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TiVo story in the Boston Globe.
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Posted by: NoteTaker

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/1..._forward+.shtml

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Posted by: stevel

Nice article - though Replay should be steaming about it, because it says Replay units "are no longer being sold".

The author interviewed me for 40 minutes, but none of what I said made it into the article. Oh well.. Guess my 15 minutes of fame haven't come yet! http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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Steve (Sony SVR-2000, 103+ hours, TiVoNET!)

Posted by: Connie

I'm sure you gave her necessary background, though, and confirmed the stuff that she got right!

Posted by: MikeCG

This is one of the more astute articles about Tivo that I've read. It really captures the pros and cons, and the problems of conveying to others why I love it so much.

Posted by: stevel

The article appears on the front page of today's Boston Globe and has two photographs and a graphic not included in the web version. The front-page photo is of Hank Eskin of Brookline, MA, watching a Star Trek (classic) episode he recorded (he's a bit too close to the TV for reality, but they probably posed this). The continuation on page A22 shows Eskin's living room, with a TiVo doll clearly visible on top of the TV (and facing the camera!) The graphic lists various TV-related technologies (color TV, VCR, satellite, DVD, HDTV and DVR), for each listing its origins, when it first appeared in homes, and market penetration.

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Steve (Sony SVR-2000, 103+ hours, TiVoNET!)

Posted by: henryhank

quote:
Originally posted by stevel:
The front-page photo is of Hank Eskin of Brookline, MA, watching a Star Trek (classic) episode he recorded

That would be me.. and here's what I just posted in the Happy-Hour forum (in this thread that lead up to the article:
http://www.avsforum.com/ubbtivo/Forum3/HTML/001383.html )

I just got the paper... the article is on the FRONT PAGE. And for those of you that see the photo... while many may consider me a "techie" - I am NOT a "trekkie" (as evidence in the photo may suggest otherwise). That's just what happened to be on live TV when they were taking the photos. (Although she did ask me to pause it on "Bones"). Earlier in the day I had watched and deleted everything from "Now Playing", not knowing I would be photographed later in the day. (Life with a 14hr unit.) Oh well...at least now I can say I've been on the front page of the Boston Globe.

In addition, stevel is correct - the first photo is totally posed - my face was practically touching the screen. I'm surprised they used the second shot, since the photographer just took it as a "reference" shot, but it is much better than the first. The first shot is not very good, and I can't believe it was the best one she shot - I HAVE MY EYES CLOSED! There were several where I didn't look like a zombie that would have been better.

But overall it's a great article, and I'm glad to have been able to help the cause.

-Hank

Posted by: destek

Yea - a good article that highlights the frustrations I think are driving the TIVO people nuts.
Just the other day I overhead my TOTALY non-tech wife telling friend that TIVO is really great. She told them "the kids wind up watching better shows, and Dan and I never miss our favorites. At first we watched it way too much - but now we watch less TV - but not the garbage shows."
Wow - you have to know my wife - a woman who grew up in south Georgia without a TV in the house - a woman who doesn't like nerdy things. She gets it. But she didn't at first. She thought it was an expensive toy.
It seams the best way to get people convinced is to let them HAVE one for a month - then try and take it away. Blood will most assuredly be shed. What a business model though. Can you all see Richard in front of some VC's saying - "we build these things that cost us about $1000 each - and give them away. Hey - wait a minute - come back - no really I'm not done yet....

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Posted by: arjay

quote:
Originally posted by stevel:
Nice article - though Replay should be steaming about it, because it says Replay units "are no longer being sold".

I guess the reference to ReplayTV is in the paper article only which you mention in later posts.

Somehow it's confusing that Panasonic sells ReplayTV units.

Did TIVO ever sell TIVOs under their own brand like ReplayTV sold ReplayTV's?

Somehow nobody cares about who makes TIVO and UTV while there's concern about ReplayTV.

I'd guess sales numbers for ReplayTV and UTV may be similiar. Does anyone know? The article says UTV ain't talking.

[This message has been edited by arjay (edited 07-15-2001).]

Posted by: stevel

Right - the Replay reference is in the graphic.

As far as I know, TiVo never sold boxes under its own brand.

Why should it be any more confusing that Panasonic sells Replay boxes when Sony and Philips sell TiVo boxes? I suppose the difference is that Replay DID sell boxes under its own name, then stopped doing so.

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Steve (Sony SVR-2000, 103+ hours, TiVoNET!)

Posted by: arjay

quote:
Originally posted by stevel:

Why should it be any more confusing that Panasonic sells Replay boxes when Sony and Philips sell TiVo boxes? I suppose the difference is that Replay DID sell boxes under its own name, then stopped doing so.

I agree.

On the whole I thought the article not bad.

Just repeating the word TIVO a few thousand times in the public arena would do good, but the article covers the whole phoenomenon more than adequately. No new news for those with Frequent Forum Miles but why should there be?

I don't understand the user proselytizer mentality but what does that matter? I enjoy TV and TV recorders of all stripes. But the world wouldn't end tomorrow if TV couldn't be recorded by any means. It was like that for the first 30 years or so. (I remember seeing my first VCR up close in the early 80's--I wasn't an early adapter of that technology.)

In fact for 15 years or so from 1960 'til the mid '70's I didn't own a TV set. Heard about the Kennedy assasination on the radio (was home sick with a godawful cold that day from college) and saw the moonlanding on a TV in a restaurant I was in at the time.

It's only a matter of time before everybody has one of these gadgets though, probably around the time that all TV goes digital. There's no rush.

I'm interested in seeing how the marketing battle between DirecTIVO and UTV plays out. Dishplayer spoiled me; I'd much rather have a cheap Dishplayer with no recorder fee than an expensive UTV that you have to pay monthly service for. I tried WebTV on the Dishplayer for a free month (when my monitor was in the shop) and it was very stable and worked OK given the limitations of a TV as a monitor, but it can't seriously compete with even the cheapest computer. Since UTV costs even more than DirecTIVO and is a simpler gadget the competition will be a good test of marketing and money.

Posted by: Otto

quote:
Originally posted by arjay:
I don't understand the user proselytizer mentality

Well, really, this phenomenon (which has occured with many different products) is pretty simple to explain. It's a natural reaction, I think. Look at it this way, when I first tried to understand what the Tivo did, at first I didn't get it (as many others here can also say). Then, once you get it, it's like the light shining in and suddenly you understand it. It's a small paradigm shift that occurs to you. Naturally, at that point, you tend to think, "wow! that's a damn neat idea!" and then the tendancy to tell others comes into play.

Now, I don't want to draw the comparison to a religion because a lot of people's minds shut down or people think, "what's he blabbering on about now?", but a lot of religious wackos I know are the same way. They had a sudden and complete understanding of something they can't fully explain, and suddenly they're off to some hidden island somewhere to spread the word. This has happened to at least 3 people I know (no, I'm not kidding). The principle is the same, just without the same depth of feeling. Hey, it's only TV, right?

Anyway, it's the same type of thing. Sudden understanding, of anything, is followed by desire for help bring enlightenment to others. Natural human reaction.

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<FONT size="1">Otto, Zen TiVo Master - Moderator - AVS Tivo Forums - Tivo Underground, Tivo Coffee House
"The way of the portable computer user is as a stony path strewn with plugs and sockets, all the wrong size..." -- Terry Pratchett</FONT s>

Posted by: NoteTaker

Otto,

It is called a moment of clarity.

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14 hours no more. Now 127 hours. Thanks DigitalVideo 2Go
Version 2.0.1

Posted by: Pan Chun

quote:
Originally posted by NoteTaker:
Otto,

It is called a moment of clarity.

Surely akin to an epiphany...

Posted by: shabadoo25

quote:
Originally posted by arjay:

I don't understand the user proselytizer mentality but what does that matter? I enjoy TV and TV recorders of all stripes. But the world wouldn't end tomorrow if TV couldn't be recorded by any means.

When I first got TiVo, I just considered it a high-end vcr that recorded my favorite shows. I watched them shortly after they were recorded, deleted them and kept the machine fairly empty.

Now I have 2 units and they are constantly full. I watch what I have time to watch (zapping ads, of course) and don't worry about what I miss/what gets recorded over.

Other than sporting events for trick play, the thought of going back to vcr's and dependency on "what's on this moment" live tv with commercials would DEFINITELY be a major turnoff.

Posted by: dmaneyapanda

quote:
Originally posted by arjay:
Did TIVO ever sell TIVOs under their own brand like ReplayTV sold ReplayTV's?

Yes, they did, briefly. AFAIK, it was the same box as you now get from philips or sony, but with a smaller HD (a 14 hour unit, there may have even been a smaller one originally), and a different exterior. Perhaps there have been other hardware improvements since then, I don't know, but I'm almost positive the initial philips units were identical to the tivo branded ones.

dinesh

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Posted by: T-Wolves

quote:
Originally posted by destek:
It seams the best way to get people convinced is to let them HAVE one for a month - then try and take it away. Blood will most assuredly be shed

I have to agree. I bought my first TiVo when the 14-hour models went on clearance & I knew I could upgrade one to a 50+ hours relatively cheaply.

It sounded like a neat gadget. But I had no idea. No idea how much this was going to change things. Having a buffer on live TV and being able to pause it at will is something that cannot be fully appreciated until you've had it for a few months. Ditto for the ability to go back & slow-mo something you didn't quite catch the first time. And being able to search for programs that I'm interested in has led to me to discover a whole slew of programs & channels that I otherwise might never have found.

And as a sports fan, I'm sure you'll all agree that there is no better way to watch a football or basketball broadcast than via a TiVo recording.

Posted by: arjay

quote:
Originally posted by arjay:
I don't understand the user proselytizer mentality

Originally posted by Otto:

Well, really, this phenomenon (which has occured with many different products) is pretty simple to explain. It's a natural reaction, I think. Look at it this way, when I first tried to understand what the Tivo did, at first I didn't get it (as many others here can also say). Then, once you get it, it's like the light shining in and suddenly you understand it. It's a small paradigm shift that occurs to you. Naturally, at that point, you tend to think, "wow! that's a damn neat idea!" and then the tendancy to tell others comes into play.

Now, I don't want to draw the comparison to a religion because a lot of people's minds shut down or people think, "what's he blabbering on about now?", but a lot of religious wackos I know are the same way. They had a sudden and complete understanding of something they can't fully explain, and suddenly they're off to some hidden island somewhere to spread the word. This has happened to at least 3 people I know (no, I'm not kidding). The principle is the same, just without the same depth of feeling. Hey, it's only TV, right?

Anyway, it's the same type of thing. Sudden understanding, of anything, is followed by desire for help bring enlightenment to others. Natural human reaction.

I understand about having an epiphany.

I guess I should have said I don't understand the TIVO proselytizer mentality.

TIVOvangelists take the product, not the concept, so personally!

The concept of dedicating a computer to recording TV programs on a disc drive and playing them back instantly is indeed an extremely clever application. But it seems a natural, knowing how computers work and what they can do.

All video disc recorders record the same way (taking the satellite VBR variation into account). Why this personal identification with the TIVO product?

TIVO has the most sophisticated computerized program search features, true. But that's the frosting on the cake. All the recorders have a program search capability of some kind. Just the ability to click on a title in the guide to record is a quantum leap from entering a VCR+ number and that ability came before disc recorders.

Why does TIVO get this intense personal response to its product, one that is far stronger than any other recorder of any kind has ever gotten?

I'm guessing it has little to do with the technology per se but rather with a personal identification TIVOvangelists make with TIVO's interpretation of the technology.

I don't take this technology personally. It's neat, but so much stuff is these days. I don't really understand much beyond the most basic of the concepts. But that's been true ever since integrated circuit chips replaced transistors. All the current crop of recorders seem miraculous to me.

Perhaps what's going on is a replay (oops, poor choice of words) of the old Chevy vs. Ford battles from the last century. I wonder if early Model T owners were just as enthusiastic?

[This message has been edited by arjay (edited 07-17-2001).]