[opendtv] Re: 'Friends' Finale Delivers 51.1 Million Viewers
- From: Dave Bittner <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 17:28:17 -0400
On May 10, 2004, at 4:35 PM, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
> Any idiot with TV Guide on his lap and a remote control has been
> able to customize his own prime time for decades. And with a VCR,
> or two, even more so. The VCR(s) made conflicts and schedules a
> thing of the past. I just don't get this PVR hype.
>
> Bert
>
Bert, it's never been as simple as you describe it. You still had to
manually program the VCR, make sure the tape was properly positioned so
as to not tape over something else you wanted to get around to
watching, fast forward or rewind to get to the show you wanted to see
(and usually guess which it was, fast forward or rewind), hope that the
show wasn't in a different time slot this week, or maybe a two hour
special. And then, of course, you were limited to the length of the
tape in the VCR, maybe eight hours at SLP speed. And if you came home
ten minutes into Seinfeld you had to wait for the show to end if you
wanted to watch the whole thing from the beginning. It was just a lot
of things to keep track of, and the VCR makers never found a way to
make it very easy for the average user. Get a new VCR and you had to
re-learn the system. I missed many a recording because the tape ran
out, or I forgot the leave the VCR in the proper mode (usually "off")
so that it would record.
Kind of like saying "I don't understand what the big deal is about this
Google thing...libraries have always had card catalogs!"
In comparison, a PVR is a joy to use. Tell it what shows you like, or
even what KINDS of shows you like, and it starts collecting them, no
matter when they are on. Come home, watch what you want, when you want,
pause live TV if you choose (or rewind to see if that was really what
you thought you saw on the Super Bowl) fly past commercials. After
time-shifting with a VCR for many years I can tell you having a PVR is
a vastly superior experience. In fact, when I bought my Tivo I
completely underestimated how much it would transform my viewing
habits. I never sit down and just surf through channels, because I've
always got a collection of shows that I like available to me on the
Tivo. It's empowering. I am a much more efficient TV viewer.
People who have Tivo absolutely love their Tivo. I've never seen a home
appliance get the kind of rave reviews from people that Tivo gets. And
most of them say something along the lines of, "Tivo changed my life."
Sounds like silly hype, but I can say from experience that switching to
a PVR is a huge boost in taking control of your viewing habits (and
that of my five year old son!) and it is a big quality of life
improvement.
I'm looking forward to the next logical step, having a Tivo-like device
which acts as a home media server for the whole house. TV shows, MP3
collection, all served from one central location and available on every
set in the house.
Dave Bittner - Pixel Workshop Inc.
www.pixelworkshop.com
410.381.8555
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