TiVo and Video-on-demand? informal poll

[andicap]

Like to know for a story I am writing

1. How many of you have heard of TiVo?

IF so, can you briefly explain what it does and whether you think it's neat or not.

2. How many of you have heard of "video-on-demand" or "on-demand?"

Can you say what it is and whether you think it's neat or not?


Thanks

[kingfin66]

I have heard of TiVo.

I think it is 'neat' and even useful. What I think it is is a digital video recorder. It is basically a box with a hard drive that allows you to record your favorite programs in digital, as opposed to analog, format. That is the recording part. TiVo itself is actually the service that gives you this capability. For only $9.99/mo you can have access to TiVo. I'm actually considering getting it.

On Demand is something I know less about. I have DirecTv service now. I think On Demand refers to the ability to watch movies on cable when you want to watch them without regard to actual starting times.

I switching to Comcast when I move and will be able to tell you then whether it is neat. It sounds neat.

Did you get my e-mai about the great NW?

[Dave Schwartz]

Andicap,

We have both a DVR service from our cable company and VoD.

They are both tremendous.

In The Road Ahead Bill Gates spoke of "what's coming." The first thing he talked about was asynchronus communication as changing our lives. One example was VoD and DVRs. Boy was he right!

My wife and I have a handful of TV shows which we watch together. The DVR allows us to watch them whenever we want.

VoD with our cable package gives us free access to any movie that HBO, Showtime, Cinemax or Starz shows any time we want. When we want to watch a movie, we sit down and pick from maybe 75-100 movies.

If we don't find anything that we haven't already seen (we see about 35 first-run movies per year in the theatre), we turn to the actual pay-version of the service and look for something we haven't seen before. At $3.99 it is about the same price that we'd pay in the video store.

Since I am betting you are working on an article for the entertainment industry, I will assume that you'd like to know what change this has had on our habits, so I'll continue a bit. (For those of you that don't know, Andy is an accomplished writer in that industry. Just do a Google of Andy Grossman.)

Before VoD we'd take in an extra 10-15 movies in the theatre each year. (At one time we'd go to more than 60-70 movies per year!) The real reason we don't go as often is because more and more movies now fall into the category of "video" as the quality of movies, even with name stars, has seriously dropped.

We would also rent 150-200 movies per year at the video store! This year we have yet to rent a movie because we have a great collection of those "video-category" movies which we skipped in the theatre and now wait for on the pay-for version of VoD. (And we never buy DVDs.)

BTW, one other use of the DVR is to search for old movies that we want to see again. I sat down one day looking for old movies to record on the DVR. After about 10 minutes of searching the upcoming movie listings alphabetically I had found 4 or 5 movies to record in the next couple of days and I had only gone through the C's!

I actually gave up the practice of doing that because we hardly ever watch them - too much new stuff. Although I did get the urge to watch Vanishing Point - Beth was way disappointed in my choice - guess my old movie tastes just don't agree with her.

Oh, and one more thing... I almost never watch a commercial any more. I just fast-forward through them.

Hope this helps.

Dave

[cj]

I know of TiVO. I don't have one, and I doubt I will. I think it sounds great, but I know I'd never use it. I know how many times I used to tape sporting events and other shows, and then just never bothered to watch them.

When I last visited the US, my brother had digital cable with On Demand for HBO and a few others. I thought it was great. No need to worry about setting up anything, just decide what you want to watch, and in a minute, you are watching it. The difference is you can only watch what is on the menu, whereas with TiVo you can watch whatever you decided to record.

[Tom]

I have DVR and digital cable - both suck big time! DVR box makes more racket than a '57 jalopy - all night long. Damn thing always freezes up, loses channels, and will not record about 10% of the time, which is OK because the so-called digital cable is worse than rabbit ears. Even the best channels are substandard quality.

I have on set with satelittle and it so far superior to cable it is not funny. I am going to drop cable and go to Dish with Tivo. Every single Dish channel is perfect quality, in three years, I have only lost service ONCE!, during a severe T-storm, where it literally got black as night at 4pm one day - and even then, it was back on if less than 5 minutes. Cable, however, goes out frequently in sunny, clear dry days.

On demand is OK, but frequently, you cannot buy an event because the cable box malfuntions. When it works, it's nice to have the movie for 24 hours.

[DJofSD]

Tivo - a wonderful product that is sometimes difficult to explain how nice it is to have and use. And once I get a system on my wireless network to burn my DVD's, I'll be even happier. (I'm waiting to upgrade my main desktop to a system with a dual core processor and it will have a burner.)

There's lot's of nice features. Some more obvious than others. For example, the ability to instantly replay something in you watched in the last six seconds. This is a selling point and one I'm sure every one knows about. But did you know you can program the remote to be able to quickly skip over commercials? Set it to jump in 30 second increments then just punch it 6 or 8 times and you're back into watching your prerecorded program, not the commercials.

For me the thing I appreciate the most is no tapes and no hassle to manage them. It's so much easier with a DVR than trying to remember to record these programs for the kids, switch out the tape because you are wanting to record that 2 hour long program and the tape doesn't have that much left on it. Then there's that movie from years ago you see is being broadcast in the middle of the day (or night) but would like to keep and have on it's own tape. With Tivo, you just set the "To Do" list and forget it.

Having the equivalent of the TV Guide in a data base is nice. You can browse by channel or by subject like movies or sporting events to see what's on the horizon. Sometimes scheduling sports events or program adjacent to sporting events can be tricky and frustrating. But Tivo allows to you fudge the start and stop times so you can catch that program regardless if it goes into overtime or is delayed because of extra innings.

If you want to record every single episode you can use Season Pass. Tivo will record you favorite program faithfully even when it's month after the seaon starts -- it just keeps going and going and going. If you like something that is broadcast by a channel over and over again like "Most Extreme" on Animal Planet, you can modify the Season Pass to only record new episodes -- and they'll be the ones that are new for you since it keeps track (again, in the data base) of what programs you've seen already. Nice to not have to hear the rug rat complain -- hey, I've seen this one already!

I like "Good Eats". Alton Brown is just enough off-the-wall to be entertaining and his approach to cooking is just right -- don't get bogged down in details if it's not really important but he does explain the specifics that will make your efforts a success. I can set up the Tivo to record the episodes over a week or so then watch a bunch of them in one sitting (and not becoming disappointed when the program is about cooking egg plant -- skip that program, right now).

View on demand. Been waiting for it for a long time. If I could sit down to watch a movie from a producer or director that I just learned about that would be wonderful. Case in point: I only heard about "The Matrix" and the "W" bros after it had been out already in the theaters and had stopped showing. I finally "caught up" when the DVD came out. Was very lucky to then read about "Bound" to then find it the following week in the store. (I haven't seen it on the shelves since)

Yes, there's Amazon but my movie watching is more or less geared towards right now as opposed to ordering it online then waiting. That's probably why I haven't used that DVD rental through-the-mail service.

DJofSD

[JustRalph]

Dishnetwork PVR works like a dream, most of the time. It is a computer......shut it down every couple of days and let it reboot and they work much better

[PaceAdvantage]

Just got my cablevision DVR and I like it so far. I hear it doesn't have all the features of TiVo (I have never had a TiVo). Before this, I was using my PC as a DVR along with a piece of software called SageTV. I use the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250 as my capture device. It works well for my needs, but the DVR is nicer since I don't have to use my PC as a storage center for these big old media files.

[andicap]

The guys who like TiVo/DVRs....did you ever use video-on-demand? If not, why not?

I'm mostly interested in why TiVo/PVRs have proved much more popular and have become more well -known, a much bigger brand if you will,than video-on-demand. On its face VOD sounds great. The story, of which part 1 ran yesterday and part 2 is next week, is about why TiVo has such a much better brand than video-on-demand.

And did anyone other than Tom have any equipment malfunctions with digital cable?

When I had digital cable I never had a single problem with ordering VOD or with the equipment. I switched to the DISH solely because it has two racing networks.

[Dave Schwartz]

Andy,

1. Tivo has simply been around longer.
2. VoD is perceived as only pay-for service.

#1 is obvious.

#2 - Our next door neighbors have had VoD for about the same time as us - perhaps 18 months. Yet, they only began using it about 6 months ago when we began telling them how cool it is. (They got the DVR after walking in on a Saturday afternoon while we were pausing an NCAA basketball game so we could talk.)

Dave

[chickenhead]

I've got On Demand through Comcast, it's great. Use it all the time, for free stuff and PPV stuff. Wish I had a DVR, but until Comcast offers it in my area I probably won't get it, don't want to buy a Tivo cause I know Comcast will offer it, so I just wait.

[chickenhead]

oh yeah, we just found that we had OnDemand one day, had no clue what it was.....no big advertising that I noticed.....maybe they need to play it up a little more?

[gillenr]

Are there any TIVO_like devices that don't require some kind of subscription - that can be programmed just like my VCRs?

[andicap]

I have heard of TiVo.

Did you get my e-mai about the great NW?

Yep, thanks for the info...can't wait to go --

[andicap]

Are there any TIVO_like devices that don't require some kind of subscription - that can be programmed just like my VCRs?


Strictly speaking you don't have to get a subscription for TiVo. You can buy the box -- they have good sales on now -- and then pay a flat fee to download the guide, etc. which you need to order the service. It's either $200 or $300 for the lifetime download and they may be selling one of the boxes for $100.
One caveat: the "lifetime" download is only for the lifetime of your box. So if you ever want to upgrade you have to pay another fee.
That screws me because I've got an ancient Series 1 TiVo box -- only 30 hours, no way to program the box over the Internet,etc. -- but damned if I'll pay another $400 or so just to get a better box.
(If you can hack,there are people who have hacked their low-tech boxes to get a bigger hard drive, more services, etc.)

[andicap]

oh yeah, we just found that we had OnDemand one day, had no clue what it was.....no big advertising that I noticed.....maybe they need to play it up a little more?

Good stuff!!! Where do you live?

I can call Comcast and find out why they haven't marketed the service. Possibly because it just arrived in your area and they generally don't do big marketing campaigns until a huge majority of the people in that market have access to the technology.

[andicap]

Andy,

1. Tivo has simply been around longer.
2. VoD is perceived as only pay-for service.

#1 is obvious.

#2 - Our next door neighbors have had VoD for about the same time as us - perhaps 18 months. Yet, they only began using it about 6 months ago when we began telling them how cool it is. (They got the DVR after walking in on a Saturday afternoon while we were pausing an NCAA basketball game so we could talk.)

Dave

So the operator in Reno -- who is it? -- hadn't been marketing VOD much?? Or marketing only the pay VoD stuff like the newer movies?

Yes, the free part of VOD is very new and many cable customers can't get that service. Comcast gives VOD content related to the basic cable channels away as well as some older movies but the new films are of course $4.00
So very few peoople know about the "free" part of VoD (you also have to have a digital cable box) because they may not have it or it's so new it hasn't been marketed much

Many other cable companies, like mine, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, either don't provide that content or charge for it some way.

Does the fact that the VoD movies are at least one month behind the video store bother you or anyone else?

[ceejay]

I have Cox DVR service (not TIVO, per se). At $5/month (and no device purchace) it is great.

I also have on-demand availablilty. Movies for purchace (selection is really to small for me). HBO, CMAX, SHOW, STARZ for free with channel subscription.

[andicap]

Andy,

1. Tivo has simply been around longer.
2. VoD is perceived as only pay-for service.

#1 is obvious.

#2 - Our next door neighbors have had VoD for about the same time as us - perhaps 18 months. Yet, they only began using it about 6 months ago when we began telling them how cool it is. (They got the DVR after walking in on a Saturday afternoon while we were pausing an NCAA basketball game so we could talk.)

Dave

So the operator in Reno -- who is it? -- hadn't been marketing VOD much?? Or marketing only the pay VoD stuff like the newer movies?

Yes, the free part of VOD is very new and many cable customers can't get that service. Comcast gives VOD content related to the basic cable channels away as well as some older movies but the new films are of course $4.00
So very few peoople know about the "free" part of VoD (you also have to have a digital cable box) because they may not have it or it's so new it hasn't been marketed much

Many other cable companies, like mine, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, either don't provide that content or charge for it some way.

Does the fact that the VoD movies are at least one month behind the video store bother you or anyone else?

[ceejay]

Does the fact that the VoD movies are at least one month behind the video store bother you or anyone else?It doesn't bother me, I just often don't VOD them.

[Dave Schwartz]

Andy,

So the operator in Reno -- who is it? -- hadn't been marketing VOD much??

Charter Communications.

Recently the marketing for VoD has changed to point out that if you subscribe to HBO, for example, then you get the HBO movies and series for free. Until then, it was just another form of Pay-Per-View to us.

We found out early on because a cable guy was over one day and explained it to us.

The major complaint is still the cost. Get this... we actually pay $115 per month for the priviledge of watching cable! And that is without a major sports package! Okay, there are 2 DVRs and HBO, Showtime, Disney, etc.

BTW, without cable in Reno, you do not even get network/local television! The reception is unbearable.


Dave

[Tom]

On Demand here is limited - a bunch of moives and things.
DVR lets me records anything-Survivor, CSI, Lou Dobbs. Great for when I travel-set DVT to cathc my favs and watch them on the weekend. Great for when you are falling asleep watching, hit the button, then watch later. Can record two things at same time - West Wing and Alias.
Best feature of all, though, is FASTFORWARD thrugh the commecials!
Of course, pause for bathroom breaks, back up and re-play a scene that I missed what they were saying.