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TiVo's CEO speaks on ReplayTV's auction...
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Posted by: ATLMike

A very interesting article Tivo CEO: Price a Barrier to DVR Growth

Posted by: sixt7gt350

Interesting that he says TiVo will be present for the bidding.

As an owner of both, I guess you could say my bets are hedged.
I would really like to see TiVo take over the guide data and nothing else.
Tivo should be able to quickly add a large number of monthly fees with minimal effort. As a provider of only the guide data, I wouldn't expect them to be forced to support the hardware. Of course, some people would have a hard time discerning the difference between guide data, hardware and OS software. They would blame TiVo if the hardware went belly up and jam the support lines.

Maybe I'm just dreaming and should get used to the loss of Replay's playback features.

:(

Posted by: MighTiVo

"Tivo, which boasts more than 650,000 users, stands second in the DVR market to EchoStar Communications Corp.'s Dish Network. "

"My bet is that its going to be 'lights out'," at ReplayTV, he said. "(I wonder) Who would buy a business that has a massive litigation, is massively cash negative, and only 100,000 subscribers."

TiVo has 650,000 subscribers and Replay only has 100,000?

That is a bit unbelieveable!

Posted by: ATLMike

I'd like to know how many EchoStar DVR users there are. This is the first I've heard of TiVo being second to them. That was surprising to me b/c I can't recall reading anything about them in PVR articles -- besides the fact that they offer a DVR.

Posted by: Graeber

My guess is that the 100,000 figure is a small portion of total Replay users -- since the majority own a unit that did not require a subscription.

Posted by: JYoung

You should see how they're taking that article at the Replay forum

Posted by: samo

quote:
Interesting that he says TiVo will be present for the bidding.

"Present for the bidding" is a good description. At last count TiVo had $44 million in cash and net worth of negative $25 million. I don't know how much winning bidder is going to get Replay for, but if TiVo wins the auction they better hurry up and file bankruptcy next day. Most likely company, individual or group of investors that will buy Replay will have some cash on hand. I don't have any idea who it will be, but certainly it wouldn't be TiVo.

Posted by: gleffler

quote:
A better PVR will come, but I'd bet against it having the name TiVo on it. Maybe it will be a newly badged Replay.

^^ my favorite quote from the whole AVS thread.

"Maybe it'll be from the company that's going bankrupt and BEGGING someone to come buy them in an auction. Then again, maybe not."

/gleffler

Posted by: Scott D

Do any of you know whether or not Replay TV can be upgraded and all that stuff like TiVo can?

Posted by: cwerdna

quote:
Originally posted by ATLMike
I'd like to know how many EchoStar DVR users there are. This is the first I've heard of TiVo being second to them. That was surprising to me b/c I can't recall reading anything about them in PVR articles -- besides the fact that they offer a DVR.

I've heard similar claims that Echostar had lots of subscribers, but it sems like they've never publicly released figures. I personally think E*'s figures are bogus and possibly represent the total # of PVRs sold, not the actualy amount still in use.

Posted by: cwerdna

quote:
Originally posted by Graeber
My guess is that the 100,000 figure is a small portion of total Replay users -- since the majority own a unit that did not require a subscription.

My guess is that it's about right. Replay has never publicly released their figures, but maybe it'll come out soon. RB has admitted (but never given any numbers) that SBLU is way behind in terms of # of users.

Posted by: tluxon

quote:
A better PVR will come, but I'd bet against it having the name TiVo on it. Maybe it will be a newly badged Replay.

quote:
Originally posted by gleffler
^^ my favorite quote from the whole AVS thread.

"Maybe it'll be from the company that's going bankrupt and BEGGING someone to come buy them in an auction. Then again, maybe not."

/gleffler

gleffler,

You quoted a "bite" from my post, and it's pretty clear that you missed my point. It looks like you figure someone might think SonicBlue would sell Replay in a fire sale and buy it back so they could do it all over again the right way. If you really knew anything about Replay owners, you'd know that most of us blame SonicBlue for not knowing how to handle it. I can't imagine anyone buying Replay doing a worse job, but SonicBlue has left huge liabilities in the form of unresolved lawsuits and unpaid guide service obligations (assuming they didn't use lifetime fees to prepay the provider), that can't look too lucrative to a prospective buyer.

Considering what is possible with a PVR compared to a VCR and how much untapped market there has been for a long time, it's pretty obvious that TiVo hasn't figured it out yet, either. They might want to try giving away the product and getting new users addicted/dependent, but even that likely won't pull the masses in panting for a PVR that will have monthly fees that outrun the perceived value.

As far as where PVR's need to go to get mass acceptance, using Replay technology would be a better place to start than using TiVo's (more inertia to have to overcome), but it has a long way to go.

Thanks for letting me speak for myself :).

Tim

Posted by: tluxon

quote:
Originally posted by Scott D
Do any of you know whether or not Replay TV can be upgraded and all that stuff like TiVo can?

You could find out on the Replay forum, but the short answer is that Replay is more upgradeable and considerably more customizeable than a TiVo. Aren't there shows you have on your TiVo that you just don't want to delete? Do you know anybody who is archiving their shows on huge PC hard drives and streaming those shows to their various TiVo's around the house? Can you burn a 1-hour show from your TiVo to a DVD with commercials edited out in less than 30 minutes? At near-DVD bitrates? There are many Replay users doing this.

In addition, Replay allows you to name channels like folders on a PC so you can organize your shows for easy playback selection. Notwithstanding Commercial Advance, you have direct access to any point in your show via nn-Jump and you can skip any number of minutes forward by keying nn-Quickskip. Each press of Quickskip instantly jumps 30 seconds ahead, allowing you to skip as fast as you can press. If you're scanning through the guide and see a show you'd like to get started recording as soon as possible, a simple press of the Record key will begin recording without any prompts. I can also record the 480i output of my HDTV receiver in widescreen and it looks just about DVD quality.

Having said that, TiVo has the Replay beat with two tuners, better conflict resolution, and not requiring a Digital-Analog-Digital conversion from DirecTV streams. TiVo also makes it easier to record the buffer of a show that's been playing. Replay requires that you set up a Manual Record to save it.

I hope that gives you a start, but until the picture becomes a lot clearer about what is going to happen to the Replay, I sure wouldn't go out and buy one just yet. Of course, you can probably get them for a song right now.

Cheers,

Tim

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by Graeber
My guess is that the 100,000 figure is a small portion of total Replay users -- since the majority own a unit that did not require a subscription.

I think he was being generous, some people put the figure as low as 65,000. Since most of these probably purchased Replay when the lifetime sub was bundled with the cost of the unit, the remaining few monthly users are probably not enough to pay for ongoing guide service.

Posted by: blips

If Tivo buys Replay do we get RB back?

Posted by: thenightfly42

quote:
Originally posted by blips
If Tivo buys Replay do we get RB back?

That would be interesting. Does RB post on any of the Replay boards? Under what name?

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by blips
If Tivo buys Replay do we get RB back?

Do we WANT him back? Maybe someone should start a poll - nah, that would be too cruel. ;)

I forgot his username in the Replay forum. I wonder if he's had anything to say lately?

Edit: Found it, he's SonicRichard. Search isn't working over there right now so can't find his posts.

Posted by: jmoak

just fyi:

"Do you know anybody who is archiving their shows on huge PC hard drives and streaming those shows to their various TiVo's around the house?"

Yes. Quite a few, actually.

"Can you burn a 1-hour show from your TiVo to a DVD with commercials edited out in less than 30 minutes?"

Not counting the time it takes for the disk to burn, Yes. (I have an old 1x dvd burner)

"At near-DVD bitrates?"

Yes.

Posted by: sbourgeo

quote:
Originally posted by phone1
Do we WANT him back? Maybe someone should start a poll - nah, that would be too cruel. ;)

I forgot his username in the Replay forum. I wonder if he's had anything to say lately?

Edit: Found it, he's SonicRichard. Search isn't working over there right now so can't find his posts.

He made his last appearance there in January...

Posted by: thenightfly42

quote:
Originally posted by phone1
Edit: Found it, he's SonicRichard. Search isn't working over there right now so can't find his posts.

Search is back up; looks like no posts from him since January 23.
(Oh my god, my eyes, the color choices on that board burn...)

Posted by: Raj

quote:
Originally posted by ATLMike
I'd like to know how many EchoStar DVR users there are. This is the first I've heard of TiVo being second to them. That was surprising to me b/c I can't recall reading anything about them in PVR articles -- besides the fact that they offer a DVR.

I would believe that Echostar is first. Charlie basically forces you to get a PVR or HDTV STB if you want a Dolby capable receiver. Most of those PVR's are junk though, and are nothing more than glorified VCR's.

Posted by: phone1

It's accepted that Dish has more PVR users than anybody else. The number 1,000,000 has been kicked around in the press. They recently passed the 8M customer mark overall.

Posted by: Okeemike

quote:
Originally posted by JYoung
You should see how they're taking that article at the Replay forum

I smell bitterness.

Posted by: old7

I can see TiVo buying Replay just for their patents, settling the lawsuits as best it can, offering Replay users a cheap upgrade to a TiVo and and abandoning the rest. So sorry.

Old7

Posted by: raitchison

What patents does Replay have that TiVo would want? I don't see any compelling features in Replay that TiVo is "unable" to provide.

I wonder if it would be worthwhile for TiVo to buy just the subscriber base so they could sell guide data to the Replay users. Even if they had to honor all the Replay lifetime and older no-sub showstopper boxes it could be a source of revenue and a built-in installed base for when these boxes needed upgrading/replacing. Perhpas if you buy just the subscriber base you don't have to take on the legal issues?

Posted by: old7

quote:
Originally posted by raitchison
What patents does Replay have that TiVo would want? I don't see any compelling features in Replay that TiVo is "unable" to provide.

SonicBlue challenges TiVo to sign or be sued

It wasn't that long ago that they decided to bury the hatchet and focus on business.

TiVo, SonicBlue Settle Dispute

If another company buys Replay all bets are off if the truce lasts.

Old7

Posted by: Chris Gerhard

quote:
Originally posted by The Nightfly
Search is back up; looks like no posts from him since January 23.
(Oh my god, my eyes, the color choices on that board burn...)

You can change it to a different color, I did for a while but changed back. I think it was white, blue and grey if I recall.

Chris

Posted by: raitchison

Interesting, sounds like the Replay patents could have an impact on lots of people, such as Dish Network. I wonder if someone will buy those patents to try to make money on them kinda like SCO is doing with all the UNIX patents.

Posted by: Zathrus

quote:
kinda like SCO is doing with all the UNIX patents

No... SCO is not doing anything with patents. They are suing IBM for alleged violation of a trade secret agreement.

Beyond that, SCO's lawsuit is pretty deeply full of holes and missing quite a few facts. It's generally believed that it's an effort to be bought out by IBM rather than actually win a lawsuit (IBM could buy SCO for 5x the market price and still pay only 25% of the requested fine).

Suing IBM for patent violation is merely a good way to commit hari kari.

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by Chris Gerhard
You can change it to a different color, I did for a while but changed back. I think it was white, blue and grey if I recall.

Chris

You have to register then change it in user CP > Edit Options > Style Set > AVS White. It's a lot more pleasant.

Posted by: raitchison

Not talking about the IBM suit. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-981569.html?tag=mainstry

SCO has been threatening suit and collecting relatively small license agreements since last year.

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by raitchison
I wonder if it would be worthwhile for TiVo to buy just the subscriber base so they could sell guide data to the Replay users. Even if they had to honor all the Replay lifetime and older no-sub showstopper boxes it could be a source of revenue and a built-in installed base for when these boxes needed upgrading/replacing. Perhpas if you buy just the subscriber base you don't have to take on the legal issues?

Beside the fact that I'm not sure you can cherry pick this way, TiVo has plenty of ways to burn through cash already without bringing this albatross on board

Posted by: Francesco

[johncleese]"Albatross!...Albatross!..."[/johncleese]

Posted by: rseligman

quote:
Originally posted by phone1
You have to register then change it in user CP > Edit Options > Style Set > AVS White. It's a lot more pleasant.

OMG, thank you for that tip! Maybe now my headaches will stop! :cool:

Posted by: edrock200

"My bet is that its going to be 'lights out'," at ReplayTV, he said. "(I wonder) Who would buy a business that has a massive litigation, is massively cash negative, and only 100,000 subscribers."

"It's an auction, so who knows -- we will all go and do our thing. But at the end of the day I'd be surprised if ReplayTV is an ongoing concern."

That seems like a pretty naive statement to me...granted things don't look good and they most likely will tank, but that kind of cockiness has costed companies millions if not billions in the past...

When Pepsi was on it's last legs shortly after it started, it tried to sell the entire company to Coke for a mere $5000 (granted that was worth a lot more then,) and Coke decided it would be better for Pepsi to go out of business.....

Posted by: phone1

quote:
Originally posted by edrock200
"My bet is that its going to be 'lights out'," at ReplayTV, he said. "(I wonder) Who would buy a business that has a massive litigation, is massively cash negative, and only 100,000 subscribers."

"It's an auction, so who knows -- we will all go and do our thing. But at the end of the day I'd be surprised if ReplayTV is an ongoing concern."

That seems like a pretty naive statement to me...granted things don't look good and they most likely will tank, but that kind of cockiness has costed companies millions if not billions in the past...

He's merely stating facts. What's "naive" about what he said? And if you think his statements were uncharitable, don't forget that these two companies were suing each other until recently. A key, longtime TiVo employee recently defected to SB. I don't think there's much love lost between these companies.

Posted by: edrock200

I'm just saying that this statement in particular:
"It's an auction, so who knows -- we will all go and do our thing. But at the end of the day I'd be surprised if ReplayTV is an ongoing concern."

IMO is not smart. Whoever wins Replay could turn it around, it is possible. I know the chance is rare, but imagine that 5 years from now Replay has rebuilt itself and is Tivo's biggest competitor. That's exactly what Pepsi (and other companies) have done in the past.

Posted by: Justin526

quote:
Originally posted by edrock200
I'm just saying that this statement in particular:
"It's an auction, so who knows -- we will all go and do our thing. But at the end of the day I'd be surprised if ReplayTV is an ongoing concern."

IMO is not smart. Whoever wins Replay could turn it around, it is possible. I know the chance is rare, but imagine that 5 years from now Replay has rebuilt itself and is Tivo's biggest competitor. That's exactly what Pepsi (and other companies) have done in the past.

Or.....imagine that in 5 years both companies are but tiny, insignificant fish in a massive sea of generic, cable box guide based dvr's. Hmmmmmmm.

Posted by: edrock200

quote:
Originally posted by Justin526
Or.....imagine that in 5 years both companies are but tiny, insignificant fish in a massive sea of generic, cable box guide based dvr's. Hmmmmmmm.

This is a likely scenario too, one that scares me. That's why it is critical for Tivo to drop there price point now and advertise like crazy, run promotions, etc. (I know, easier said than done) to get Tivo's in homes before the evil cable companies release "content controlled" PVR's....people wouldn't complain because they never had Tivo, so they'll just think it's a bunch of revolutionary features and be happy.

Posted by: tluxon

quote:
Originally posted by edrock200
"My bet is that its going to be 'lights out'," at ReplayTV, he said. "(I wonder) Who would buy a business that has a massive litigation, is massively cash negative, and only 100,000 subscribers."

"It's an auction, so who knows -- we will all go and do our thing. But at the end of the day I'd be surprised if ReplayTV is an ongoing concern."

That seems like a pretty naive statement to me...granted things don't look good and they most likely will tank, but that kind of cockiness has costed companies millions if not billions in the past...

When Pepsi was on it's last legs shortly after it started, it tried to sell the entire company to Coke for a mere $5000 (granted that was worth a lot more then,) and Coke decided it would be better for Pepsi to go out of business.....

Very astute observation. And notice that right after saying, "Who would buy...", he says, "We will all go...". Sounds to me that he's talking out of both sides of his mouth. Tell everybody it's worth nothing and then buy it for a lower price because you've scared them all off.

Tim

Posted by: Bilbrey

I have expressed my concerns in other older posts, so I won't beat the issue to death here, but my primary concern is that TiVo does not following the Video Game industry's example where none of the first generation players make it to the second generation.

Smart Business decesions are CRITICAL for TiVo at this point...

Posted by: rseligman

quote:
Originally posted by edrock200
I'm just saying that this statement in particular:
"It's an auction, so who knows -- we will all go and do our thing. But at the end of the day I'd be surprised if ReplayTV is an ongoing concern."

IMO is not smart. Whoever wins Replay could turn it around, it is possible. I know the chance is rare, but imagine that 5 years from now Replay has rebuilt itself and is Tivo's biggest competitor.

Could happen, but so what? Oracle says Microsoft is doomed. Microsoft says AOL is doomed. Dell says HP is doomed. Competitors dis each other all the time. It's called "creating FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt)". Seems to me that saying it about a competitor who's actually bankrupt is a pretty safe statement.

Saying it to the media is a business strategy. But saying it and making critical business decisions based on believing it are two different things.

Posted by: rseligman

quote:
Originally posted by Bilbrey
I have expressed my concerns in other older posts, so I won't beat the issue to death here, but my primary concern is that TiVo does not following the Video Game industry's example where none of the first generation players make it to the second generation.

Was there a specific thing that the first gen game makers did wrong? Or was it just complacency and bad management?

Posted by: Justin526

quote:
Originally posted by rseligman
Was there a specific thing that the first gen game makers did wrong? Or was it just complacency and bad management?

you mean as it seems to be in tivo and replay's cases? :D

Posted by: dmdeane

What are the chances that TiVo might team up with a hardware company to bid on the Replay assets, for instance, with the group that was originally going to buy the Replay and Rio assets from Sonic Blue?

Obviously TiVo does not have the cash to waste on buying any Replay assets. But do any of these consumer electronics hardware companies want to get involved with the expense of maintaining the Replay dialup customers and upgrading and maintaining the software?

Maybe a hardware company is interested only in the Replay trademarks and hardware engineering team, and wants to get into the DVR hardware market without the expense of maintaining subscribers and developing and supporting the software.

Maybe they would trade to TiVo the Replay software, patents, and customer base, in exchange for an investment in TiVo stock that would not require TiVo to raise any new cash all at once, if that is feasible.

This would allow the hardware company to get into the DVR business without having to take on the financial burden of the existing Replay business, but rather would get them into the DVR business as a TiVo partner, and as a TiVo part owner/investor. This hardware company may decide it is smarter to go with TiVo, which already has most of the market (excluding giveaway cable and satellite DVRs), rather than spending a lot of money trying to revive Replay, in an effort which may not succeed.

TiVo would get an even stronger lock on the DVR patents, a good safety measure to protect themselves in future (against Microsoft, for instance) and to help them raise money by licensing, instead of soley relying on subscribers.

The cost to TiVo would not be much if no more Replays were made, if the software was frozen (apart from a few bug fixes), and if the lawsuits were stopped by withdrawing the "objectionable" features (without ruling out bringing back some of these features later when TiVo is financially stronger). The existing Replay dialup customers should not place any additional financial strain on TiVo considering they are probably using more or less the same dialup numbers that TiVo is already using.

That's bad news for existing Replay users, in that they would lose their show sharing and commercial deletion features, and would not see new versions of Replay software and hardware, but it is better than losing their service altogether.

Just my theory of one possibility of what might happen. Note I am not saying this is necessarily a good or a bad outcome, just a possible outcome; I am not advocating it.

Posted by: Bilbrey

quote:
Originally posted by rseligman
Was there a specific thing that the first gen game makers did wrong? Or was it just complacency and bad management?

That has been a topic of debate that I don't have the answer for...

Posted by: Chris Gerhard

quote:
Originally posted by rseligman
Was there a specific thing that the first gen game makers did wrong? Or was it just complacency and bad management?

I think it was just a case of the next generation being so much better and the public's perception that the old technology was inferior. All the kids wanted Nintendo and not Atari or Magnavox or whoever the first generation game makers were. It was a fast moving market that was difficult to hit. TiVo has hit a bullseye with it's first generation product as well as second generation and has a chance to stay in the market if it makes the right choices. I don't personally think the $300 lifetime amount or $100/$50 HMO amount are the correct pricing but I could be wrong. TiVo has been technically terrific but has been unsuccessful with it's marketing efforts thus far in my opinion.

Chris

Posted by: Bilbrey

quote:
Originally posted by Chris Gerhard
I think it was just a case of the next generation being so much better and the public's perception that the old technology was inferior. All the kids wanted Nintendo and not Atari or Magnavox or whoever the first generation game makers were. It was a fast moving market that was difficult to hit. TiVo has hit a bullseye with it's first generation product as well as second generation and has a chance to stay in the market if it makes the right choices. I don't personally think the $300 lifetime amount or $100/$50 HMO amount are the correct pricing but I could be wrong. TiVo has been technically terrific but has been unsuccessful with it's marketing efforts thus far in my opinion.

Chris

From the game/technology side, yes... it was a fast moving market.

What I was referring to not having the answer to was "Why didn't the executives of the first generation game companies see what the second generation game companies saw..."

So, tying into the comments from Chris, TiVo has nailed the first generation, and has been technically terrific, but do they see the path from the first generation to the second. And as I said earlier, I've posted long reply's on this topic and won't beat this dead horse further... The folks at TiVo either get it or not. Time will tell us... Till then we can hope they know what they are doing, unlike the first generation game makers...

Posted by: rseligman

quote:
Originally posted by Chris Gerhard
I think it was just a case of the next generation being so much better and the public's perception that the old technology was inferior. All the kids wanted Nintendo and not Atari

Yeah, but like Bilbrey said, I wonder why Atari didn't beat Nintendo to the punch. But I guess there are whole books written about that topic. I hope TiVo reads them.

Posted by: Bilbrey

quote:
Originally posted by rseligman
Yeah, but like Bilbrey said, I wonder why Atari didn't beat Nintendo to the punch. But I guess there are whole books written about that topic. I hope TiVo reads them.

Exactly...

While this is a topic for an evening of conversation, it is too much to cover on a forum. And given my background of having worked for Bally (a LONG time ago, and in a place far, far away), I'm rather opinionated regarding this topic. So rather than scratch the surface and be frustrated, go read the book... ;)

(Now you understand why I really don't want to engauge in this topic of conversation...)

Posted by: RJsilvermann

quote:
Originally posted by raj2001
Charlie basically forces you to get a PVR or HDTV STB if you want a Dolby capable receiver. .

Hmm, I wonder how I activate the PVR functions on my Echostar 4900 DD receiver :rolleyes:

Posted by: samo

quote:
Hmm, I wonder how I activate the PVR functions on my Echostar 4900 DD receiver

Raj is right, you can't get 4900 any longer, but DishPVR 508 has all the features of 4900 + PVR with 80 Gig HD for less than 4900 used to sell. Since PVR subscription is free same people who used to buy 4900 for DD are getting 508 even if they not interested in PVR functionality.

Posted by: TiVoPony

quote:
Originally posted by rseligman
Yeah, but like Bilbrey said, I wonder why Atari didn't beat Nintendo to the punch. But I guess there are whole books written about that topic. I hope TiVo reads them.

http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/2088141.jpg

Posted by: d_anders

Sweet Response TiVoPony!

Posted by: edrock200

quote:
Originally posted by TiVoPony
http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/2088141.jpg

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Best response ever. Period. :D :D

Posted by: mjh

Wow! I'm really surprised that no one has commented on this part of the article:quote:
Ramsay said the industry is not helped by the slow movement of cable companies, who have spent years developing services such as video-on-demand, which leaves control of content, such as movies, in the provider's hands.
Am I reading this correctly? It sounds like TiVo wants AOL to release Mystro.

In subsequent paragraphs:quote:
"It doesn't make sense to me," he said of Mystro, which AOL says it will test this year. "Centralization of this kind of technology is not the way to go."
It sounds to me like TiVo wants AOL to spend all the time, effort and money trumping up a DVR service so that TiVo can swoop in at the last minute and say, "but TiVo is like Mystro on steroids" (or something to that effect).

After having TiVo, I certainly would NOT switch to something like Mystro. However, I think history has demonstrated that the best features don't always win. E.g. Betamax vs VHS. Cost is an issue. Maybe TiVo can market it like the auto industry markets their product. In the auto industry, economy cars are NOT what everyone WANTS to drive. In fact, people don't want to drive them so much, that they're willing to over leverage themselves to move up to what they perceive to be a better product. One could argue that the difference between a Yugo and a Mercedes is really only marginal compared to the differences between Mystro (centrally located, you don't get to pick what to timeshift, etc) and TiVo. If this is TiVo's strategy, they're going to have to do a really good job of explaining the differences between Mystro and TiVo, and then creating desire for those differences.

But I fear that the additional features of a TiVo are much harder to explain than leather heated seats, electric windows, and windshield wipers for your headlights. I just hope that TiVo is able to go the way of Mercedes and not the way of Betamax.

It's too bad that TiVo won't ever do the show sharing thing that the Replay's did (albeit slowly). Doing that kind of thing creates a network effect where my having a TiVo benefits you if you have one also. Maybe there's some other way to create a network effect other than show sharing.

(My apologies for the public rambling!)

Posted by: mbalgeman

quote:
Originally posted by mjh
Am I reading this correctly? It sounds like TiVo wants AOL to release Mystro.

I read that differently than you did. I read it as, "We can't release a cable combo box because cable companies are working on they own inferior products instead of working on complying to the OpenCable standards because they like their "monopoly"."