DVR Chatter

They say it will.  Personally, if INTEGRATING two products takes 2 years (this is not development of a new idea, this is simply putting an old idea on an old platform) I'm skeptical about how workable it'll be in the real world.

Did they even spend two years developing the actual TiVo?

Probably got held up a lot in the licensing and negotiation process i.e. who pays who and what between Tivo, Motorola and Comcast.  Plus I'm sure that Motorola was probably dragged into it by Comcast and wasn't too enthused with having to help support the development of a third OS (iGuide and MS being the other two) for their box.

jganyard wrote:

Probably got held up a lot in the licensing and negotiation process i.e. who pays who and what between Tivo, Motorola and Comcast.  Plus I'm sure that Motorola was probably dragged into it by Comcast and wasn't too enthused with having to help support the development of a third OS (iGuide and MS being the other two) for their box.

I'm not sure about that first point.  You'd think that, when they announced two years ago that they had a deal in place, they - you know - had a deal in place.  Then again, you never know with this crew.

jganyard wrote:

Oh, and I hope they price it right.  I'm not sure what my threshold is.. maybe $3-4 per month?

Unless TiVo is run by total idiots (which is a distinct possibility), that price point is a pipe dream.  Why would they offer their service for a price that low on a leased HD box when it would effectively kill sales of their $700-$800 Series 3 TiVo?  (They'd also be strengthening my assertion that they bilked early adopters of the Series 3). Unless they're planning to give their Series 3 away for free with a $3-$4 monthly fee in the future, it simply wouldn't make business sense.  How would their flagship product remain competitive in that environment.

I'd look for an additional $13.95 a month to use the TiVo service on the Comcast DVR.  Definately above $9.95.

jganyard wrote:

They probably had an agreement as far as working together but didn't have the financial and logistical issues hammered out yet.  Tivo probably was hoping for a boost at the time and pushed for an early announcement since this was about the time they were losing DirecTV.

Business doesn't work that way.  They announced a deal in 2005.  A deal is a deal. There were even some financial details given at the time.

jganyard wrote:

Actually it does work that way quite a bit.  Many times there will be a memorandum of understanding/agreement signed prior to a full detailed contract being hammered out.  That is often enough for businesses to make announcements on.

Except, you know, this time, where "agreement in principal" was no where to be found but "deal" was mentioned 5 times.

"Still, some say investors overreacted to a deal in which Comcast will pay TiVo less than $1 a month for each home that gets its service. "  - However I don't know how they came up the less than $1 per sub number.  It wasn't in any of the press releases at the time.

Must have been a part of...oh, I don't know...the DEAL.  I'm sure not every aspect of the DEAL was put into the press release. Sounds like a pretty solid (if unstated in the article) number was reached.

The article also says earlier on:

"The companies haven't settled on the precise TiVo package. But Comcast is expected to offer a service that supports high-definition programming and most existing TiVo features, including one that enables users with home networks to move recorded shows to their PC." - That definately has to do with the technical possibilities and liabilities the companies had yet to resolve.

There are TiVo packages?  "Definately" according to what?

Prematurely announced as I said because of the impending doom of the DirecTV relationship (from the same article):

"The deal comes just as TiVo's relationship with DirecTV, which accounts for 62% of its 3 million subscriptions, has hit the rocks. DirecTV, run by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., offers TiVo built into its receivers but is about to introduce its own DVR service."

Not seeing where this implies it was "prematurely" announced.  It was announced when...wait for it...the DEAL was reached. Noting effect has nothing to do with proving cause.

Thanks for the article mostly backing up what I was surmising... though I'm still making assumptions (wheeee! fun!).

I guess if you read into something enough, you can make it prove whatever you want.

jganyard wrote:

BTW:  Some words other than deal the author of the article could have used if they wished:

accord, arrangement, bargain, buy, compromise, conception, contract, pact, pledge, prearrangement, transaction, understanding

Don't get me wrong, I'm not s******** on this deal.  I'll be one of the first in my area signing up if it rolls out at the right price.

Financial press is usually pretty precise in the terminology they use (even in McPaper). Folks will invest differently in a "deal" than they will in any of the other words in your list.  Then again, it seems you had a vocabulary mishap in your post, so maybe you're having a bad semantical day.

Can't wait.

Frank wrote:

Actually, in referencing your vocabulary, I was gently pointing out your abuse of the site's TOS.

I thought you were referring to "Definately". 

Hey.. first off Frank, in case you didn't get it my last post was an attempt at ending the argument but you had to go ahead and egg it on even more with your response, which I won't touch just to end it.

Secondly, I'm not sure what part of your TOS I abused?  Is it this:

"DO attempt to control your use of foul language. I personally love foul language, but some people don't. I don't want to repel potential users who don't like that sort of thing. If the need arises, word censoring may become necessary."

Because I used a variation on the four letter word for excrement?  Sorry I chose that word, if that's why you were referencing my vocabulary.  I thought it was appropriate for the feeling I was trying to convey.  Next time I'll just post links to boobies and c-section scars, or is that only allowed in the "News" forum?