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Tivo is bad?
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Posted by: mask2343

Is this artivle True or Not?

http://www.msnbc.com/news/992089.asp?0cv=CB20

I vote for a reluctant True. I find myself doing some of the things mentioned in this article.

Sorry if this is a repost.

Posted by: CatBurger00

False. It's called self-control. (Why i this in TV Show talk? ;) )

Posted by: kyote

Besides, it's MSNBC. The least watched cable news network out there. They're probably just upset no one tivo's any of their shows.

I have yet to worry that I have too many shows to watch. In fact, I'm recording less cause there's little on that I watch. My 2.5 yr old has more shows on Tivo then I do. My wife has her home redecorating shows (while you were out, trading spaces, etc.) I'm just happy with CSI, ER, NYPD Blue, and Law and Order. Mythbuster's rocks. Mainly the tivo has mostly suggestions though on the drive. So, now, I don't freak out and anyone who does somehow become a prisoner to their tivo needs to take a walk outside and get some air.

jas

quote:
Originally posted by CatBurger00
False. It's called self-control. (Why i this in TV Show talk? ;) )

Posted by: kitsap

It's not MSNBC, it's Reuters. The various other threads (and there are a bunch of them scattered around the forum) have picked up the same story from various Reuters outlets.

Anyway, yes, it's all true ... at least it is for me. :eek: I literally have over 100 unwatched movies on one of my Tivos ... but I know I'll never get around to watching most of them.

Posted by: DLiquid

It's not true for me. I try to find a nice equilibrium where I have something to watch when I want to watch TV but there isn't much build-up of unwatched shows. When there is a build-up, an SP usually gets deleted, even if I like the show somewhat (e.g., Alias, Dead Like Me). When I'm running out of stuff to watch, an SP usually gets added.

Posted by: doom1701

I've always told people--ever since we got our first TiVo, I watch less TV. I used to watch probably 2 hours or so a night, and at least a half hour of that was flipping channels, looking for something to watch.

Now, I watch maybe an hour each night, but it's always something I really want to see.

Posted by: jradosh

quote:
Originally posted by doom1701
I've always told people--ever since we got our first TiVo, I watch less TV.

Same deal here.

I've only really worried about TV once since I got the TiVo. After a spate of blackouts I ended up with corrupted Guide Data. Eventually I had to do a partial reset of the system (lost Guide Data, SPs and thumbs). I never worried so much as I did during those few hours when the system was rebuilding itself.

I could live without my TiVo, but I wouldn't want to. But I don't stay up late at night thinking about it.

J

Posted by: FourFourSeven

quote:
Originally posted by doom1701
I've always told people--ever since we got our first TiVo, I watch less TV.

Me too - I actually probably watch the same number of shows (1-2 hours worth/night when I have no other plans), but skipping 16 minutes of ads per show adds up!

Here's a point I made to sell a Tivo the other week. If you watch only one hour of television a day, and skip the ads, you save an estimated 15 minutes a day. Over the course of a year, that comes out to almost four DAYS of commercials you're skipping.

Would you pay $60/year (for DTV users) or $155/year (for normal Tivo users) for an extra four days of life? I sure would.

Posted by: dcheesi

This article hits the nail on the head for me. When my TiVo's full I feel pressured to watch all of it before it goes away.

Part of the problem is that I can't easily prioritize deletion order, beyond UntilIDelete-ing my top five. So I can't just let my old shows drop off the list normally, for fear that I'll lose a medium-important show in favor of some more recent filler shows. And once I start managing the episodes directly, I find it hard to part with anything without watching it...

Of course, the other downside to TiVo is that you lose out on the water-cooler discussions of hot shows. Sometimes I go a week or more before watching a major episode, especially if I've got a backlog. Even on this site I often find that the discussions have died out by the time I'm ready to contribute. And since I have no life to speak of, TV gossip is all I've got left! ;)

Posted by: amorphis

I do watch more TV with Tivo then without, and I do have more SP's then I can comfortably watch (nightly avg is about 1 hr of TV).

However, when the HD gets full, I don't stress or worry. I just delete the shows. <shrug>

Unless I'm watching football or WRC, I have a hard time spending more then an hour in front of the TV.

Posted by: Steveknj

I end up recording the same shows I either watched live or used to tape, so it's not any more TV than I used to. And I DON'T have the TiVo record whatever it thinks I would like, I just record what I want to record, and I watch whenever is convenient to me. I don't let TiVo run my life, just make my life easier :)

Posted by: Frylock

I watch the same amount of tv, but now instead of watching the cr@p they put between 2 good shows, I skip it and can watch what I like.

You've got some problems if you fret over missing your programs. After all, why didn't you before? The concept of tivo is so you don't have to!

Posted by: Marco

I'm sure I watch TV maybe 20% more time than before, but I almost never channel-surf or watch crap that just happens to be on, and I see almost no commercials, so I probably watch about TWICE as many programs 'on purpose' as I did pre-TiVo. And I'm not sorry!

My hard drive gets full, 'cause I record more than I have time to watch. Oh well. If it gets deleted because I didn't get to it in time (weeks to months, in my case), I guess I didn't really want to see it that badly. Most of that stuff will be on again, anyway.

Posted by: cello

The only time I ever really worry about "getting behind" (and the HD thus filling up) is if I go away for a week - and then I usually set my must-see recordings to keep until I delete, so I can be sure that at least they will be there when I get back home. And truthfully, I've learned that as long as I have most things set on high or medium quality, I can easily go a week w/o watching and w/o anything besides suggestions being deleted.

I probably watch as much tv as before I had a TiVo, but when I feel in the mood for junky TV that I can have on in the background, I have a bunch of suggestions sitting there, that usually beat out what I'd be able to find by surfing the channels. And I don't have to waste time channel surfing or going to tvguide.com to find something random to watch.

Posted by: Mabes

The whole article is ridiculous. Just about anything can become an obsession or addiction to some people.

I admit in the beginning I used to be a little concerned about something being deleted before I could watch. And then I realized that most of the stuff I had recorded, even though it was the best of TV, was still hardly worth watching. I still have the problem of nothing good to watch most of the time.

Don't get me wrong, I love my TiVo, couldn't have TV without it. It definitely beats surfing.

Posted by: scottivo72

I think I watch more TV with my Tivo, but I've also had days where I haven't even turned on my Tivo. I think I have around 30-40 SPs to always have something to watch, but here's what I mostly do.

a) First and foremost, I have just about everything set to 'Medium'. Can't really tell the difference between that & live TV anyway.
b) Have my SPs set to All Episodes & First Run Only - and Save Until I Delete. (Like ER, Alias, Hack, Law & Order).
c) Simpsons reruns, etc.; History Channel & Comedy Central stuff, I set to Space Needed. A couple of my less-watched "filler" shows I also have set to save only like 2 or 4 episodes.

And I have never had my Suggestions auto-recorded. In fact, now that the Fall TV season is going, I've decided I'm not going to browse (much) for new recordings until I watch what I've got!

All goes back to self-control I suppose! :)

p.s. The 'backdoor' option (from Tivo Underground) to sort the Now Playing list alphabetically is great! :)

Posted by: mrs-j

It's not true for us. We only have a 30h TiVo but there are still things on it we haven't watched, and we feel no pressure to watch until we want to. I agree with the statement: Since getting TiVo I watch less television.

Posted by: kitsap

quote:
Originally posted by mrs-j
I agree with the statement: Since getting TiVo I watch less television.

I can't understand that. Now that you have the good stuff readily available, you've cut back from the amount you watched when it was dreck? The worse it is, the more you watch? :confused:

Posted by: tombo28

A friend of mine refers to this syndrome as "Tivobligations" and I think most TiVo owners have felt it at one time or another but I also think that most of us eventually get over it as we learn to prioritize what we watch. If anyone watches too much television, I wouldn't blame the TiVo any more than I'd blame alcoholism on a nice set of bar glasses.

Posted by: Worf

I feel it on weeks when all the networks decide to put on good shows simultaneously. Luckily though, I manage to catch iup pretty quickly (I skip shows I've seen before but got recorded anyways). Plus I do SUID on the good ones. After all, if it gets too full, there's always save to VCR or upgrade its hard drive. Of course, I'm not one who records a week's worth of programming and then sits down to watch it all in a marathon. I watch it the same day in the evening, or watching it live.

Of course, if you're finding yourself rushing to finish what's on TiVo, then there's a problem of either scheduling yourself to watch it (it's not meant to reduce your watching to one day/week, but rather have something good to watch when you're ready - you could catch the show before, and all that's happened is that TiVo made it super convenient), or you're watching too much TV.

Posted by: Family

This discussion is ridiculous. Let's debate wheither we are better off with a dictator than having a democracy because things run more efficiently when the masses are not making the decisions and control is in one person's hands. Let's everyone not have automobiles because it encourages people to be away from their families/homes. Let's not have television at all because it keeps people from reading.

Advertisers have got to hate Tivo. I'm sure there is a campaign to figure out ways to knock this great product because it's so good for the consumer and bad for certain businesses.

Posted by: mrs-j

quote:
Originally posted by kitsap
I can't understand that. Now that you have the good stuff readily available, you've cut back from the amount you watched when it was dreck? The worse it is, the more you watch? :confused:

I figured it would be pretty easy to understand. I spend less time watching commercials. I spend less time sitting in front of "whatever's on". I only sit down when I want to, and when I have a program in mind to watch. What I watch is of higher quality now, and the amount of time I spend chained to the television is less. I don't feel like I have to watch anything immediately, because I know it will be there when I want to see it. So I get more things done and spend less time in front of the television.

Posted by: kitsap

So, instead of "sitting in front of whatever's on," which you presumably did because you really wanted to watch something (to the point of watching anything), you now don't sit down when you get those feelings. You now prefer to go do something else, even though your viewing options are substantially better?

OK. :)

Posted by: mrs-j

quote:
Originally posted by kitsap
So, instead of "sitting in front of whatever's on," which you presumably did because you really wanted to watch something (to the point of watching anything), you now don't sit down when you get those feelings. You now prefer to go do something else, even though your viewing options are substantially better?

OK. :)

I think what you are missing is a complete paradigm shift (I hate using those corporate phrases, but it's the only one I can think of) in how I view television.

Previously, I would sit down, get the remote, and check out what was on. My butt was on the couch, I was comfortable, and I would settle for whatever I found in the selection of channels. I was inclined to stay there and watch, through commercials and everything, for many reasons. Sometimes something better was coming on in X number of minutes so I'd just wait. Sometimes I thought the program would get more interesting. Sometimes I was just comfortable due to physics (an object at rest stays at rest).

Now, I don't even put my butt down on the couch and get comfortable unless I know something I want to watch is waiting for me on the TiVo. No waiting around for the program I really want to watch to come on in X number of minutes. No waiting to see if some unknown program becomes interesting (I can ff'd through it and scan to see if it becomes interesting, if I truly don't know). No getting my butt on the couch unless there's a good reason for it, period.

Do you understand what I am saying now? If not, then I guess you'll just have to continue to not "get" me because I can't think of any way to make what I'm talking about more clear.

Posted by: super dave

I watch less TV since I got a TiVo. I SP any show I would like to see, I rarely watch "live" TV. Therefore when I watch a show, it is a few days old but I don't watch commercials! Therefore I watch less TV. Otherwise why have a TiVo unit?

Posted by: kitsap

quote:
Originally posted by mrs-j
Now, I don't even put my butt down on the couch and get comfortable unless I know something I want to watch is waiting for me on the TiVo.

But see, the problem is: With TiVo, you always know that something you want to watch is waiting for you! Knowing that there is all that good stuff, how can the urge to plop down on the sofa be less than it was when you were facing the prospect of surfing through dozens of horrible things?

Anyway ... the bottom line ... if you're now avoiding bad TV (and of course we all are, thanks to TiVo), then everything is good. :)

Posted by: Jackie Treehorn

That article kind of hits home for me. Of course I have only had my DirecTivo for about a month, so maybe the craze will wear off in time.

But prior to getting the Tivo, the only things I watched on a regular basis, where Survivor , Baseball and Hockey. I would never remember to program my VCR for anything else.

Now I find myself with season passes for

Charmed 5x a week
La Femme Nikita 5x a week
Dallas 5x a week
Joan of Arcadia
The Handler
The O.C.
Gilmore Girls
Carnivale
The Shield
A Minute with Stan Hooper
24
The Simpsons
South Park
Karen Sisco

Once FX rolls back around to season 6 of Buffy that will be added also.

...and of course the Hockey games as well as a lot of the movies on TCM and Sundance :cool:

Posted by: BattMan

I watch less TV now than I did before TiVo.

I odnt watch any junk or commercials. Just the few shows I like and some sports. No more mindless sitting in front of the TV.

Posted by: cwoody222

I watch less. I only SP shows that I really like and almost never watch Live TV, don't have Suggestions on and only use WishLists to find really rare stuff. I really only watch the same "favorite" shows I did before.

But now I ONLY watch those shows...no watching the 8:30-9pm garbage because I like the show before and after. And skipping commercials or the bad SNL sketches I watch things quicker.

Instead of sitting on the couch from 8-10pm on a Sunday I watch Simpsons from 8:15 - 8:35 approximately. Then I do something else from then until 9:15. Then I watch Malcolm/Arrested Development from 9:15-10pm. Viola - I just saved :55 minutes! If ABC wasn't a rerun night I would have squeezed Alias into the "saved" minutes time.

Plus, with a VHS tape I felt more pressure to watch things because I needed the space. With TiVo the shows I don't really like will just sit there, not NEEDING to be watched. Plus I can easily see what shows I obviously don't like that much anymore (if I keep putting off watching it) so I eventually delete the SP.

I do find it hard to delete an SP for a show I've watched for years but this weekend I finally deleted: Boston Public, L&O: SVU, L&O: CI, Enterprise and Joe Millionaire. There's 5 more saved hours/week.

Posted by: allan

I watch slightly more TV than I used to, mainly because of the shows that air at midnight, or when I'm at work. I do, sometimes, stress about good shows getting deleted unwatched, but most of the shows that get deleted are 2nd string shows anyway.

Posted by: Sirius Black

I probably watch more TV than I did before but in my case it is because of a suggestion that TiVo recorded a couple times and I finally decided to watch (Babylon 5). I remember specifically avoiding this show when it was on originally but now I can't get enough of it. I won't cover why because that's not the point of this discussion but if it weren't for the suggestion I would continue to avoid B5 because of what I thought I was about previously. The same goes with That 70's Show (which for some reason has stalled in 1978 for the last few years).

Reuters makes much of it's money from advertising so if there is a product that helps the general public avoid advertising they are going to do whatever they can to make it seem evil when in fact it is not good or evil. It just is.

Edit: Minor grammatical change

Posted by: kitsap

I didn't realize Reuters made any money (except perhaps an almost inconsequential amount) from advertising. :confused:

In any event, though, I thought the story was very pro-Tivo: It made it sound like people love their Tivos "too much"! :)

Posted by: sieglinde

I watch more TV than I used to because now I can find a lot of documentaries and other shows that I did not even know were on. Also I am more likely to record late night shows and watch them later.

Posted by: timckelley

I watch the same amount as before... but now it's higher quality stuff instead of channel-surfing/watching last half of a movie that looks good. It's nice now to always see movies in their entirety.

Posted by: comakid

I currently have two tivos, both of them modified to support 298 hours of basic quality... And 81 hours 54 minutes of high quality. I find that I actually spend less time watching TV then I did before the tivos. The second TiVo is to record shows that conflict with my higher priority shows.

I currently work second shift so I have to record the shows that I want to watch. Before the tivos I had three vcrs. I watch the shows on Saturday or Sunday. Using a VCR to ff or rewind causes a lot of headaches. I can now watch the shows that I want to watch, instead of channel surfing. My channel surfing is now confined to the guide data.

Posted by: sieglinde

Now I have added another anime series to my Tivo. I would have never bothered when I only had a VCR. (Weird, I thought I did not like anime, but Reign: the Conquoror is very intriguing.)

Posted by: eMarkM

I do some of the things mentioned, not much though. I gotten into a groove with my 40hr box where I will watch most of what I really want to watch within a couple of days. Plenty of time before they get zapped. There's never any tension to watch everything I have recorded. I'm aware of the shows I really want to see and "untiidelete" them.

Another kind of odd TiVo behavior not mentioned: I have never--not once--done any channel flipping since I've set up TiVo six months ago. However, that activity has been replaced by "Guide Searches". I'll go through the Showcases, and flip through my favorite channels for the next two weeks looking for stuff to record beyond what I have passes for. I get paranoid thinking there's something really cool that I'll miss if I don't periodically do comprehensive searches of the guide. This can be more time consuming as channel flipping, though you only have to do it once a week.

Posted by: AJRitz

I think they got the facts right in the article, just not the interpretation. I have tons of shows on my upgraded DirecTivo - a lot of it movies from the Premium channels. But I don't feel any particular pressure to watch them. I record them so that I end up with a rather nice video library available at the touch of a few buttons - almost my very own video on demand system. Every few weeks I literally scroll through the entire guide listing of the "Movies" category, and record a few more.

Heck, my biggest problem is making sure that I don't set to record again a movie that I've already recorded and just haven't gotten around to watching yet.