It'll be a sloooow, painful, kicking and screaming death... like a trainwreck, I can't look away!!!
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Tivo Deathwatch Declared
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000100030115/
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| Here are the facts: They’ve had two senior executives leave in the past month. DirecTV, which drives most of their subscriber base, is more or less just letting the clock run out on the rest of their deal. TiVo’s stock is trading near its 52-week low (it’s around $3.75 a share today, a year ago it was trading north of ten bucks), and they continue to lose money quarter after quarter. Except for their acquisition of Strangeberry last year and some vague plans about launching a video-on-demand service with Netflix, they’ve given no indication of how they’re going to turn things around in the face of stiff competition from all sides. |
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I don't know about the rest of you, but I will be sad if TiVo really does go under. It has been good for the consumers to have two polished PVRs competing against each other. If TiVo or ReplayTV were to disappear completely, the innovation to produce better PVR functionality would slow considerably. And it's close to stopped already! I'm waiting with bated breath to see what DNNA unveils should they ever achieve the goals of a home entertainment server or whatever they call it.
Of course, there is always the possibility of someone buying them out (maybe even twice?). It would be a strange world if DNNA purchased TiVo now, wouldn't it?
Of course, there is always the possibility of someone buying them out (maybe even twice?). It would be a strange world if DNNA purchased TiVo now, wouldn't it?
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Yes, but DirecTV has announced that they will produce their own DVRs which should be available by summer 2005. I guess they decided they wanted all the profits rather than sharing with Tivo.
| DirecTV, which drives most of their subscriber base, is more or less just letting the clock run out on the rest of their deal. |
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And that's what is going to kill the standalone market. I used to think the survival of ReplayTV & Tivo would depend on them getting in bed with CableCo's & satellite to license the technology. Then it hit me. License what? The companies all already have access to guide data. Mpg hardware ain't that hard to come by. And they (the CableCo's) prefer LESS features, not more.
As for healthy competition in the PVR market from the two top games I'd say that ship sailed before I bought my first unit around two - three years ago. Tivo won for name recognition but lost for market stability. Replay died a thousand deaths prior to the DNNA aquisition and they've done nothing but keep it on life support.
| Originally posted by bpratt Yes, but DirecTV has announced that they will produce their own DVRs which should be available by summer 2005. I guess they decided they wanted all the profits rather than sharing with Tivo. |
As for healthy competition in the PVR market from the two top games I'd say that ship sailed before I bought my first unit around two - three years ago. Tivo won for name recognition but lost for market stability. Replay died a thousand deaths prior to the DNNA aquisition and they've done nothing but keep it on life support.
I'm hoping that Apple buys TiVo and comes out with a killer application, just as they did with the iPod/iTunes music store. Of course, where would that leave me, with the competitor's product?...being a machead I'd be virtually compelled to switch.
First of all I would LOVE to have the grand pleasure of saying "HA!" to all those Tivo owners who scoffed at my loyalty to my ReplayTVs.
Second, I believe there is intellectual property to be had. Many of the cable co DVR's are severely crippled and my understanding is that it is due to the fact that Tivo and (now) DNNA control the vast majority of patents related to DVRs with Microsoft owning a smaller share.
In any case, I'm very satisfied by the service I've received from my 3030 and 5040 over the years. If their time is past then I look forward to the next innovation.
Second, I believe there is intellectual property to be had. Many of the cable co DVR's are severely crippled and my understanding is that it is due to the fact that Tivo and (now) DNNA control the vast majority of patents related to DVRs with Microsoft owning a smaller share.
In any case, I'm very satisfied by the service I've received from my 3030 and 5040 over the years. If their time is past then I look forward to the next innovation.
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While it's true they contain a lot there is also a certain level of control CableCo's want to wield in how you use the device. I think that is a big reason why their are painful limitations in programmed recording features.
| Originally posted by alextse Second, I believe there is intellectual property to be had. Many of the cable co DVR's are severely crippled and my understanding is that it is due to the fact that Tivo and (now) DNNA control the vast majority of patents related to DVRs with Microsoft owning a smaller share. |
That sure would be a delightfully ironic twist if Tivo went belly up before ReplayTV.
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Funny you should mention that. I'm in the same boat as you.
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuot...3627852_newsml
| Originally posted by davester2 I'm hoping that Apple buys TiVo and comes out with a killer application, just as they did with the iPod/iTunes music store. Of course, where would that leave me, with the competitor's product?...being a machead I'd be virtually compelled to switch. |
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuot...3627852_newsml
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Hmmmmmm, someone at Reuters must of picked up on this thread
| Originally posted by rugby Funny you should mention that. I'm in the same boat as you. http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuot...3627852_newsml |
I'm not a Mac head but I could easily see Apple snap up Tivo, then introduce the Video iPod fed by Tivo and "Video iTunes" with some form of DRM encoding to lock it all down. And market it (very well) like they invented the whole model...
It could happen.
It could happen.
Average (at best) hardware and features + ridiculously high price tag + flashy/trendy looks + great marketing + devoted fans who refuse to see through the aforementioned ruse = Apple
A case in point is the iPod shuffle--an almost laughable MP3 player by today's standards that will still sell millions.
A case in point is the iPod shuffle--an almost laughable MP3 player by today's standards that will still sell millions.
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Tell me more about the average hardware and features as I write this on my Mac that runs 24/7 and I reboot, maybe, once a month compared to my XP PCs that I have to shut down after each use while I pray (and pay) for virus/hacker immunity. Yes, Mac-heads are loyal, but there are reasons, and, when you're making price comparisons, measure Apple's price against like-equipped PCs. It takes a lot more than a $399 Dull to compare to the most minimal Mac. And don't let me get started on Windoze bugs - I have to deal with them every day at work (thank Open Source for Linux on Intel boxes).
BTW, Microsoft employees with players are wearing iPods - something like 80%. http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125...=wn_story_top5
"About 80 percent of Microsoft employees who have a portable music player have an iPod," said one source, a high-level manager who asked to remain anonymous. "It's pretty staggering."
Let's all be nice.
| Originally posted by j.m. Average (at best) hardware and features + ridiculously high price tag + flashy/trendy looks + great marketing + devoted fans who refuse to see through the aforementioned ruse = Apple A case in point is the iPod shuffle--an almost laughable MP3 player by today's standards that will still sell millions. |
BTW, Microsoft employees with players are wearing iPods - something like 80%. http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125...=wn_story_top5
"About 80 percent of Microsoft employees who have a portable music player have an iPod," said one source, a high-level manager who asked to remain anonymous. "It's pretty staggering."
Let's all be nice.
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Neither statistic proves one is better than the other. I have an Iriver MP3 player (256mb) that I got over a year ago that is functionally superior to the "shuffle" in every way - but... it's not marketed like the 'pod', so it won't sell a bazillion units.
The fact that MS employees are wearing Pods simply show that they're trendy goons up there in Redmond..... the could have gotten better functionality from any number of units for equal or lower price... but then, they wouldn't be able to say "hey! look at my IPOD". This is just like the guys who buy $2000 EDTV plasma tv's instead of $2200 LCD or DLP projectors that are true HD... Just so they can say "hey! Look at my Plasma TV"....
If apple commanded 80% of the PC market and was in the hands of every little hacker-teen on the planet, then there would be more virus/problems for that unit too....
Just my 2.4 cents.
| Originally posted by oldnacl Tell me more about the average hardware and features as I write this on my Mac that runs 24/7 and I reboot, maybe, once a month compared to my XP PCs that I have to shut down after each use while I pray (and pay) for virus/hacker immunity. Yes, Mac-heads are loyal, but there are reasons, and, when you're making price comparisons, measure Apple's price against like-equipped PCs. It takes a lot more than a $399 Dull to compare to the most minimal Mac. And don't let me get started on Windoze bugs - I have to deal with them every day at work (thank Open Source for Linux on Intel boxes). BTW, Microsoft employees with players are wearing iPods - something like 80%. http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125...=wn_story_top5 "About 80 percent of Microsoft employees who have a portable music player have an iPod," said one source, a high-level manager who asked to remain anonymous. "It's pretty staggering." Let's all be nice. |
The fact that MS employees are wearing Pods simply show that they're trendy goons up there in Redmond..... the could have gotten better functionality from any number of units for equal or lower price... but then, they wouldn't be able to say "hey! look at my IPOD". This is just like the guys who buy $2000 EDTV plasma tv's instead of $2200 LCD or DLP projectors that are true HD... Just so they can say "hey! Look at my Plasma TV"....
If apple commanded 80% of the PC market and was in the hands of every little hacker-teen on the planet, then there would be more virus/problems for that unit too....
Just my 2.4 cents.
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Upon reading this part I could only think of how dramatic Steve Jobs was when announcing the iPod shuffle at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco a few months ago.
It's hard not to imagine a gospel choir behind him as he preaches to the audience of macheads in front of him
You can see realplayer video jobs announcing the ipod-mini here (its about 2 min):
http://zdnet.com.com/1606-2-5532431.html
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I don't have it in for mac people. There's so many bad things that could be said about any manufacture these days and it'd be true. It's not an apple vs PC thing to me.
| Originally posted by j.m. A case in point is the iPod shuffle--an almost laughable MP3 player by today's standards that will still sell millions. |
It's hard not to imagine a gospel choir behind him as he preaches to the audience of macheads in front of him
You can see realplayer video jobs announcing the ipod-mini here (its about 2 min):
http://zdnet.com.com/1606-2-5532431.html
.....
I don't have it in for mac people. There's so many bad things that could be said about any manufacture these days and it'd be true. It's not an apple vs PC thing to me.
Don't get started on this crud - the OS is only as good as the installation. Well installed Windows PC does not need to reboot for a LONG time - I type this on my Dell notebook that has not rebooted for over 2 months - and as I have a snippet of intelligence, I have never had a computer Virus, hacker, or trojan horse. Do the research, the underlying Unix platform(s) are more attacked than any other OS - but the limited usage makes it bad news. It all comes down to implementation - and Apple used to bad at that too.
Seems to me as though the Tivo software is implemented way better than the Replay's, much more stable. The Replay always reboot.
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I had a great response all typed up and then wondered why should I waste my breath.....
| Originally posted by j.m. Average (at best) hardware and features + ridiculously high price tag + flashy/trendy looks + great marketing + devoted fans who refuse to see through the aforementioned ruse = Apple A case in point is the iPod shuffle--an almost laughable MP3 player by today's standards that will still sell millions. |
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