. Just hit play when you see your show is back and it rewinds a bit and starts playing. It's actually pretty accurate. The 8 second 'instant-replay' button is there for any overshots too.
How is TiVo "controlling consumers' behavior"? At least the "spying and selling" argument is in the ballpark.
Weren't there scripts that you could use/modify that would dictate the default behavior of each character? IIRC, you could set it up so your magic users would cast offensive spells first, then retreat, etc. I think you could choose default weapons too.
A company trying to make money! The nerve!
:)
Seriously, of Mr. Blount's goals, how many are realistic for a company trying to make a profit?
1) Not paying for the service. Buy the box, nothing more. ReplayTV likes to point out that they have no service fee. Their box is $200 more than a TiVo. A lifetime subscription to TiVo is $200. TiVo and ReplayTV aren't making money on the boxes, it's the service and the potential for advertising revenue.
2) Privacy. TiVo's privacy policy is pretty well defined on their web page ( http://www.tivo.com/care/privacy.html ). Yes, they sell info about what TiVo users are watching, but only at the zip code level. I'm comfortable with their privacy policy.
3) Network connection. I agree, this would be great, but again, is it realistic for a company trying to put a set-top box in every household? Remember, they aren't just trying to appeal to the geek market.
4) Skip all ads. ReplayTV took the approach of "screw the networks, we don't need 'em" and added a 30 second skip button. Since then, they've hired a former CBS exec and have realized that they will have to work with the networks in the future. The skip button is still there, but it is never advertised. TiVo decided early on that they would try to work with the networks and feature 3 levels of fast-forward, with auto correction (it backs up a bit when you hit play). Is it realistic for TiVo and ReplayTV to basically tell the networks "we don't care if no one sees the ads that make up your revenue stream"? NBC has invested in both companies BTW.
While there is still room for improvement, I don't understand all of the criticism towards TiVo. Yes there are features we would like to see but this is still a fairly new market. For a product that has only been available for less than two years or so, I think it's a very impressive device. Plus, you can upgrade 'em to 100 hours plus with relative ease.
The first 'setup' call must use the toll-free number. After that, you can (and are encouraged to) switch to a local number. Depending on where you are, there are one, many or no local numbers available.
TiVo has stated in the past that they do not send your thumbs-up/thumbs-down ratings back to their servers. It's just a preference algorithm that picks shows you may like. Both the suggestions and the method for determining them stay on the box (as I understand it).
TiVo does collect information regarding shows recorded, commercials fast-forwarded through, etc. but only at the aggregate level. They don't use anything lower than the zip code level.
I don't have a problem with this. It's the best money I've ever spent. I'd sooner give up the rest of my home theater components. Um, except the TV. I kinda need that with the TiVo.
It may just be speculation, but according to this posting on the dbs message board, the Dish Replay unit isn't going to happen:
. html
6 39.html
http://www.dbsforums.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000059
and the avsforum posting where I originally heard this:
http://www.avsforum.com/ubbtivo/Forum1/HTML/000
This reminds me of a slightly off-topic, but interesting story... When I was in college (Athens, GA), I worked at Waldensoftware. We had a regular customer who did some pretty good graphics work. He flew out to interview with ILM and told us a bit about it. He said when he was there, they were working on "some dinosaur movie, after which, they are starting the next Star Wars". This was around 1993 (give or take, I can't recall). If that were true, I guess it would be possible that the Vancouver guy is already working on Episode 4, but it could be years before we see it.
Nope. Check out Tivo's Privacy Promise for more info. 3 bullet points that basically say that no one outside your home (not even Tivo) will know your personal viewing info. They do collect 'anonymous' info (at the zip code level, no more specific IIRC), but you can request that they not include you in that data by calling a toll-free number.
When I worked there in college, WalleyWorld was Waldensoftware. At least it was to us...
Was the call-in vote on SNL overwhelmingly in favor of booting Kaufmann? I watched a documentary recently and seem to remember that it was only a few thousand votes in favor of 'no Andy'. No big deal, but Katz implies that it was a landslide.