Is tivo worth it? I like watching tv, but I never find the time to sit down and watch. I need a more structured viewing schedule like tivo or replaytv? So is Tivo or any other DVR worth it? Are there any other alternatives? Thanks.
i was talking with my brother about this on Thanksgiving. i'm not sure Tivo would be worth it for me....because, frankly, i don't think there's enough good programming out there that i feel like i'm missing. maybe back where there were sitcoms i really liked...but not now. all of my favorite shows have come and gone over the past 5 years or so. seriously..if i'm watching tv it's either live sports, ESPN, or cartoons/family stuff with my son. i watch a handful of shows, like ...Raymond when the TV is on and I have nothing better to do. but those shows certainly aren't a priority enough to make me want to record them to watch them.
Um in a word yes. I got mine last year. My wife hated it at first. Now we hate going to my parents and watching TV there, because we can't rewind when we miss something. I was told that after you got it you'd wonder how you ever lived without it. Whoever told me that was right. I could never go back. For Max: My son loves the fact that we can record shows he likes on Noggin during the day. He can't see them in the evenings because by the time he gets home Noggin is off the air. We also get a healthy dose of Power Rangers and Codename: Kids Next Door. We use the handy record to a tape feture to make him a copy of his shows once a week or so.
absolutely worth it. Other than sportings events, the only television I even watch any more is stuff on my DVR.
i hear ya...but most of the shows my son watches are replayed over and over and over again on Nick and Cartoon Network. and frankly, he watches enough tv as it is! i guess i just dont' see the value added for my family that justifies it.
I helped my roommate build a "tivo" with one of his old computer. We basically added a tv tuner on his linux machine and installed Freevo software. It works like a wonder, and we don't have to pay for the monthly fees for tivo. I'm thinking of build another one for my mom as a Xmas gift. If you have a old machine sitting around somewhere, and you have little extra time on your hand, I strongly suggest you build one youself.
I just thought to add that in, because a lot of people don't think about it for that use. Frankly, we only tape about 4 shows regularly but we use the pause feature religously. It comes in real handy at the 4 year old's bedtime, when he runs in every few minutes to "tell" us something.
TiVO is the greatest invention ever. Best money I've spent in my life. I haven't seen a single commercial in 6 months.
I absolutely love Time Warner's DVR. I almost don't like watching the Rockets live anymore. It's great to be able to rewind and watch all the bad calls against Yao.
ahh...now that's a feature i can understand. SON: dad ME: you should be asleep SON: but i have to tell you something ME: what? SON: can i watch the rest of the game with you? ME: no..you have school tomorrow SON: but i'm thirsty ME: huh???
Uhh, have you been watching us through the windows?? Usually though he stops in the hall and I ask what he wants. Him: I need to tell you something me: WHat do you need, you should be in bed. Him: Um, I love you? (note he says it like a question) Me: Love you too, now go to bed. Him: Ok I need a hug. Me: OK Him: Can I play the computer now...
Ask and ye shall receive. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/tech/news/2921950 New TiVo pop-up ads, copy restrictions raise consumer concerns By MAY WONG Associated Press SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Digital video recording pioneer TiVo Inc. has long promised "TV Your Way." But the company's plans for pop-up ads and restrictions on copying have sparked worries that the service may be eroding consumer control in favor of Hollywood and advertiser interests. Is it becoming TiVo -- their way? "Consumers are very distrustful of technologies that seize yet another opportunity to offer up advertising," said Mike Godwin, legal director of Public Knowledge, a public interest group. Whether the fears are founded or not, he said, "it feels like TiVo is taking away some of the prerogatives and flexibility that TiVo TV watchers have become accustomed to." TiVo officials say that starting in March users will begin to see static images, such as a company logo, appear on their television screens as they fast-forward through commercials. The billboard-like ads -- which will last about four seconds for a fast-forwarded 30-second spot -- may offer giveaways or links to other ads. For some ads, viewers could choose to provide advertisers with their contact data so they can get more direct marketing. A pop-up recording "tag" is also planned: a "thumbs-up" icon would appear during TV show promotions and allow users to instantly place those programs in their recording queue. TiVo officials contend that the new features will not be any more intrusive than the "thumbs-up" icons that already appear during some commercials and shows. But to some customers, the impending advertising changes smack of betrayal from the innovators whose hard drive-based gizmo lets TV viewers record programs, fast-forward through ads and pause at will. "It's crossing the line," said Darren McClung. The 24-year-old Kansas City, Mo. systems administrator says he didn't mind as much when TiVo introduced ads in its main menu area, giving users the option of watching them. But with ads set to appear over the very commercials he's trying to skip, "they've moved from unintrusive to intrusive advertising, and that's troublesome," he said. Some skeptics also worry that TiVo's planned use of Macrovision Corp.'s new copy-protection scheme signals more boundaries on what shows they can or cannot record -- even as TiVo prepares to unveil a new service later this year, called TiVoToGo, that will let users record shows onto DVDs or transfer them to computers. Macrovision has developed a feature that will allow content providers -- the people who produce television shows -- to place restrictions on how long a digital video recorder such as TiVo can save certain kinds of programming. For instance, movies could disappear after seven days. TiVo officials say the new restrictions will apply only to pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs. If Macrovision expands the feature to any other content, the deal is off, said Brodie Keast, executive vice president of service business at TiVo. "We believe the consumer should be in control of entertainment -- either free over-the-air or paid broadcasts -- and this doesn't change that in any way," Keast said. "But reaching this kind of compromise allows us to innovate freely." Industry watchers say TiVo has no choice but to make peace with networks, cable and advertisers. "TiVo has to become more advertising-friendly because, at the end of the day, TV runs on advertising dollars and companies that are part of that food chain have to acknowledge that," said Tim Maleeny, director of strategy at Publicis & Hal Riney, a San Francisco-based advertising firm. Josh Bernoff, analyst at Forrester Research, said, "Any product that's part of a cable and satellite world has to obey some of the restrictions that go with it." The restrictions are tightening. For instance, HBO says it plans to introduce in June a copy-protection technology that will restrict viewers to only one digital copy of its regular shows -- and no copies of its on-demand programs. As it is, TiVo is fighting an onslaught of competitors, including cable operators, who now offer digital video recorder-equipped set-top boxes of their own. The Alviso-based company has yet to post a profit. It reported Monday a net loss of $26.4 million, or 33 cents per share, on revenue of $38.3 million for the third quarter ended Oct. 31. Its subscriber base has more than doubled from a year ago to about 2.3 million, but roughly 61 percent of subscribers come through satellite operator DirecTV, which is expected to offer a competing DVR soon. That is expected to help boost the number of U.S. households with DVRs well beyond the 6.5 million that currently have them. For its part, TiVo tries to balance between customers' desires and Hollywood's demands. Hollywood studios sued TiVo's rival, DVR pioneer ReplayTV, over its automatic commercial-skipping recording feature -- a function TiVo and other DVR makers could have adopted but didn't. ReplayTV's rebel stance bankrupted its former owner. New owners have removed the ad-skipping feature. TiVo has worked for years with advertisers, trying to find new ways to market to an increasingly fleeting television audience. As part of its delicate dealings with Hollywood, TiVo sells data on the viewing patterns of its users, such as when they choose to watch instant replays or when they fast-forward. TiVo executives acknowledge that they're walking a fine line with their new advertising strategy. "Those who feel that they've been 'sold out,' I can understand that," Bob Poniatowsky, a TiVo product marketing manager, wrote recently in an online posting on the TiVo Community Forum. But "that's simply not the case here." Advertisers -- and TiVo-- will have to tread cautiously nonetheless, said Maleeny, the advertising strategist. Consumers already encounter hundreds of ads a day all around them -- from billboards to newspapers to the Internet. "It's easy in this environment," Maleeny said, "to suddenly cross a line from being inviting and intriguing to being intrusive and obnoxious."
Tivo/DVR is one of the greatest inventions of the past 20 years if you ask me. The ability to easily timeshift programming and virtually never watch commercials is awesome. Once you have it, you'll be spoiled and will never want to watch TV without it again.
We plan on getting one this Xmas. I am going to get the one with the builtin DVD recorder. The main rationale is that I can save off a bunch of preschooler TV programs (like Sesame Street and The Wiggles :s). I need the burner since I need DVDs for the car to keep Junior preoccupied. For the wife and I, we will probably use the TiVo to watch movies and such between Junior's and our bedtimes. Being able to watch what we want when we want will be a huge plus.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/entertainment/2004-11-29-dvr_x.htm New DVR may have video on demand By David Lieberman, USA TODAY NEW YORK — DirecTV is preparing to offer a digital video recorder (DVR) service in mid-2005 that could duplicate virtually every feature now available from current partner TiVo, plus provide video on demand similar to what's offered on cable, say executives of the company preparing the software. About the only TiVo function the new service will not have, they say, is the ability to jump over commercials. That's an unadvertised TiVo feature users can activate with programming instructions widely available on the Internet. The new service "will be simpler and faster" than TiVo's, says Abe Peled, CEO of NDS Group. His company plans to deliver its DVR software to DirecTV by April. DirecTV remains tight-lipped about the NDS-powered DVR it will offer. Spokesman Bob Marsocci simply says that DirecTV plans to introduce "an alternate DVR product and service in the first half of next year." It also won't disclose who's making decoders — the satellite receiver/DVR combo box — equipped for the new DVR service, although South Korea's Humax is known to be one company on the list. Yet, comments by Peled and other executives about the NDS product offer a preview of what could be one of the key battles in the fast-growing DVR market. These computerlike devices enable users to easily schedule and record TV shows on a hard drive, as well as pause and replay live TV. Rupert Murdoch is picking the fight. His News Corp. controls both NDS and DirecTV and is eager to see the new DVR service succeed. NDS also provides DirecTV's encryption technology and a DVR service for Murdoch's British Sky Broadcasting satellite service. But TiVo can't afford to let DirecTV go. More than 61% of TiVo's 2.3 million DVRs belong to DirecTV subscribers who pay an extra $5 a month to get the TiVo service from the No. 1 satellite company. TiVo doesn't have many alternatives: Cable operators and EchoStar's Dish Network offer their own DVRs. That's one reason TiVo shares fell 11% last week after it reported that 75% of its new subscribers in the third quarter came via DirecTV. If DirecTV puts its marketing muscle behind NDS, then "TiVo is going to get hurt, obviously," says Vamsi Sistla, director of broadband research at ABI Research. Peled says that a big selling point for his DVR is in the way it handles pay-per-view (PPV). With TiVo, users must agree to pay for a PPV movie before recording it for subsequent viewing. But the NDS system will enable DirecTV to signal a user's DVR to record several movies, making each available for viewing at any time. Customers "pay when they watch (the movie), not when they record it," Peled says. He adds that his system "will be less expensive for DirecTV" than TiVo and that the savings could be passed to consumers. "We are not a consumer brand. We don't own the customer data the way TiVo does. And we don't sell advertising that we send to the box." TiVo declined to discuss the NDS challenge. But it told analysts last week to beware of what could be "vaporware," unfinished software. "NDS has delayed their product offering into later next year," TiVo CEO Mike Ramsay said. "I think we have got a fairly clear runway with DirecTV that we certainly want to take advantage of. ... When it is time to compete, we will focus on that, too. And I think we'll do very well."
