[RandyL712]

Aren't you potentially totally screwed? Or would the geniuses here then tell the world how to hack the system and pretend you're activated (thus screwing those that paid $250)? Totally hypothetical I admit... but if you are paying the $10 a month and RTV goes out of business, we all agree that pretty soon the unit will realize that it shouldn't work anymore, and will morph into "expensive hard drive exo-skeleton mode"...

 

[KenL]

Quote:

Originally posted by RandyL712 ...pretty soon the unit will realize that it shouldn't work anymore, and will morph into "expensive hard drive exo-skeleton mode"...

Now if only we could get RandyL712 to do that?

 

[KenL]

(actually a wink o' course)

 

[RandyL712]

as if you aren't aware of the edit button, mr post padder

 

[GadgetGuy]

All the more reason to get the lifetime activation. Call any of the ReplayTV phone numbers and you will see they have already bitten the dust.

 

[RandyL712]

(you know I meant for that to be a wink!)

 

[RandyL712]

For the record, I've just gotten off the phone with my 'friend' (really just an insider who feels comfortable talking to me) at RTV who's said that they're definately not out of business today

 

[KenL]

What a meaningful, productive thread.


(you know I love it)

 

[BaysideBas]

Quote:

Originally posted by RandyL712 as if you aren't aware of the edit button, mr post padder

IMO, the post padder has yet to discover the edit button's functionality.

 

[Ilusion]

uh... just an FYI...


My "speculation" about this possibility (and ways to prepare/avoid it) caused much agitation and subsequently the entire thread was deleted. Then, the moderators posted the two "sticky" topics at the top of the forum about "required activation" and "theft of service". Soooo...


If you want to test the moderators resolve, feel free to continue this thread.


Myself, since I know that the interestes of ReplayTV/Sonic Blue have priority over free speech here, and was duely "smited" (smitten?) for my honest effort to explore a topic I felt was of importance, I now steer clear of annoying the forum gods by keeping my posts strictly technical. uh.. except for this one, so forget I said anything...



//////ZAaAaApppPP!!!/////


Owww!! Not again!


Vern

 

[RandyL712]

I'm absolutely not talking about stealing service, and don't want this thread to go in that direction. I'm asking if people choosing the monthly option will be left with a useless box if the ReplayTV motherships should cease to exist. If I have the lifetime activation, it's already been noted that my box will continue to work, I just need to get the guide (which would be attainable). With monthly activation, my understanding is that the box is constantly paranoid - checking with the mothership to make sure I'm still subscribed.

 

[lizard_boy]

Vern - the problem is that you can't see the difference between your thread and this thread.

 

[KenL]

Quote:

Originally posted by GadgetGuy All the more reason to get the lifetime activation...

It's obvious the Fat Lady already intoned... and yet GadgetGuy wants to throw good money after bad?


"You got to know when to hold 'em; know when to fold 'em,

Know when to walk away; know when to run."


(well and "the best you can hope for is to die in your sleep")

 

[bobrlinet]

I bought my first unit just a few weeks ago, and because of my skeptical nature, I opted for the $10/month service activation option, at least for the first month. However, I see from various posts that most people believe that if they opt for the “lifetime†activation, their units will continue to work, at least without the channel guide, while those who have opted for monthly service will be left with nothing more than a pretty doorstop.


I browsed around SBLU’s web site, but I see no mention of this nor any other reference to what happens to owners if SBLU no longer offers the service.


What I do see is that:


1 – If you opt for the lifetime activation, you don’t have to pay anything else to receive it.

2 – You need to have the service in order for the ReplayTV to continue working


If you read the “Activation and Service Agreement†on their web site, it reads:


“Your ReplayTV digital video recorder works only by activating and receiving the ReplayTV Service offered and provided by ReplayTV.â€


The service agreement also states:


“if you pay the one-time, up front subscription fee, you will not incur any additional charges to receive the basic ReplayTV Serviceâ€


To me, this just means that they won’t charge you in the future for as long as the basic service is offered. It also sounds like even the lifetime subscribers still need the service for their units to continue operating. It is not a guarantee that the service will always be provided, nor that your unit is permanently “unlockedâ€. If the service is no longer offered, it would seem to me that everyone is screwed.


I hope that I am wrong in my interpretation of this, as it would make the lifetime subscription option that much more attractive. If anyone from Replay is listening, a clarification would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RandyL712]

Quote:

Originally posted by bobrlinet If anyone from Replay is listening, a clarification would be greatly appreciated.

I second that, but I'm doubtful we'd ever get more than what was said here :
Quote:

Originally posted by ReplayLyndon I can't speculate on what would happen if the company goes out of business. That's not the plan.

 

[Ilusion]

Quote:

Originally posted by lizard_boy the problem is that you can't see the difference between your thread and this thread.

Seems the primary (and only) difference is that I wasn't the one that started this thread.


In the one I started, I was attempting to explore this exact same topic:

What alternatives/repercussions would there be in the event the Replay TV service became unavailable?


Now, you may have interpreted it as something else, but only I know the intent behind my posting. If it was unclear or interpreted incorrectly, then it was either a failure on my part to describe it clearly or a failure on your part to understand it. If the former, then I apologize...

 

[KenL]

Quote:

Originally posted by bobrlinet ...I hope that I am wrong in my interpretation of this, as it would make the lifetime subscription option that much more attractive. If anyone from Replay is listening, a clarification would be greatly appreciated.

We've been over this so many times over the last few years... but I seriously doubt BrettStah's dreams (fears?) will come true any time soon. They sure haven't yet. Of course a new wrinkle now is the monthlies, thus the need(??) for this new slightly different speculative thread.


I'd say if people (besides BrettStah) are really tossing and turning... losing sleep @ night over this, they might be better off not using these things? And probably not any other new technology either.


Bottom line: If it means you can no longer afford cat food to eat, instead use a VCR ?

 

[KenL]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ilusion Seems the primary (and only) difference is that I wasn't the one that started this thread. In the one I started, I was attempting to explore this exact same topic: What alternatives/repercussions would there be in the event the Replay TV service became unavailable?

Actually the title of that thread, if it's the one I remember:

"New Software fetches Replay guide info from the web for free!"


and it opened with a $250 (hypothetical?) offer to the first hacker to find an end run around activation. I don't know how anyone could have interpreted that differently?


To be fair, a portion of the rest was a tap dance away from that position. But mostly it was back to the same old "Activation isn't justified" "Why should I have to pay it?".


So now we have 2 sticky's. Explains the situation rather succinctly.

 

[RandyL712]

K, done deal. That thread was removed and rightfully so. Let's not discuss that here, or that'll be the same fate, instead of coming up with the proper solution to the questions I've posed...

 

[lakanta]

If SB went under, and all service for ReplayTV was halted couldn't they just upload some new code to all units which would deactivate the need for activation? Obviously you wouldn't be able to get guide information anymore, but the unit would not become a complete doorstop.


PS- If this theory has already been proposed I apologize, I'm at work right now and had to skim the posts.


-Lakanta