 dddane
join:2002-01-10
Chicago, IL
1 edit | reply to fiberguy
Re: Price said by fiberguy  Either way, that's still an insane price to pay for a piece of hardware you have to buy/purchase yourself.. I think it's ridiculous that you're FORCED to pay a subscription fee to use THEIR guide in the first place.
Why can't a user simply purchase a Tivo and use it like a VCR? Why can't there be an option to simply set a start and stop time.. time shift live TV?
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I think they're loosing subs becuase they're the same price as cable and satellite (sometimes the providers are cheaper) and the hardware from the operators work seamless with their service.. Maybe Tivo needs to simply get a clue and get with the picture, or go away.
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in short, because it's not the guide you're paying for. they're subsidizing the boxes up front (just as your cable company does...) in order to get your subscription fees. they didn't always operate on the heavy-subscription business model, they switched to this about two years ago when people started fleeing for cheaper alternatives.
if you ask me, the biggest weakness Tivo has right now is they *REQUIRE* you to get a cablecard if you want an HD box. cable companies are making cablecards difficult (though they're legally required to provide/allow them), and cablecards can't do "on demand" .. and satellite subscribers are completely left in the dark--you can't use an HD Tivo with Directv or Dish (unless it's a Dish or Directv issued DVR). that's a death sentence really if there ever was one.
there are other places where tivo *could* make up for the shortcomings of these issues.. they could have super-dooper built in DVD recorders, built-in gaming, web browsers, and the whole 9. but their features are really limited. they do have Netflix streaming, I'll give them that. but they stopped making the Tivos with built-in DVD burners. their only web interface to initiate recordings to your tivo is too asynchronous and clunky. my mythTV 8 years ago could do twice as much as what a Tivo in 2009 can do.
i still buy a few tivos here and there for work, simply because as a business comcast will NOT provide you their own branded DVR. which pretty much forces the hand to needing a Tivo. |
