http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Jul 29th 2006 11:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Mar 9th 2010 4:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
Don't count them out just yet.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
HME/Tahiti is now in full swing:
http://tivohme.sourceforge.net/

This alone could create a new revenue stream for the company, if they play it correctly. Moving the focus from being just a PVR into a full-fledged multi-media component in your living room could be a powerful strategy.

Just consider the idea that TiVo could dominate the emerging PC/Mediaplayer device market, with stuff like this:
http://tivohme.sourceforge.net/?page=screenshots

Take Bejewled and put it on the Tivo. Make it a virtual home page service. Tivo has the tools to get itself out of the gutter...the real question is: can they last long enough to bring stuff to the table? That HDTV/Cablecard enabled unit can't happen fast enough.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
I wish TiVo the the best. As an Apple fan boy I appreciate the situation they find themselves in.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
Now if only that other company would pick TiVo up and run with it. Imagine the possibilities of Apple's power to persuade movie studios, Apple's and TiVo's joint ability to make the user experience fantastic, and Apple's new found ability to market like nobody else out there.

I know it's been bandied about before, but Apple acquiring TiVo would be good all around. And given TiVo's current market cap Apple could buy TiVo and not even spend all of the profits they made last quarter!]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
http://www.tivo.com/5.2.asp

SGI has been on the deathwatch for years, but for some reason is still alive. The good news is that one of the last good things to come out of SGI, Maya, was recently spun out to an independent company.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
I think you missed something here...care free recording is the point of TIVO. Newspaper? TV Guide? What are you on, a TRS80?]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
Anyway, I'm not sure that Tivo is dying. Looking at their financial statement, they have a lot of new growth. For the Oct 31, 2004 statement, they show 2.3M subscribers, with 46% paying monthly fees. This compares to 1.0M at 36% one year earlier. Yes, DirectTV accounts for 3/4 of their new subscriptions, and 2/3 of total subsribers, but I don't see DTV forcing people away from Tivo for a few years. I find the monthly fee numbers very interesting. As DVRs get more common, fewer people are buying the lifetime suscription. Only 1.7% of the Tivo base has had the exceeded the 4 year break-even point on life time vs monthly. (4 year period defined by Tivo based on their accounting.)

Oddly, Tivo reports only $1.25/month per suscriber from DTV. I think I'm paying $10 or $14/month.

Tivo is getting killed on the hardware costs. They spent $68M (9 month period) to generate $60M in sales. Hey, here is a great idea - Tivo get out of the hardware business. License your technology and patents. :)
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
You are insane. The scheduling and guide data Tivo offers is the best part about the machine. You apparently haven't seen how COMPLETE and DETAILED their data is compared to everything else out there! Not only do they have the typical actor/director/year and summary, but their summary is an entire paragraph instead of one or two lines. They also list out if the show is a repeat, if it contains the typical contents V, N, AC, AL, etc as well as its star rating. When a show moves to a new time slot unexpectedly or a new station is added to a cable lineup, Tivo updates it the next day usually without fail. The competition guides available are light years BEHIND what tivo gives you for that fee you pay each month. You cannot shrug off their guide data, because it is the lifeblood of what Tivo is.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
broken links. Just trying to help.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
I'm extremely confused. You are a DirecTV customer and yet you are using a standalone TiVo unit with only one tuner that you are paying $14/month for? Why on earth are you doing that, when DirecTV offers a TiVo/Satellite Receiver combo unit with dual tuner capabilities and pure signal recording capability (no conversion like on a stand-alone) and only costs $4.95 per month, regardless of how many additional DVR's you add to your household?]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
Maybe it is only $5 per month. My wife pays the bills :) That does explain why Tivo gets so little of my money.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Tivo panders to the networks who are all dedicated to killing them off instead of their paying customers the whole thing is simple pathetic and I hope so body dose buy them who is big enough to turn there business model on it's and get the customer back as the focus. Otherwise, good riddance Replay was a better product anyway until they go nuked for show sharing.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
This likely explains why Microsoft is almost never the first company to dive into the Next Big Thing. Instead, it lets the first-blood entrepreneurs dive in, build the market, and die. Then it scoops up the pieces and integrates it into its empire.

Two proofs of this:
1 - Most of MS's largest successes were not developed in-house, but were acquired.
2 - Microsoft never hits it big-time until v3.0 of anything.

Call it the new law of the technological jungle, I guess.

Carmi Levy
http://writteninc.blogspot.com]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
As far as the two senior executives leaving, I actually think this is a good thing. New leadership is definitely what they need...not a "deathwatch" from a site that prefaces everything with We Love TiVo. No doubt TiVo sat on their asses for the past 2 years with little/no innovation. But a lower stock value may make them a more attractive take over target thus defeating your whole deathwatch argument anyway.

My 2 cents.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
However, the magic of Tivo is rapidly entering the realm of commodity hardware and software components. I hardly use my Tivo anymore, preferring instead to record shows with my MythTV box with a terabyte of storage. The software is free, I can record two channels at the same time, I can manage the recording schedule with a web interface, and I don't have any restrictions on what I can do with the recordings. I receive electronic program guide data for free from Zap2It, in exchange for periodically filling out a survey.

MythTV is still very much a hobbyist program. It's rough around the edges and does not have Tivo's brilliant user interface. I still prefer to watch live TV with Tivo's superior trick-play capabilities.

I'm not suggesting that MythTV is ready to take on Tivo. My point is that PVR is a solved problem, software and hardware components (MPEG2 encoder chips, etc.) are cheap and readily available, and electronic program guide data is bound to be cheap or free. I think Tivo is going to have to change their business model drastically to stay in business. :/]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
I did hear something about Tivo being implemented in the new XboX2 and the PS3.. I dunno, just heard it..^_^]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
I know many say the current alternatives are inferior to Tivo in terms of usability, but we are only really taking about a software interface which someone will get right, and probably sooner rather than later.

I've been a Tivo user for 2+ years, and I have to say I love what the product allows a person to do, but I personally don't think Tivo has been very responsive to it's broad customer base in terms of providing significant improvements on a timely basis. While Tivo was significant a few years ago for breaking this technology open, I think that the hardwaresoftware required to do any sort of PVR is now well established and the field is wide open to alot of providers now. Tivo missed their opportunity to really innovate and stay ahead of all of the other competitors out there.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
Only someone who doesn't have TiVo would say that.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
As far as the relationship with D-TV goes, I won't switch to their DVR if it isn't comparable to what I already have and from the sound of things, it will be at least a couple generations before D-TV has an equivalent DVR and service, if ever. Those of you who are D-TiVo customers and don't want things to change, make your conviction known. It's very simple -- call D-TV, get the DVR department and state in so few words that you will change providers if an inferior product is forced on you. I for one would _not_ have subscribed to D-TV had it not been for TiVo. I have no loyalty to them and, well, if TiVo goes under I'll find the next best thing, but by no means will I just blindly accept whatever Comcast, D-TV, whoever panders as the TiVo replacement.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
I just got DVR a week or so ago and I love it. I could have bought a TiVo box for a (large) upfront cost and then a $13/month subscription fee, or I could have just gone to my cable company and got a box with all the goodies I need (DVI-out, high-definition recording, dual-tuner - I don't think you can even get a TiVo box that does all of that) for $10 a month with no upfront costs. It wasn't a hard choice. Even assuming that the interface isn't quite as good as TiVo's is, I can cope just fine.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-13A1.pdf

On page 7 of that PDF is a bar chart showing that Broadcast TV viewing in Prime Time declined from 60% of all Prime Time viewing in 1997 to 48% in 2004. So it is about 50% which is what I had remembered. It is dropping but Broadcast TV is still very significant. Thus, DVD boxes from cable and satelite companies will not compete against TiVo in that (shrinking but significant) market place. I guess the problem is that TiVo hasn't convinced enough of the Broadcast TV viewers to buy a TiVo box and service.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/That's exactly what makes Tivo special. Anyone with a tivo will tell you that's the best thing about it. You don't have to spend hours setting up your recordings. Just set up a season pass and forget about it.

We'll see how all these armchair CEO's opinion's change when the HD CableCard boxes and Portable media players come out.

Hardcore geeks can build there own but till someone else makes one that grandma and the soccer mom's can use they won't hold a candle to tivo. It's too bad tivo can't ink a deal with a big cable company but I don't think that will be a death blow.

The problem is that no one holds these Nostradomas wanabee's accountable. If tivo never dies nothing comes of it. If they do then they can say "see I told you so".

Tivo is dead, Long live Tivo.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
The better argument for TiVo would be that cable only offers the DVR to its Digital subs. Which requires not only the $10 a month DVR rental but an additional $15 a month to upgrade to digital cable. So if you are an analog sub and want a DVR you can give your cable co an extra $25 a month or TiVo $99 and $13 a month. Currently less than 40% of the US gets digital cable or sat. tv.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
As pointed out in the earlier posts the commoditization of the market and the increasing availability of cheaper free DVRs from cable companies spells trouble to TiVo. Sadly TiVo is not embracing the community that will not be serviced by the cable companies which is the people to mod their TiVos. These people are exploiting a unique feature of TiVo that is not met by any of the competitors. However TiVo, in my opinion, is rapidly moving away from this community it once embraced.

In recent service call to TiVo they were quick to point out that my TiVo seems to have too much storage which indicated that their was a second HD in the machine and that they would not provide any technical support for the unit. Not surprisingly, as it turns out the trouble was not the second HD it was a slow hub causing the trouble. However the attitude was telling. TiVo wants soccer moms and grandma customers not techies. Unfortunately TiVo can not compete in the larger soccer mom and grandma community with the cable company DVRs.

The only hope is innovation. TiVo’s only edge is their software and service. If they can move faster than their competition they can stay in front. And lets admit it, some of the slowest dinosaurs in the corporate world are the cable companies. If TiVo can not out pace them then they deserve to be in the corporate graveyard.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
You can download tivo files via any platform using the undocumented web interface:

https:///nowplaying/index.html

using user: tivo
pass: (you media access key)

To convert a .tivo file to a mpeg file playable on any device. This may be illegal, but certainly possible.

http://www.evillabs.net/tivo/

TiVo is still trying to work for us, but I really thing the DRM folks are pressuring them. Since the new digital technologies are allowing the studios the ability to enforce new restrictions they are busy taking away things we used to be able to do – like record broadcast TV for archive.


]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
I have been a DirecTiVo user for nearly four years, and after a recent move where cable TV was the only viable option, decided to purchase two stand-alone TiVo boxes. I was looking forward to networking them to enjoy all the features that weren’t supported on DirecTivo.

Boy was I in for a shock.

The only way to network TiVo Series 2 boxes is via USB ports, and one look at the ridiculous compatibility matrix of wireless USB devices on TiVo’s web site is enough to make your eyes bleed. This is because TiVo only supports very specific brands, models, and versions of 802.11b (and ONLY 802.11b) USB wireless adapters. Moreover, most of the supported hardware is no longer produced and hence almost impossible to find, either in stores or online.

When you do find a still relatively common product on Tivo’s list— like a Netgear MA111 or a Linksys WUSB11— you quickly realize that the current hardware versions of these products are NOT supported— only previous iterations of these devices, which are no longer sold, are supported.

What this all boils down to is that nearly two years after 802.11g came out, TiVo requires people to dumb down their 802.11g wireless networks to mixed mode in order to network their boxes. (And after all, we are talking about moving large video files, so speed would seem to be quite important.) To add insult to injury, supported hardware is limited and hard to find, and it usually costs considerably more than a comparable 802.11g device.

For the past week, I’ve visited and called countless stores and checked numerous online sources, and I’m STILL looking for someone that still carries any of the TiVo supported adapters in stock.

In my opinion this is a huge and festering problem. It’s not like networking TiVo boxes appeals to only a small group of technophiles anymore. The bottom line is that in order to use any of the advanced features that TiVo is touting to differentiate themselves from the cable companies me-too DVRs— things like online scheduling, multi-room viewing, digital image and music playback, and TiVoToGo— you have to network your boxes, and TiVo is making this a complicated, frustrating, and next to impossible chore.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why TiVo didn’t simply outfit their boxes with an Ethernet port, which would have allowed simple connection to a WLAN via a wireless to Ethernet bridge. This not only would have eliminated the need for the TiVo box to support a particular kind of wireless hardware, it would have allowed TiVo to take full advantage of 802.11g network speeds. My Xbox has been networked this way for nearly two years.

But to make matters worse, TiVo compounds the poor decision to use USB instead of Ethernet by not allowing its customers to network their boxes with inexpensive and commonly available USB WLAN hardware.

I understand that TiVo boxes are based on Linux and that Linux driver support for 802.11g devices is sparse, but that’s no excuse. The features that networked boxed provides are the main argument for choosing TiVo over the cable companies’ cheaper offerings, and TiVo should be doing whatever it takes to make sure that it’s hardware supports up-to-date WLAN standards.

Last quarter, hundreds of thousands of people supposedly bought stand-alone TiVo units, and many of them will likely try to network the boxes. I shudder to think about what they will experience, and how it will impact their impression of TiVo.

If TiVo does fail, and I pray that it doesn’t, I think it’s miserable support for wireless networks will be a major contributing factor.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
Anyone who has a wit of technical curiousity and inititive will have evaluated Tivo and realize that it is the greatest advancement in home theatre since color(1953?). Anyone(like my grandmother) will have been afraid that it was just to complex and not try it. Unfortunately there are more grandmother's out there then those with a bit of curiousity and bravado. 2 thirds of friends that I tell about Tivo will say something inane like "oh I have a vcr and I record Desperate Housewives with it and besides Tivo just sounds to complicated". Tivo has never been able to overcome this perception. In a conversation I had with a Tivo top exec some years back, I suggested that they rent space in major shopping malls, have a large screen tv, some chairs and just run 16 hour daily demos of Tivo. Anyone(even my grandmother) could then see first hand how powerful it is and the ease of use especially compared to other "solutions" such as VCR's and DVD recorders. To those of us in the know, these other "solutions" are beyond moronic, but I guess if you can save 5 bucks per month.........Incidently Tivo thru Directv is 5 bucks per month and the experience with Directv is orders of magnitude better then running it with cable. So Tivo, your real problem is that you have overestimated the intelligence of the American TV Viewer(heaven forbid we know that network television has made their fortunes by underestimating it). You need to get your message out in a manner where even the stupidest can understand what Tivo is. Again all of you who have all these bright workarounds, I suggest that you try a Tivo for a single day. You will quickly realize how quaint and stupid your alternative "solutions" are. Perhaps you would find that you can afford 5 bucks per month. Just the ability to skip 20 minutes of commercials every hour is worth the price of admission 20 times over. Try that on your VCR or DVD solution!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/
Again, people are only concerned with their bottom line and don't care about eliminating competition. Maybe when DirecTV or Comcast is their only option and the price starts to go back up they'll be shocked.

Maybe it would be cool if Apple did buy Tivo. They could make it white, call it an iTivo and sell it for $1699, since Apple is the only company I've seen recently that convinced people to be a product priced higher than similar product.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:09AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/http://www.engadget.com/2005/02/08/tivo-deathwatch/Dec 19th 2005 12:09AM