A Tivo Cautionary Tale

[nidan]

3. I've had a couple of TIVO units die on me. In both cases, I received a replacement at no charge (and in the second instance, told not to bother returning the damaged unit). The key is to deal with Phillips or Thomson and not DirecTV (In the end, all they'll do is refer you to the mfgr anyway).

Or in my case Hughes and it was Direct TV support that executed my old unit but ...

Its here Fedex deliver my new unit, life is good again and within a few hours I will be delivered from the evil of TV schedules.

 

[CardLogic]

Tivo changes your life. Once you buy one, you'll wonder how you ever survived without one.

...before my DVRs, my favorite tv shows controlled my schedule.

What if your favorite show moves from Thursday to Tuesday one week and you didn't know?

...but for you Tivo-less folks out there I have this to ask. How do you survive?

Holy Crap! Here's a suggestion for all of you... turn the freakin' TV off once in a while.

Sounds like some of you would sit and stare at the TV just to see sh*t roll off the top of the box!!!

For cryin' out loud! Get off the couch once in a while!!!

 

[Bada0Bing]

I think that's the point. You can turn the TV off. Watch when you have time. You don't have to plan your schedule pertaining to your favorite shows, sporting events, etc...

 

[vikesfan]

Nidan-

With all due respect, you are the kind of consumer that could ruin free TV sports as we now know it.

The endless pursuit of convience at any cost is just what professional sports owners want you to do. If they can pursuade enough people to purchase direct links to satellite programming for a hefty enough fee, free TV games will be a thing of the past.

Take the new NFL network for example: if you want it, you must buy Direct TV. Cable companies won't carry it, due to the fee the NFL demands for the programming, and non NFL fans would howl if the cable companies passed the extra cost on to subscribers. The NFL wants it's most hard core fans hooked up to Direct TV, so they can SELL games to them during the season.

Oh those pesky commercials ...

They actually pay the salaries of most NFL football players. Well, the commercials themselves don't pay any salaries, it's the people in this entire country that buy those products advertised during free NFL football telecasts that actually pay the salaries. It's the economy of the United States at work.

The commercials are for going to the fridge etc...

A few years ago, the big thing was digital cable, now the big thing is high def. So we are expected to go out, buy a big new high def TV, hook it up to our digital cable, only to learn we need to buy Voom, since cable doesn't have much HDTV. And free enterprise rolls along.

I get the newspaper. On sundays, the TV guide comes in it. If there's a program I want to watch bad enough, that I'm not home for, I have 3 VCR's, and they'll even edit out the commercials for you.

Dude you are way off base blaming Nidan. The owners greed has ruined and will ruin free tv sports. Buying a Tivo won't do it. I have had to draw the line I pikced the Vikings (and now Cards) as my one expense I will not pay for anything else.

 

[Russ Smith]

Mike-

Progress?

Progress was the invention of the home video recorder. Before that happened, there was no way to do it. Tivo just made it easier.

Every time a newer faster chip is introduced, equipment must be replaced. A better question would be: why don't they just sell the big one right off the bat? Answer: they make more money by getting you to buy it in smaller increments.

IQUOTE]

Chips are constantly getting faster but it's a cycle, speed doubles every 18 months or something like that. it's not just a make more money thing it's that the industry is constantly coming up with some invention or improvement that allows it.

The funny thing is that I keep reading that chips are getting so fast and tolerances on a chip so small that the chips are heating up more and more and that's why we're going to see bigger and bigger fans in anything that has a chip. So the chip gets smaller, but the fan gets bigger and the overall package stays the same size.

 

[Russ Smith]

Yes, I remember when cell phones weighed 30 lbs, and when people used them to actually talk to one another, instead of using e-mail.

I'm not against technology, but I think a lot of it is redundant to what already exists.

As PT Barnum said- "there's a sucker born every minute."

I agree to an extent. We have email, voicemail, regular phone, cellphone and pager, all to make it easier to contact each other. Fact is I spend so much time responding to all this contact, I do LESS than I did before. During our company move my cell bill went from 50 bucks to 238 bucks because so many people "had" to talk to me. it's nonsense, I stopped carrying my pager when I broke my elbow(clip it to my left pocket and couldn't grab it with a broken left elbow), people got used to me not responding to pages, so now I don't have to carry it and I'm going to give it back soon.

People keep touting VOIP(my company included) and one of the "cool" features is the universal inbox where you can get voice or email messages, and in some systems a universal phone that you take with you, plug in to the net, and your phone calls(home or work or both) follow you. so if you're in Hawaii, and I call your house, it rings in hawaii, now who in their right mind WANTS that? I go on vacation to get away from all that, why would I bring it with me?

Like Lex I'm TiVO less but in my case it's simply I have so many things already attached to my tv I hate to buy something else, and I'm saving the money for a November trip to Australia and New Zealand, but I fully intend to buy one eventually.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

Holy Crap! Here's a suggestion for all of you... turn the freakin' TV off once in a while.

Sounds like some of you would sit and stare at the TV just to see sh*t roll off the top of the box!!!

For cryin' out loud! Get off the couch once in a while!!!

You missed the point...the point of Tivo is so you can tape what you want and watch it when you want...like after you've been outside getting fresh air!

You actually waste LESS time than if you watched it live, because being able to skip the commercials cuts off a lot of time from the show you're watching.

Mike

 

[Ryanwb]

To be completely honest, since I got TIVO I actully watch MORE TV. Its rather embarassing....

Actually my wife wants me to call and see about getting another TIVO for our bedroom, so while I'm watching my shows, she can watch her's.

 

[nidan]

Its setup and slowly starting to record, by this time tomorrow life should be back to normal and I can forget the horror of being controled by TV stations. The power is mine again.

So yes this is a very good thing. Sorry about this thread folks but I needed my support group to help with the withdrawal symptoms. I'm mostly better now and will be recovered once my "Now Playing" list looks normal again.

 

[nidan]

[Chips are constantly getting faster but it's a cycle, speed doubles every 18 months or something like that. it's not just a make more money thing it's that the industry is constantly coming up with some invention or improvement that allows it.

The funny thing is that I keep reading that chips are getting so fast and tolerances on a chip so small that the chips are heating up more and more and that's why we're going to see bigger and bigger fans in anything that has a chip. So the chip gets smaller, but the fan gets bigger and the overall package stays the same size.

The first one is actauylly called Moore's law. He was the founder of Intel and actaully predicted the rate of performance increase which surprising has actaully proven to be realitvly accurate.

The head being generated by the chips getting smaller is actually caused by an effect called Quantum Tunneling. Part of Quantum phtiscs suggests that you cannot actually predict exactly where an elction is (not an accurate description but a good 21st order overview).

The result of this is that there is a certain volume in which an election can be, which means as the size of the ciruouts more statrs to appraoch this scale. An election can actually be on both sides of a gate, the result is current leakage (aka heat).

There seems to be nothing that can be done about this as it is a basic principle of Quantum Mechanics so Moore's law is in trouble a few years out from here. They are going to have to radivly change the approach to electionics to get smaller that this.

 

[ajcardfan]

Someday, we won't need a TV period. We'll just get a chip implanted in our brain to instantly access any entertainment we desire, anywhere, anytime. Our neural circuits have almost unlimited storage capacity, dwarfing a 1000 TIVOs.

It'll be great, really, it will.

 

[Shane]

You have a point. I just signed a lease last night on a 2 bedroom townhome (1060 square feet 1650 a month, again it's Cupertino CA that's cheap here).
My girlfriend and I had been looking for a while, this was the best deal in terms of price and available (july 1 so no overlap in rent). BUT, the guy has Dish network and when I asked if I could get Directv he rolled his eyes, said the homeowners association was a bear, and he'd prefer I not get it. In the end I wasn't able to make a convincing argument to him, or to my girlfriend that NFL Sunday ticket was more important than taking the best deal and a nice place.

I still think I might be able to just rig the dish on a stand in the patio, run the cord through an open screen door and get away with it but I'm not sure yet if I'll try it since technically the owner doesn't want me to.

The reality is most of us probably would be quite willing to pay for whatever game we want to see, and you're right the NFL is clearly headed that way.

Russ that is a bogus argument from the owner. If they already have Dish Network then the Association obviously has no problem with a dish being set up. So all you have to do is take down the Dish Network dish and put up the Direct TV one. You can replace the other one when you leave.

 

[CardinalMike]

I turned an older computer of mine into a "TIVO" except a little better. I have the option of choosing what file type I want to save it as and the size depends on the quality. I have a DVD+/- burner as well so I was planning on recording and burning all the Cardinals games this year and possibly making a highlight DVD for myself/family/friends etc. At any rate if people want copies of games I would be willing to burn some on regular CD-R and send them out free of charge during the course of the season.

Cardinal Mike!!

 

[Shane]

I turned an older computer of mine into a "TIVO" except a little better. I have the option of choosing what file type I want to save it as and the size depends on the quality. I have a DVD+/- burner as well so I was planning on recording and burning all the Cardinals games this year and possibly making a highlight DVD for myself/family/friends etc. At any rate if people want copies of games I would be willing to burn some on regular CD-R and send them out free of charge during the course of the season.

Cardinal Mike!!

Thats nice of you Mike. But I would at least charge for shipping etc...... Do you realize how many requests you might get? Could get pricey.

 

[Shane]

Someday, we won't need a TV period. We'll just get a chip implanted in our brain to instantly access any entertainment we desire, anywhere, anytime. Our neural circuits have almost unlimited storage capacity, dwarfing a 1000 TIVOs.

It'll be great, really, it will.

That would be sweet!

 

[CardLogic]

The first one is actauylly called Moore's law. He was the founder of Intel and actaully predicted the rate of performance increase which surprising has actaully proven to be realitvly accurate.

The head being generated by the chips getting smaller is actually caused by an effect called Quantum Tunneling. Part of Quantum phtiscs suggests that you cannot actually predict exactly where an elction is (not an accurate description but a good 21st order overview).

The result of this is that there is a certain volume in which an election can be, which means as the size of the ciruouts more statrs to appraoch this scale. An election can actually be on both sides of a gate, the result is current leakage (aka heat).

There seems to be nothing that can be done about this as it is a basic principle of Quantum Mechanics so Moore's law is in trouble a few years out from here. They are going to have to radivly change the approach to electionics to get smaller that this.

I think that nidan just pledged to the PWI fraternity!

 

[nidan]

I have no clue what you are talking about.

 

[NavyVet]

Russ that is a bogus argument from the owner. If they already have Dish Network then the Association obviously has no problem with a dish being set up. So all you have to do is take down the Dish Network dish and put up the Direct TV one. You can replace the other one when you leave.

I hear this story about HOA's prohibiting installations of satellite disks all too often and people just let it go without a fight, unaware that a law was passed to deal with this issue specifically.

http://www.ccfj.net/FCClaw.htm

an excerpt:

Until January 1, 1997, Homeowner Associations could prohibit a homeowner from putting a satellite dish on his roof. With passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, your local HOA is prohibited from enforcing local laws banning, or even delaying mounting of, a satellite dish that is less than 39 inches (1 meter) in diameter. What's more, they can't even require you to request permission to put the dish on your roof! And once it's up, they can't make you take it down or even move it unless you have either created a safety hazard (which they have to prove to the FCC) or you live in a historic district (listed in the National Register of Historic Places).

 

[CardLogic]

I have no clue what you are talking about.

PWI - Posting While Intoxicated (thread in Everything Else forum); just kidding you about all of the mispellings / misusage of words in your "Moore's Law" post. You're generally more articulate!

 

[nidan]

Or a terrible typist

 

[MadCardDisease]

My wife and I absolutely love our TIVO! I don't know if we could survive with out it.

We just set our Season Pass to record our favorite shows and then never have to worry about recording them. That allows us to watch them when we want to and skip all of the commercials.

The pause feature is great! Just last night we were watching one of our favorite shows and one of our friends came over to visit with their kids. We just paused the the show and popped in a DVD for the kids. When they left we just resumed the show were we left off.

I don't even use my VCR any more.

 

[Lex]

That was an interesting debate ...

I'm personally going to wait as long as possible to update the equipment in the crib, my current equipment is less than 8 years old, I've got about 4 grand invested in it, and I'm thrifty.

 

[Pariah]

That was an interesting debate ...

I'm personally going to wait as long as possible to update the equipment in the crib, my current equipment is less than 8 years old, I've got about 4 grand invested in it, and I'm thrifty.

If you're going to use words like "crib" in reference to your house or apartment, it's mandatory that you have the latest electronic equipment (which includes TiVo). Also, whenever showing someone your bedroom, you must say "...and this is where the magic happens..."

 

[Pariah]

Just last night we were watching one of our favorite shows and one of our friends came over to visit with their kids.

Why do you have your friends' kids? And, more importantly, why do let them just pop in like that to visit with them?

 

[Russ Smith]

Russ that is a bogus argument from the owner. If they already have Dish Network then the Association obviously has no problem with a dish being set up. So all you have to do is take down the Dish Network dish and put up the Direct TV one. You can replace the other one when you leave.

I assume the dish mount would give me the right line of sight, but again I am renting this guys' house, I don't want to do anything to give him cause to boot me out. I'd rather get in there, show the guy I'm a good tenant, and then ask him nicely if I can do it.

Then I'll start having the parties with the strippers and stuff (-: