 KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| reply to curtis33
Re: How can you patent something you did not invent??? That's missing the point of my post, somewhat. Completely accurate as to the situation now, but my post was a hypothetical if ReplayTV had stayed around and continued inventing and patenting then Tivo wouldn't be able to have exclusive control of patents they've been granted since, if you will. Especially if you'd consider prior art or extensions of existing technology (obviousness).
Don't get me wrong, I don't think Tivo sucks or anything like that, but I do dislike business models which consist of forcing other companies to pay or consumers to pay for services or fees they should be getting already included or available free.
One day I will build my own full on Media Center/DVR HD system and it will be a moot point, but basically the way it looks now, whether I choose DBS or Cable, I'm going to have be paying Tivo extra fees if I want DVR features. Whether directly to Tivo or via my provider's bills for their inbuilt payments to Tivo really matters not to me. :/
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"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
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| said by KrK:basically the way it looks now, whether I choose DBS or Cable, I'm going to have be paying Tivo extra fees if I want DVR features. Whether directly to Tivo or via my provider's bills for their inbuilt payments to Tivo really matters not to me. :/ Does any cable or DBS company currently provide DVRs without charging a monthly DVR fee? |
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KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Not that I'm aware of. Note the word "Extra". |
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 jmn1207Premium
join:2000-07-19
Ashburn, VA | reply to curtis33
said by curtis33:said by KrK:basically the way it looks now, whether I choose DBS or Cable, I'm going to have be paying Tivo extra fees if I want DVR features. Whether directly to Tivo or via my provider's bills for their inbuilt payments to Tivo really matters not to me. :/ Does any cable or DBS company currently provide DVRs without charging a monthly DVR fee? Now you are simply getting into the marketing semantics of the cable industry. There is no such thing as a free DVR, it's either incorporated into the overall price of the service, or broken out to give the appearance that the service is less expensive.
The cable conglomerates are fighting to maintain control of this revenue stream by creating ridiculous installation charges to set up a CableCard for a third party DVR or a TV that uses such a card. (Verizon charges $75 just to pair a CableCard!) They try to make it seem like they are doing the customer a favor by providing a $15-$20 box for each TV, yet they continually make it extremely difficult for Tivo or Moxi to offer similar services with regards to pay-per-view or on-demand features in an effort to keep customers tied to their own devices.
DVR's are money makers, and they keep the perceived cost of cable TV down, and nobody is giving these away for free outside of a promotional gimmick. |
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| reply to curtis33
Dish network, circa 1999ish-single tuner? "PVR" But after hardware cost, no monthly service fee. |
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| reply to curtis33
said by curtis33:Does any cable or DBS company currently provide DVRs without charging a monthly DVR fee? Dish network, circa 1999ish-single tuner? "PVR" But after hardware cost, no monthly service fee. |
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