Can TiVo be Saved? 604
ChipGuy writes "TiVo's death watch has begun. The company is having a tough time finding traction in the marketplace, as more and more competitors rush into the market, most of them deep pocketed satellite and cable companies. But is all lost? What if the company went private and became the anti-cable, letting us download, store, organize, and serve media from both cable and -- this is the important part -- the internet.
Others believe that TiVo should get into the content aggregation business."
Too Many Tivo Posts! (Score:2, Informative)
Will New Apps Keep TiVo Afloat? - Feb. 16 (Answer: NO)
Has TiVo's Fate Been Sealed? Jan. 17 (Answer: NO)
The No's have it now Die TiVo Die!
Re:Tivo box after TIVO exits (Score:2, Informative)
Re:About TiVo (Score:3, Informative)
tee hee. Thanks for the morning laugh. You've obviously been at Tivo too long. What the cable companies have done with their little one-way coax network defies belief... Trust me. I work for one (sort of... long story). Try to find another single service provider who can give you everything the cable plant does on 2 conductors. Cable (analog/digital), VOD, Broadband, VoIP, FM radio, other misc data services (ie Alarm monitoring)
However, the lack of a decent set-top box on our own network (Rogers, Canada) is frustrating. Its far superior to the dish folks - dual tuners, and the ability to record VOD programming etc. However, the user interface is lacking these days... And that I blame entirely on the manufacturers. In our case, Scientific Atlanta. They keep innovating - using the same software. For instance, the new SA 8500 (i think?) box that is coming out will be able to serve video off its hard drive to any other SA set-top... ANY explorer set top. That's saying something. The exlorer 2000 is one outdated piece of kit. But guess what, its still supported by the latest feature sets.
PowerKey is the base, but SARA - the top-level GUI, looks like somethiing out of 1994. It is so long overdue for an overhaul I've generally stopped complaining about it.
That being said, the SA boxes have one SERIOUS advantage over other solutions - they're a bit bucket. When you record the NFL game in HD on an 8000HD, it is simply caching the stream. No transcoding. When you play it back, the signal is identical to the live broadcast. So... until CableCard 2.0 comes out (ETA: 12 months?) TiVo and others are left in a bit of a lurch. But, if you survive the wait, there will be NO excuse for giving the cablecos a run for their money. I hope you do. Maybe SA will finally update SARA!
Re:don't have TiVo... Yet (Score:1, Informative)
I loved TiVo when it came out and bought the lifetime subscription. I was pretty certain that it would be worth it, and it was. I think it paid for itself in like 2 or 3 years. Then, when my first unit died, I was able to transfer the lifetime subscription to another machine. That was nice.
Then, I bought another one for the basement. I wanted to get the lifetime subscription, but at the time they had a deal for the monthly fee and not for the lifetime service.
I did the math and I'd have to have the unit for like 4 or 5 years for it to be worth it. For multiple reasons, this was a little longer than I thought it might last so I got the monthly fee.
I really wanted the lifetime service and tried talking them into some kind of similar discount for the lifetime service. They wouldn't budge and probably lost out on a couple hundered bucks from me.
- Kevin
Bankruptcy (Score:3, Informative)
Re:ChipGuy (Score:3, Informative)
You're right and you're wrong (Score:3, Informative)
You're wrong in that On Demand is Comcast's answer to TiVO. DVR is Comcast's answer to TiVo. They don't advertise it yet, but if you call Comcast, they will have a DVR box installed in your home soon. For $9.99 a month you get a dual-tuner HD box with a 120GB HD. I've had it for about 2 months now and apart from the non-intuitive remote and the fact that Comcast won't implement or allow the 30-second skip, I haven't found a single thing to complain about with the box. You don't need to buy any expensive equipment and the subscription cost is loser than TiVo for what is a more capable box. That is what will kill TiVo.
Did I mention, it's HIGH Definition? I don't even have an HDTV but the HD signals are so much better than the analog signals that I find myself not wanting to watch any shows on analog anymore.
tivo hardware costs (Score:3, Informative)
Then add the $5/month for tivo service through directv.
hawk
Re:About TiVo (Score:4, Informative)
Not only free, but they happen automatically.
From time to time, you end up with downloads of updated software. This tends to be piecemeal for regular tivos that get it by phone, and all at once on satellite. If it needs to, it reboots at some obscure time of the morning (I think it even worns you first).
As far as competing with cable, look at their deal with directv (which may or may not be ending, depending upon which rumors you believe). Someone is subsidizing hardware costs ($99), and it's only $5/month. And look at the portion (huge majority) of tivo subscribers with directivo . .
hawk
Tivo HD prices will be their death (Score:2, Informative)
I knew that I would need to upgrade my Tivo to support HD. I was hit by sticker shock!!! $1000 smackeroonies for the Directv-Tivo unit that supports HD. I explored other options. Low and behold, Dish Network had a similiar unit which i could rent for $5 a month.
I will spare you the details since you can do math. But my thought process was this, the useful life on something like this is 3 years before new tech is needed.
$1000 over three years versus $5 a month over three years. That's an $800 dollar difference. You can guess what this Tivo subscriber did.
Re:don't have TiVo... Yet (Score:4, Informative)
Actually, the TiVo "lifetime" subscription is min(the TiVo unit's lifetime, company lifetime). Of course the only parts of the TiVo prone to failure are the hard drives and modem; the hard drive is replaceable, and the modem is circumventable. So you could say the effective lifetime of a TiVo unit is unlimited.
ReplayTV? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Nonsense (Score:3, Informative)
The cable company product most definitely is NOT a better product. Can you fast forward through American Idol? Not on some Comcast supplied boxes. That's just a preview of what you can expect in the future as your ability to fast forward, skip commercials, retain recordings for long times, etc.. is stripped from those boxes.
Re:About TiVo (Score:2, Informative)
Re:DirecTivo (Score:3, Informative)
Re:don't have TiVo... Yet (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5915470/site/newswe
-9mm-
Re:don't have TiVo... Yet (Score:5, Informative)
The same way a Tivo sitting on the shelf above the cable box changes channels - there's a little IR emitter that you position in front of the box, and the Tivo sends the appropriate commands to change the channel.
With some model satellite receivers (DirecTV only, I think), the serial port on the back of the Tivo hooks up to the serial port on the back of the receiver and changes channels that way.
Re:About TiVo (Score:4, Informative)
That's a good show, BTW.
My DVR is the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 (I think) offered by Cox. Perhaps Time Warner offers a better service, but when you have over 200 channels, browsing by title or genre is, for me, a frustrating waste of time.
This is especially true when the "genre" is just "Movie". I mean, there is a big difference between, say "War And Peace" and "Earnest Goes To Camp".
The TiVo Wishlist function is fantastic. For instance: I was watching the "Foyle's War" series on PBS last year. The star of that series is Michael Kitchen. I liked it so much, that I set up a wishlist to find any programs with Michael Kitchen in them.
The cable-supplied DVR probably looks great to anyone who has never used a TiVo before, but I've become spoiled.
Re:Tivo box after TIVO exits (Score:3, Informative)
Series 1 boxes stay as 'dumb' VCRs. Series 2 boxes, apparently not.
However, the TiVo is very hackable, and people (reportedly) know how to add guide data. Such hacks are unreleased now out of respect for TiVo, but if they go out of business they'll probably be available.
Re:Here's why TiVo won't live on (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.tivo.com/5.3.1.1.asp?article=234 [tivo.com]
1/6/2005
TiVo Developing High-Definition, Digital Cable Ready DVR
TiVo® DVR with CableCARD Will Offer Flexible, Fully Featured Platform for Accessing HD Broadcast and Broadband Content
January 6, 2005 - CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, Las Vegas, NV - TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) today will demonstrate a high definition, digital cable ready DVR that will enable TiVo subscribers to access the growing number of high definition broadcasts available over the air or through their cable provider without a separate set-top box. The DVR will support CableCARD technology, enabling consumers to access their favorite premium and HD cable channels with the ease of use and powerful search capabilities of the TiVo® service. Moreover, as part of the "Tahiti" strategy announced at CES today, the new DVR will also allow consumers to access, download, and manage broadband content.
"We believe that the deployment of CableCARD technology is an essential development for the future of digital television. By eliminating the need for a separate set top box, consumers will enjoy more choice and flexibility over their entertainment delivery," said Mike Ramsay, chairman and chief executive officer, TiVo. "TiVo will play a key role in driving this technology forward to bring it to the masses."
TiVo's HD CableCARD DVR will be a premium product marketed toward consumers that want the very best in home entertainment. Consumers will be able to record their favorite entertainment from many different sources - high-definition channels, premium cable channels, and video content available via broadband.
CableCARDs free consumers from needing a cable set top box and offer consumers choice in how they get their digital entertainment. By providing consumer choice, companies like TiVo can provide an alternative to the traditional cable set top box and offer innovative services and content that address the consumer's personal interests.
The new HD CableCARD DVR is in development and TiVo plans to launch the product early next year.
For more information about any of the announcements made by TiVo at the Consumer Electronics Show, please visit www.tivo.com/ces.