http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/ Engadget Comments for TiVo's Jim Denney responds to Engadget! 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/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
+1]]>Apr 29th 2009 1:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
While I have been a Tivo user for years and love the service I have often wondered why they don't dominate the world.

Part of it is they sell a commodity of sorts (at least from a cable/satellite company perspective) and part of it is the shitty deals they strike in other countries, like Australia - you guys are so going to fail there with that model as most people don't want to pay for TV AND there are only 6 channels of shitty US reject TV to watch.

However, rant aside (sorry Oz, I love yaz all), I think they need to focus on one or two things that will really drive adoption. The activities that have been adding are sweet (as in cute) but seem to be ad hoc reactions to events or even serendipitous and without any clear goal in mind. Many of Nilay's suggestions sound cool, but I hope they ask themselves....does it fit into our strategy and where is the business case.

After all I don't want to end up having to use a shitty Comcast DVR.]]>Apr 29th 2009 1:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/1.) With a paid monthly fee, No Ads, no exceptions.
2.) 16:9 HD interface
3.) Ability to use *ANY* eSATA DVR-capable HDD. Don't lock us into the overpriced WD ones.
4.) Ability to view what your TiVo is set to record from any PC (so I can make sure its not already being recording before I set it to record)
5.) No More Ads
6.) No More Ads
7.) No More Ads
8.) If you ignore everything else, at least pay attention to 1,3,5,6 & 7]]>Apr 29th 2009 1:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 2:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 2:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 2:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 3:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 3:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Ads? What ads? If there are ads, they're so unobtrusive that I've basically blocked them out.

Turn on TV.
Hit TiVo button.
Select 'Now Playing List'
Scroll to desired program and enter select
Enter select to play program
Program ends and prompts for save/delete response
Up arrow (to delete option), and hit select
Return to 'Now Playing List'

OK, where's the ads?
]]>Apr 29th 2009 4:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 4:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/




...What?]]>Apr 29th 2009 2:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 3:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 2:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 2:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
Even though I agree with you, you're going to have to throw out the entire management team at TiVo in order for advertising to disappear. They have made it clear -- more and more every year -- that ad revenue was going to be part of their business model and they are going to find more ways at every turn to integrate it wherever it was profitable.

The reality is, if you don't want advertising, then you might as well get rid of your TiVo (if you have one). You really might want to just build yourself a home in the hills with just books. That's the only place you'll avoid it. It's here to stay until such a time as TiVo's board of directors sees fit for a clean sweep of management and makes it an absolute rule that advertising is not going to be used.

I cannot think of a single thing that I subscribe to (from my iPhone service, cable, magazines, etc.) where advertising is not a part of their revenue, to varying degrees. Obviously some items have advertising as a large source, while others may have it as a small revenue source. It's everywhere. It's going to become more pervasive and appear in places you and I can't even dream of now. Heck, you might even find someone selling a service just so you can hide from advertising for a period of time. In all reality, think of somethink akin to the movie "Minority Report." It's at simple as that.

In the market we have now, whether we like it or not (and I DON'T to be absolutely clear), businesses are looking for ways to compliment their revenue in any way possible in order to remain going concerns (and not filing bankruptcy). Advertising is one of those simple methods to add to their bottom line.]]>Apr 29th 2009 2:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
Also, there are a lot of apps on the iPhone that do not have ads. Again, like Gmail it's free and it has ads - but I'm fine with Gmail. If I pay for it and they show ads? I take exception to that. Like my Comcast cable box, started to show ads. I wrote a few letters and spoke with executive support. Not more than a few weeks later, the ads stopped showing up on my cable box. So it CAN be done, if you complain enough.]]>Apr 29th 2009 2:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
Bringing Apple into a TiVO-related post? What are you, a mac fanboy?]]>Apr 29th 2009 1:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
yea... keep 'em coming!
awesome!]]>Apr 29th 2009 2:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 3:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 6:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Bring a Tivo style service to Holland and I'll be pleased :P]]>Apr 29th 2009 1:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 2:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 2:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
But TiVo doesn't require you to have any specific service package. Comcast wouldn't provide DVR service to use with my basic cable package ($19 per month.) Instead, I had to pay $11 for the box monthly, and HAD to subscribe to the $65 dollar per month digital starter package. So to compare:

-$179 (hardware) + $130 (TiVo subscription) + $228 ($19 basic cable, monthly x 12)= $537 TiVo first-year cost
-{$11 (hardware, monthly) + $46 (difference, basic cable v. digital starter, monthly)} x12 = $672 annual cost w/ Comcast
Savings of $135 the first year with TiVo

Also, since I own the hardware, the cost drops $179 after the first year. My savings versus Comcast's DVR after the year one: $314

I love TiVo.


]]>Apr 29th 2009 3:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
What exactly are they providing me for a monthly fee? Program guide data? SchedulesDirect delivers that for $20 a year.

That's a tough sell, regardless of feature set. Tivo must find a way to get rid of their monthly fees, or they will not survive. ]]>Apr 29th 2009 1:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
TiVo for me is $10.83/mo plus $1.50 for two S-cards. That's $12.33/mo total, or $2.67/mo cheaper than the Comcast DVR.

Yeah, the box (TiVo HD) was $180 (refurb) up-front. Considering that I would have paid $99 for the Netflix/Roku box anyway, the TiVo cost me $80 net. And while I'm not going to break even for another year and a half, I think it's worth it to not have the Comcast POS DVR.

If you're paying $8 for your cable company DVR and like it, more power to you. But TiVo is far, far ahead of Comcast's POS DVR, and it's cheaper per month too.]]>Apr 29th 2009 5:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/
Here's hoping they implement a lot from that article yesterday. It was a fantastic write-up.]]>May 5th 2009 9:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/29/tivos-jim-denney-responds-to-engadget/Apr 29th 2009 1:29PM