TiVo Blog

[gonzotek]

http://blog.tivo.com/

Has anyone seen this yet? I searched prior to posting, hopefully I didn't miss an obvious thread. I'm very happy they've enabled comments, even if they are moderated. Hopefully, they'll allow some debate and real discussion and not just the "I lurve TiVo" kinda posts.

[davezatz]

Hopefully, they'll allow some debate and real discussion and not just the "I lurve TiVo" kinda posts.

Since they're filtering comments, I wouldn't count on it. I'm guessing this is just another avenue for more light-weight fluff, similar to the email newsletter. Time will tell...

I wonder how long it will take before they go after Alex and his tivoblog.com domain name? ;)

[ashu]

Saw it yesterday ... didn't look done well enough to be worth a thread :)

Bookmarked for later perusal on the off-chance it gets bigger & better.

[Justin Thyme]

I agree with the earlier comments, but you have to admit that it is hard to go to any high volume site discussing Tivo and be greeted with a warm and loving atmosphere. It can get contentious and it can get so not-fun that regular folk need options beyond TCF.

So I think they are filling a real need. Maybe I will put on my happy hat and write some stuff under another nom de plume. Stuff that grandmother's grok.

[ashu]

What about grandmother's grok? Is it special ... different somehow from yours or mine?

I don't grok what you're saying!

yes, so it's friday and I'm busy and irritable

[davezatz]

Yeah, I tend to agree... gonzotek, JutinThyme, ashu, and I are probably not the target audience for that blog. We're probably on the higher-end of who they're probably trying to reach and we're already active here in the TCF.

[Justin Thyme]

You know, I have forgotten the name of the character in "Stranger in a Strange Land"- the book that the term "grok" came from. But you know there is this scene where he was just putting his feet on the grass and he was just like right there digging it, totally into the experience, one with the universe despite the fact that he knew all this extra junk about technology and what not.

Writing about digging the Tivo experience is not fluffy talk. It is preaching to the choir on this site, but most people haven't a clue what a DVR does, let alone how it can alter your Weltanschuang about Television.

She may be fluffy, but Nova is the White Rabbit. I expect many will follow her and see as Morphius said, just how far the rabbit hole goes. But others may take the blue pill and stay in the VOD wonderland of mounting Cableco bills.

Of course, my children were born free- never jacked into the mainframe so they don't know what watching live TV is.

As an aside, I think Tivo could run a spot like Apple's "1984" advertisement. Using this Matrix imagery of consumers being the captive of something that is sucking their life juices out of them, and Tivo being the way to set themselves free.

[megazone]

Nova really needs to post more often for it to be effective - just the first post so far and then nothing? Not a way to really launch a blog. And I know not all the comments get aired, even if positive - mine isn't up, and I've seen other comment that their comments aren't up.

[JYoung]

You know, I have forgotten the name of the character in "Stranger in a Strange Land"- the book that the term "grok" came from. But you know there is this scene where he was just putting his feet on the grass and he was just like right there digging it, totally into the experience, one with the universe despite the fact that he knew all this extra junk about technology and what not.


Valentine Michael Smith

[ZeoTiVo]

Just this one thread is way more interesting than the blog is, it has a ways to go. But then again both my Grandmothers (rest their souls) would have been wondering who this grok fellow was ;)

[ashu]

You know, I have forgotten the name of the character in "Stranger in a Strange Land"- the book that the term "grok" came from. But you know there is this scene where he was just putting his feet on the grass and he was just like right there digging it, totally into the experience, one with the universe despite the fact that he knew all this extra junk about technology and what not.

Writing about digging the Tivo experience is not fluffy talk. It is preaching to the choir on this site, but most people haven't a clue what a DVR does, let alone how it can alter your Weltanschuang about Television.

She may be fluffy, but Nova is the White Rabbit. I expect many will follow her and see as Morphius said, just how far the rabbit hole goes. But others may take the blue pill and stay in the VOD wonderland of mounting Cableco bills.

Of course, my children were born free- never jacked into the mainframe so they don't know what watching live TV is.

As an aside, I think Tivo could run a spot like Apple's "1984" advertisement. Using this Matrix imagery of consumers being the captive of something that is sucking their life juices out of them, and Tivo being the way to set themselves free.


My head is spinning. Or is it the world? Too many abstrat metaphors and references. I don't grok 'em!

[Justin Thyme]

I remember the 1984 spot during the super bowl and remarking "what the F--- was that about?"

[robaustin]

The TIVO blog is so lame - did they launch it just to say they had a corporate blog? I wrote this comment to the blog, let's see if they let it through the moderation.:

If you start a blog - you really should put something on it to create some buzz around it! It's been over a week and...nothing? Nothing at all to say? How about talking about 7.2.1 with "Overlap Protection"? How about turning folks on to Galleon - which just released version 1.8?

The other TIVO and PVR blogs are a hell of a lot more active, so this site is pretty worthless - unless you UPDATE IT!

--*Rob

[ashu]

I remember the 1984 spot during the super bowl and remarking "what the F--- was that about?"

In 1984, I though football was played with a round, black-and-white patched ball and the ball ONLY ever touched 10 of the 11 players' hands. Heck, I still think so ;) Apparently NARL (National American-Rugby League) didn't sound quite as good as NFL :rolleyes:

I was also only 7, then. No can grok 'superbowl' :D

[Turtleboy]

One post?

Moderated comments?

And then nothing?

Come on Tivo people, if you are going to do a blog, do a blog.

[robaustin]

My comments were never approved. What's the point in having a blog - which should be a conversation with your customers - if you can't honestly respond to their comments to you.

Otherwise - it's nothing more then another place to post puffy pieces about the company. That's not a blog - that's a website you update on occasion.

All I see in the second post is more TIVO puffery and once again - a mention of the TIVO Ambassador thing.

There is so much more going on with TIVO - from the 7.2.1 update to Galleon to other tips on TIVO use. This is the best they can do?

--*Rob

[robaustin]

Left more comments which were never approved.

And look - every other blog has the scoop on the Yahoo/Tivo deal before the TIVO blog - shouldn't they be first ?

--*Rob

[Turtleboy]

Pure PR crap, and not even a decent job at doing it.

Sorry Tivo peeps, I love you, but that's what it is.

[davezatz]

And look - every other blog has the scoop on the Yahoo/Tivo deal before the TIVO blog - shouldn't they be first ?

They haven't even posted *their own* press release to the site yet. Go figure!

The good news is they recently posted a job opening for Public Relations Manager:
https://sh.webhire.com/servlet/av/jd?ai=757&ji=1673855&sn=I

Hopefully they'll be able to hit this target with whoever they select:
Lead efforts to positively influence consumers via media placements, endorsements, grass-roots marketing and buzz worthy outreach. Create innovative PR campaigns and programs that generate media pick-up, build awareness and drive positive imagery. Help lead brand image guardianship.

[ZeoTiVo]

They haven't even posted *their own* press release to the site yet. Go figure!

The good news is they recently posted a job opening for Public Relations Manager:
https://sh.webhire.com/servlet/av/jd?ai=757&ji=1673855&sn=I

Hopefully they'll be able to hit this target with whoever they select:

did they list experience with QuickTime as a requirement :D

[megazone]

So far the official TiVo Blog is disappointing. The comments are being censored, even positive ones aren't being posted (mine too), and it is even covering TiVo's own news. Where is the Yahoo deal? Where is the 7.2.1 priority list news? C'mon, even if it isn't for geeks, that kind of 'insider info' is what generates buzz and makes a corporate blog really catch on with the average surfer.

I've been a corporate face for years - running corporate mailing lists, participating in appropriate lists, newsgroups, and web forums, etc. When you launch something like this you need to come out swinging and build momentum, or people lose interest. And once that happens, winning them back is harder than getting them in the first place. If I were TiVo, I'd be feeding Nova info to 'leak' on the blog a bit early. Make it exciting, tease the readers with pending news, and then announce it as soon as possible in the blog, etc. Make people want to read it.

[davezatz]

C'mon, even if it isn't for geeks, that kind of 'insider info' is what generates buzz and makes a corporate blog really catch on with the average surfer. Make people want to read it.

The average surfer might not even find it - it's hidden within the "I Have TiVo" section. They'd be better off giving Alex 10k (or whatever) for tivoblog.com and running it from there. And then incorporate megazone's suggestions to generate interest and buzz. Also, if TiVo is going to selectively choose which comments to run (wonder what criteria they are using other than the obviously negatory and profane) they're better off just killing comments altogether.

[rainwater]

There's nothing on the blog that isn't on the normal website. What is the point? I think some high up must of said we need a blog. But they have no idea of how to implement one.

[ripple_024]

worst.blog.ever.

[ZeoTiVo]

The average surfer might not even find it - it's hidden within the "I Have TiVo" section. They'd be better off giving Alex 10k (or whatever) for tivoblog.com and running it from there. And then incorporate megazone's suggestions to generate interest and buzz. Also, if TiVo is going to selectively choose which comments to run (wonder what criteria they are using other than the obviously negatory and profane) they're better off just killing comments altogether.

and I would add in the suggestion to HME enable the Blog so you could actually view it on your TiVo itself. That would get the buzz really going. of course it would first have to do the things Megazone and DaveZatz talk about or else it would just be a crummy no real news Blog that had the cool factor of being read straight from the TiVo.

How aggravating that they had this interesting buzz news of Yahoo, had the HME capabilities, had a person responsible for maintaining the blog and just let the whole thing lie in disrepair and hidden deep on their web site.

When will TiVo get the big coverage of the good things to go along with the big coverage of things like red flags :confused:

[rainwater]

When will TiVo get the big coverage of the good things to go along with the big coverage of things like red flags :confused:

I think it is arrogance. Why else do they continuously miss these opportunities? They don't feel they need to get involved in PR. Btw, you can't try and screw up a blog more than they have.

[ZeoTiVo]

I think it is arrogance. Why else do they continuously miss these opportunities? They don't feel they need to get involved in PR. Btw, you can't try and screw up a blog more than they have.


it could be the ditched their last PR manager for non-performance and are trying to find someone who can do the job right

The good news is they recently posted a job opening for Public Relations Manager:
https://sh.webhire.com/servlet/av/j...ji=1673855&sn=I

[davezatz]

I track Microsoft's IEBlog and figure if a large lumbering company with a less-than-stellar rep can pull it off, a smaller company like TiVo should be able to as well.

Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/default.aspx

They don't post extremely frequently, but they have various contributors and have no problem with comments which makes it a site worth returning to. Instead of mumbo-jumbo of owning our comments, they encourage discussion with some common-sense guidelines. The difference in approach also makes you wonder if TiVo's blog is for them or for us.

Here's a comparison of comments...

TiVo's moderated-prior-to-posting comments disclaimer:
By submitting my comments and by participating in the TiVo Blog, I agree to allow TiVo Inc. to use my name and comments in whole or in part for publicity purposes on the TiVo Website or other promotional materials without further permission or compensation. I understand that my submitted comments becomes property of TiVo Inc. and will not be returned, and that I release all rights and claims to the content submitted for the TiVo Blog. I also state that the content submitted is of my own original creation and style and acknowledge that my comments will be subject to review by TiVo and edited in whole or in part by TiVo prior to publication.
Microsoft's comment guidelines:

As people get more engaged with IEBlog, we want to set down some guidelines on how we are going handle comments in general. Our primary goal is for this to be a place for open discussion about IE, so we don’t want to have lots of overhead and process.

Things we want to see in comments:
Lots of good interesting responses on IE and the posts on IEBlog
Keep it on topic
Keep it respectful
Keep it fun

Things that will get comments edited/deleted:
Offensive or abusive language or behavior
Misrepresentation (i.e., claiming to be somebody you're not) - if you don't want to use your real name, that's fine, as long as your "handle" isn't offensive, abusive, or misrepresentative
Blog-spam of any kind

We hope these rules will keep the discussion lively and on topic.

Who's Nova? Get someone from engineering talking about something interesting and get someone from legal letting us know why they visited the FCC last week to discuss CableCARD. Take a picture of the TiVo cafeteria. Give me something, anything, that we care about and aren't likely to find in other places.

[gonzotek]

I track Microsoft's IEBlog and figure if a large lumbering company with a less-than-stellar rep can pull it off, a smaller company like TiVo should be able to as well.

Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/default.aspx

They don't post extremely frequently, but they have various contributors and have no problem with comments which makes it a site worth returning to. Instead of mumbo-jumbo of owning our comments, they encourage discussion with some common-sense guidelines. The difference in approach also makes you wonder if TiVo's blog is for them or for us.
...
Who's Nova? Get someone from engineering talking about something interesting and get someone from legal letting us know why they visited the FCC last week to discuss CableCARD. Take a picture of the TiVo cafeteria. Give me something, anything, that we care about and aren't likely to find in other places.
AGREE 100%+++!!

I gave it a bit of time before I passed judgement on them, but Dave has it right. I too follow IEblog, and a lot of other blog varieties(firefox devs, several local news outlets, some other tech personalities, etc.), and "blog.TiVo" has nothing on any of them. Sometimes the discussions that take place in comments on other blogs are more interesting and useful than the post they're attached to. Not always, and not even necessarily often, but moderating the comments as TiVo is doing it crushed even the possibility of an interesting discussion.

TiVoJerry, Pony, Shanan, and OpsMgr should be part-time posters. I realize these people all have other reasponsiblities and the time they share with us is already above and beyond your typical employee behavior. But they've already achieved a dialog with the community and have shown both fierce loyalty to TiVo and at the same time, compassion & respect for its consumers. It would also be nice to see community members and efforts highlighted as well(Galleon/JavaHMO & AudioFaucet in particular come to mind).

I have no problems with Nova being the 'blog owner' and most frequent poster to it, but come on TiVo, allow more (unmoderated) discussion, have her follow up on questions from commenters, get some other 'guest' bloggers, and if you can't, you might as well turn off the blogging software altogether, and just increase the number of times the newsletter is published and post it to that area of the website.

[megazone]

Who's Nova? Get someone from engineering talking about something interesting and get someone from legal letting us know why they visited the FCC last week to discuss CableCARD. Take a picture of the TiVo cafeteria. Give me something, anything, that we care about and aren't likely to find in other places.I understand why they don't have technical stuff on their blog as it is - and I think that's probably actually for the best. I want to reinforce that folks shouldn't bash Nova. It would be nice if she talked more about herself - how she got to where she is, her TiVo fandom, etc. And nicer if she was a real public face and also participated here and in the blogs around the net - PVRBlog, PVRWire, TiVoBlog, ZatzNotFunny, TiVoLovers, these forums, etc. It would also give her, and TiVo's blog, exposure to those audiences with trackback links, her reutrn URL (which most blogs have for comments), etc. Right now I can see people wondering who she is and what the real purpose of the blog is - we need a feeling for the person posting to develop trust in them and what they say.

I too follow IEBlog (isn't RSS nice? I syndicate a lot of blogs and read them via my LJ account), and I think TiVo could benefit from that kind of blog too. I don't think it should be the *same* blog - but I think a blog hanging off of, say, http://www.tivo.com/developer/ would be nice. Get TiVo engineers posting about what is happening with new efforts, just like we're seeing info on IE7 shared from MS. As was said - if *MS* can share info, surely TiVo can. :-)

I monitor a number of blogs because they tend to have great info on what TiVo is up to, and I myself follow a number of primary sources to see what I can turn up first. That's great and all - but TiVo could generate that buzz for themselves and benefit from it if they'd break more of the news directly.

[davezatz]

About 1/3 of sentences in yesterday's posting ended with an exclamtion point. ;)

[Turtleboy]

It would be nice if she talked more about herself - how she got to where she is, her TiVo fandom, etc. And nicer if she was a real public face and also participated here and in the blogs around the net - PVRBlog, PVRWire, TiVoBlog, ZatzNotFunny, TiVoLovers, these forums, etc. It would also give her, and TiVo's blog, exposure to those audiences with trackback links, her reutrn URL (which most blogs have for comments), etc. Right now I can see people wondering who she is and what the real purpose of the blog is - we need a feeling for the person posting to develop trust in them and what they say.


That's exactly it.

[megazone]

That's exactly it.

Earlier today I left a comment for Nova with all of the things I use to track TiVo around the net. :-) I'm hoping maybe she gets more active in other forums and the online TiVo community so she becomes more of the 'online voice' of TiVo in more than just the blog... This is what I sent as a comment, more or less:
---
For TiVo in blogs in general:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/tivo_in_blogs/

The feed:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?hl=en&c2coff=1&as_eq=&bl_url=livejournal.com&lr=&scoring=d&q=tivo&btnG=Search+Blogs&num=100&output=rss

AKA:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?c2coff=1&as_eq=&bl_url=livejournal.com&lr=&scoring=d&q=tivo&num=100&output=rss


For TiVo mentions in Live Journal in particular:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/tivo_in_lj/

The feed:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?as_q=tivo&hl=en&c2coff=1&btnG=Search+Blogs&bl_url=livejournal.com&as_drrb=q&as_mind=1&as_minm=3&as_miny=2005&as_maxd=16&as_maxm=9&as_maxy=2005&safe=off&scoring=d&num=100&output=rss

AKA:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?as_q=tivo&c2coff=1&bl_url=livejournal.com&as_drrb=q&as_mind=1&as_minm=3&as_miny=2005&as_maxd=16&as_maxm=9&as_maxy=2005&scoring=d&num=100&output=rss&q=tivo+blogurl:livejournal.com


Blogs I monitor via RSS:
http://ask.pvrblog.com/
http://tivo4556resources.blogspot.com/
http://dvrblog.blogspot.com/
http://advancedmediacommittee.typepad.com/emmyadvancedmedia/
http://hme.pvrblog.com/
http://www.pvrblog.com/
http://www.pvruk.com/
http://www.pvrwire.com/
http://www.replaytvblog.com/
http://stevegarfield.blogs.com/tivob0rking/
http://www.tivoblog.com/
http://blog.tivo.com/tivo_blog/
http://www.tivotoday.com/
http://www.tvharmony.com/blog/
http://www.zatznotfunny.com/


Mailing lists I'm on (some of these are quiet):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digital_video_recorder/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalvideorecorder/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExtractStream/
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/Pioneer_DVD_Recorders_FAQ/
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/replayusers/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/s2tivoMods/
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TIVO-/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tivo-hack/
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/tivo_community/
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/TiVo_UK/
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/tivocentral/
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/TiVolunatics/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tivonet/
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/TiVoSuggestions/
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/TivoUnderground/


I also monitor:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/tivolovers/
http://www.livejournal.com/community/tivotogo/
http://www.livejournal.com/community/bluraydisc/
http://www.livejournal.com/community/replaytv/
http://www.livejournal.com/community/mythtv/
http://www.livejournal.com/community/htpc/


I read the alt.video.ptv.tivo and alt.video.ptv.replaytv newsgroups.

I have alerts setup with Google, CNet, and PRNewswire to alert me to
new TiVo related items.

And, of course, I pop into TiVoCommunity.com from time to time.

[davezatz]

TiVo needs to make a decision... either kill the blog or post regularly with cool insider info. If they decide to let it live, either open comments up or kill them entirely - selective moderation is crap and people feel burned if they spend time constructing a response that never sees the light of day.

The blogosphere is passing judgement:
http://thomashawk.com/2006/01/tivo-should-hire-alex-raiano-or-dave.html
http://www.tivoblog.com/archives/2006/01/29/whats-up-with-the-official-tivo-blog/

[gonzotek]

TiVo needs to make a decision... either kill the blog or post regularly with cool insider info. If they decide to let it live, either open comments up or kill them entirely - selective moderation is crap and people feel burned if they spend time constructing a response that never sees the light of day.

The blogosphere is passing judgement:
http://thomashawk.com/2006/01/tivo-should-hire-alex-raiano-or-dave.html
http://www.tivoblog.com/archives/2006/01/29/whats-up-with-the-official-tivo-blog/

Hopefully, they'll allow some debate and real discussion and not just the "I lurve TiVo" kinda posts. :( Not happy I called it.


I still think that other TiVo employees could still breathe some life into the blog. For instance, give an insider's view of what it's like for the technicians, phone support people, and even maybe the marketing and management folk as well(if they have anything funny or interesting to add). Community members like, for instance, Leon the programmer behind Galleon, Megazone, Dave, and other interesting (and interested) writers would be welcome as well!

[jfh3]

TiVo needs to make a decision... either kill the blog or post regularly with cool insider info. If they decide to let it live, either open comments up or kill them entirely - selective moderation is crap and people feel burned if they spend time constructing a response that never sees the light of day.

The blogosphere is passing judgement:
http://thomashawk.com/2006/01/tivo-should-hire-alex-raiano-or-dave.html
http://www.tivoblog.com/archives/2006/01/29/whats-up-with-the-official-tivo-blog/


Typical Tivo marketing - great idea, terrible execution.

[davezatz]

The blog has been down looks like at least 36 hours now... some error screen about IP change. Lame!

http://thomashawk.com/2006/02/official-tivo-blog-sucks-they-have-no.html

A snippet from Thomas Hawk's (valid) rant...

The Official TiVo Blog... ugh... what a joke. I've blogged on this before. The Official TiVo Blog is the biggest, stupidest joke of a fake blog I have ever seen in my life! There, will that get anyone over at TiVo's attention? I didn't think so.

Why does the official TiVo Blog, which professes to want to "join the conversation" suck so bad? Well, let me count thy ways.

First, how about figuring out who your influencers are out there and involving them in the conversation. I LOVE TiVo. I tell everyone I know about how great my HDTV TiVo is. It rocks. A four tuner HDTV TiVo? Some one pinch me. And keep pinching me because I've been happily using it for the past almost two years. And well, not that my blog is significant or anything, but have I ever heard from TiVo? Never. Not once. How hard is it to drop an email and say hi. I don't even exist to them.

But forget about me for a second. What about the Unofficial TiVo Blog mentioned previously run by Alex Raiano? It actually comes up ahead of their blog on Google if you do a search for TiVo Blog. Do they involve Alex in the conversation? Hell, no. Instead Alex himself, perhaps the world's biggest TiVo fan, is instead writing posts about how bad the TiVo blog sucks too.

[gonzotek]

Until it's fixed, this works: http://tivoblog.typepad.com/

/edit: Can't say I disagree with Thomas Hawk's assessment, either.

[rainwater]

How many times do they need to post the guidelines to posting on the blog? The same stupid guidelines are on the main page 9 times! I see no point in why they even have a blog if they don't even know what a blog is all about.

[davezatz]

Until it's fixed, this works: http://tivoblog.typepad.com/

Permalinks and images broken... point to blog.tivo.com.

I wonder if whoever that new TiVo Ambassador is will get the help post to the blog. By the way Thomas Hawk told me he had like 500,000 visitors in a month so a lot of people will see his second blog rant and repost (I know I did (http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2006-02/offical-tivo-blog-goes-dark/)) -- so is no press really better than negative press...?

I've tried to help and even point them in the right direction, but after no action I posted something similar to my suggestion and it's been a very popular post:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3507130&highlight=blog#post3507130

I don't think they get the blogosphere.

[Turtleboy]

I find it interesting that the Tivo peeps are so silent on this.

Pony and Ops (and others) are usually more than willing to come here and answer questions, or explain things, or to correct misinformation, when they can.

The fact that they've been utterly silent on this makes me think that the word is coming from on high not to say anything.

[davezatz]

The fact that they've been utterly silent on this makes me think that the word is coming from on high not to say anything.

Either that or it's sooo far off the radar it doesn't even register...?

[davezatz]

TiVoOpsMgr Responds! :)

http://www.zeigen.com/blog/?p=44

Our blog is new, and it could be improved in some ways, but the extreme language that Thomas uses is not justified. Earlier I drew an analogy between the official Google blog and the official TiVo blog. While our blog could have a better uptime record and it could have more posts, I think those are the only fair criticisms. We offer trackbacks and comments. I think Nova (who’s a relatively new employee) has a good writing style, and her content is good.

So, Thomas — rant read, and points taken. Now, please have an open mind and give us a chance to improve. Let’s do lunch some time — continue the conversation in person as well as in our blogs. How’s Monday for you?

[davezatz]

I wanted to respond to a few of Stephen's points...

I agree that not linking to other blogs (that don't always have a positive TiVo message) is reasonable and I can understand the rationale. I also think it's reasonable to not have outsider voices... I know I wouldn't want someone else posting on my blog (other than the few I keep inviting.;)) Not to mention, I come to the blog because I want to hear from TiVo insiders... megazone, Alex, I, etc already have our own venues.

The fact that the TiVo blog appears to host comments hasn't been a feather in the blog's cap. Those comments are moderated to the point of fluff or no responses at all, in addition to all this legalese stuff which is a turn off. As Stephen mentioned, Google doesn't allow comments and the #1 blog on the net (BoingBoing) doesn't either... so instead of limiting comments, I think it's reasonable (and in this case desirable) to just turn them off.

As far as how TiVo employees might contribute to the larger blogosphere, I have a suggestion and request. How about letting me know when I'm wrong? I can keep the source of the info confidential, I could credit back, someone could post an anonymous or credited comment, etc. I'm even willing to run a post by a TiVo employee prior to publishing (if I could expect a timely response) to verify for accuracy. The one time I did try to get in touch with an official TiVo press contact outside the forum I was ignored... (which is fine - I'm small potatos). In many cases I'm often left to speculate as with a recent post I did on TiVo's NY office. I have no idea if the office has been there or if it's new and what exactly the purpose of it is. I'd love to have the record set straight.

Another idea... I was thinking it would be fun to make a trip out west late spring and visit a few companies (assuming they'd have me) such as TiVo and Sling Media. Let me take pictures, show me something cool (though not confidential) and let me post. Heck, we could even do a cross-post on the TiVo Blog and ZNF - Dave's Adventures at TiVo. I'd really like to check out those coffee machines you guys have. ;)

PS As I've said publicly before I do find TiVo employees posting here in the forum to be extremely progressive and very positive.

As to why I'm not posting this response on my blog... I don't think the world at large cares too much about this topic. The only reason Thomas Hawk got so much attention because his rant had a very negative over-the-top tone.

[ZeoTiVo]

PS As I've said publicly before I do find TiVo employees posting here in the forum to be extremely progressive and very positive.

As to why I'm not posting this response on my blog... I don't think the world at large cares too much about this topic. The only reason Thomas Hawk got so much attention because his rant had a very negative over-the-top tone.


I pretty much agree with what is being said here. I always found Thomas hawk to be over the top and thus would stay away from him if I was TiVo inc as well. I read anything of his with skepticism, however the TiVo Blog went nowhere fast adn lost me in the first 3 days.

I find plenty of info here and use other sites as needed, such as Megazones coverage of CES on TiVoLovers and Zatznotfunny coverage of slingbox.

It seems to me lawyers will not let the TiVoBlog be a source of info as it is too official and can come back at TiVo if they are not careful. Postinmgs here by TiVo employees can not be used as the official word of the company in a legal sense.

[davezatz]

Zatznotfunny coverage of slingbox.

I got an hour long phone interview with Blake K (Founder & CEO of Sling box) just waiting to be transcribed... wanna help?! :D

[TiVoPony]

I wanted to respond to a few of Stephen's points...

I agree that not linking to other blogs (that don't always have a positive TiVo message) is reasonable and I can understand the rationale. I also think it's reasonable to not have outsider voices... I know I wouldn't want someone else posting on my blog (other than the few I keep inviting.;)) Not to mention, I come to the blog because I want to hear from TiVo insiders... megazone, Alex, I, etc already have our own venues.

The fact that the TiVo blog appears to host comments hasn't been a feather in the blog's cap. Those comments are moderated to the point of fluff or no responses at all, in addition to all this legalese stuff which is a turn off. As Stephen mentioned, Google doesn't allow comments and the #1 blog on the net (BoingBoing) doesn't either... so instead of limiting comments, I think it's reasonable (and in this case desirable) to just turn them off.

As far as how TiVo employees might contribute to the larger blogosphere, I have a suggestion and request. How about letting me know when I'm wrong? I can keep the source of the info confidential, I could credit back, someone could post an anonymous or credited comment, etc. I'm even willing to run a post by a TiVo employee prior to publishing (if I could expect a timely response) to verify for accuracy. The one time I did try to get in touch with an official TiVo press contact outside the forum I was ignored... (which is fine - I'm small potatos). In many cases I'm often left to speculate as with a recent post I did on TiVo's NY office. I have no idea if the office has been there or if it's new and what exactly the purpose of it is. I'd love to have the record set straight.

Another idea... I was thinking it would be fun to make a trip out west late spring and visit a few companies (assuming they'd have me) such as TiVo and Sling Media. Let me take pictures, show me something cool (though not confidential) and let me post. Heck, we could even do a cross-post on the TiVo Blog and ZNF - Dave's Adventures at TiVo. I'd really like to check out those coffee machines you guys have. ;)

PS As I've said publicly before I do find TiVo employees posting here in the forum to be extremely progressive and very positive.

As to why I'm not posting this response on my blog... I don't think the world at large cares too much about this topic. The only reason Thomas Hawk got so much attention because his rant had a very negative over-the-top tone.

Dave,

You're certainly welcome. Plan the trip! We'll find something cool to show you.

As far as letting you know when you're wrong...to be fair, we have contacted you in the past when you've been grossly wrong (it happens to everyone). If it's something that's material to our company, we'll of course ping you. Posting that we have a New York office...I'm not sure that fits the category (it is were the big ad and content companies are though). I thought the real missed opportunity was not taking Wired to task for giving a 2005 vapor award to a product announced for 2006. ;)

I'd have to say it was also amusing to see the "Exclusive Photos" of our building posted (well, the lobby anyways). I've always told folks here on the forum to come on by if they're in town. The lobby's not a secret, and if they're nice, sometimes they get to see a hallway too. :)

Stephen's right though - Nova is new to TiVo, and TiVo is new to blogging. Appreciate your thoughts on how to improve.

Cheers,
Pony

[davezatz]

You're certainly welcome. Plan the trip! We'll find something cool to show you.

Sweet - thanks for invite! I will definitely take you/TiVo up on it... :)

As far as letting you know when you're wrong...to be fair, we have contacted you in the past when you've been grossly wrong (it happens to everyone). If it's something that's material to our company, we'll of course ping you.
This is true. A reminder that what's important/interesting to Dave isn't always what's important/interesting to TiVo.

I thought the real missed opportunity was not taking Wired to task for giving a 2005 vapor award to a product announced for 2006. ;)
Wired's blurb didn't interest me much and I think most of us dismissed it. By keeping my tone neutral, I did hope for a debate in the comments. By the way, my ufiltered writing and opinions are here in the TFC and on my personal site - other sources that use my work can and do edit. (I posted some Wired thoughts here: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3753265&&#post3753265)

[TechDreamer]

I think Tivo needs to shut down the Blog. Either get serious or get out.

[davezatz]

Speaking of blogs... Alex deserves a shout-out for making it into New York Magazine!

http://www.nymag.com/news/media/15970/

[HDTiVo]

I admit I don't know anything about blogs; I clicked today on a couple TiVo related ones refered to in a more recent thread.

Seems like blogs are to forums as Chinese Google is to regular Google.

Why would someone want to start a blog when there is a robust forum? So they can post any dumb thing they want and not have it challenged? If I were to do a blog, I'd just start a thread here titled "HDTiVo Blog: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX" for each entry. Maybe I will; frankly I think I in effect have many times.

[gonzotek]

I admit I don't know anything about blogs; I clicked today on a couple TiVo related ones refered to in a more recent thread.

Seems like blogs are to forums as Chinese Google is to regular Google.

Why would someone want to start a blog when there is a robust forum? So they can post any dumb thing they want and not have it challenged? If I were to do a blog, I'd just start a thread here titled "HDTiVo Blog: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX" for each entry. Maybe I will; frankly I think I in effect have many times.There are some topics that can not be discussed here due to the forum owner's rules. If you had an inclination to discuss them, and your own blog, no one could just come along and censor you with a few button clicks. You could also (if your blog were popular enough) have some ads on it and make a few bucks out of it. There's also the idea of appropriateness of topic. For instance, this forum is generally related to TiVo, dvrs, and related things (Happy Hour withstanding). If you wanted to write about seasonal geese migrations or politics in cambodia, you might find there isn't much of an audience for those topics here, but if you link your blog to other bloggers talking about the same topics(and hopefully get linked by them), then you get your audience.

There's also the vanity factor. For instance, I'm blogging our wedding plans(with my fiancee's full support), so people we know can get a look at parts of our life we want to share. We're close to some family members that don't live geographically near us and the blog lets them check up on us at their leisure, and even comment on things that might interest them. But I doubt that many TCF'ers are interested in the bridesmaid dresses or reception halls in South Jersey.

[davezatz]

Why would someone want to start a blog when there is a robust forum?

I originally started my site after posts started vanishing here on how to convert TTG files. I was told if I didn't like the rules find another part of the Internet to play on. So I did.

Part of the reason I moved to a blog format about six months ago is that not everyone reads the forums or reads them as closely as us regulars... I felt like interesting news wasn't making it out of here. After feeding several sites tips for a few months, I decided to post myself to write up those interesting things which either weren't getting reported or weren't being reported the way I thought they should be. Also unlike some DVR blogs, I actually have TiVo units in use and can take pictures, try things out, etc so I wanted to share that info with others. My blog isn't specific to TiVo, though obviously I lean in that direction... I have other home theater knowledge to share based on things I've run across in my readings and based on personal experience (Harmony remotes, LCD projector, media extenders, Slingbox, etc).

These blogs may not be your thing to read (you ARE a regular here) or write.... but I've had close to a million visitors and interaction from mainstream media in the last year - so there are those who seem to appreciate it. I enjoy doing it, though it has been time consuming and wish I had more time to do it better. Sadly, my blog isn't lucrative enough to quit my day job... and never will be.

As Gonzo said for some there could also be a financial incentive. I think both the Gizmodo and Engadget networks clear a few million bucks annually. So a PVRWire is written by freelance writers who are paid by Weblogs/AOL per article. eHomeUpgrade also pays per post (http://ehomeupgrade.com/entry/1518/come_write_for). PVRblog is joining a new group (Federated Media Publising: BoingBoing, ThomasHawk, GigaOm, etc brought together by John Battelle to build another large advertising network), though Matt seems to be doing ok on his own: http://www.blogads.com/nbuuibvhifzdpn/pvrblog/advertise

[HDTiVo]

There are some topics that can not be discussed here due to the forum owner's rules.

There's also the vanity factor. .... But I doubt that many TCF'ers are interested in the bridesmaid dresses or reception halls in South Jersey.
There's no robust forum for your life, so blog away; but there is a TiVo forum, so why TiVo Blog? You answered it...taboos, vanity, cash.

I pretty much have no interest in discussing what can't be discussed here. The rules actually enhance the quality of interchange more than they detract by limiting. As I see it, the positives of a forum blow away the few advantages of a blog, and I don't intend to waste significant amounts of time reading them.

I hope blogs don't start to replace forums. That would be like having seperate Chinese, Iranian, EU, OAS, and US Internets.

[davezatz]

but there is a TiVo forum, so why TiVo Blog?Some folks just want an occasional update about what's going on in TiVo land, and don't want to dedicate the time and energy to following the forums. I know quite a few people who own and love TiVo's... and I'm the only one keeping up with the forum. They're not interested in a conversation, but many are interested in keeping up with the small news items that mainstream media doesn't report on.

taboos, vanity, cash.
That too...

I hope blogs don't start to replace forums.
I don't imagine they will... sure there's some overlap, but they're different animals that can and do coexist.

I guess it's worth emphasizing there's also different motivaztions to READ a blog versus to WRITE a blog. I'm sort of lumping it all together...

[HDTiVo]

I originally started my site after posts started vanishing here on how to convert TTG files. I was told if I didn't like the rules find another part of the Internet to play on. So I did.

As Gonzo said for some there could also be a financial incentive. I think both the Gizmodo and Engadget networks clear a few million bucks annually. So a PVRWire is written by freelance writers who are paid by Weblogs/AOL per article. eHomeUpgrade also pays per post (http://ehomeupgrade.com/entry/1518/come_write_for). PVRblog is joining a new group (Federated Media Publising: BoingBoing, ThomasHawk, GigaOm, etc brought together by John Battelle to build another large advertising network), though Matt seems to be doing ok on his own: http://www.blogads.com/nbuuibvhifzdpn/pvrblog/advertise
I can see a place for blogs as a new style of publication under the umbrella of a publishing entity. Just like a professional or trade journal, it becomes a source of information filtered for quality.

There is a need to put out info like converting TTG files, which you did a very good job of via a web page. I don't think the blog is essential.

[HDTiVo]

Some folks just want an occasional update about what's going on in TiVo land, and don't want to dedicate the time and energy to following the forums. I know quite a few people who own and love TiVo's... and I'm the only one keeping up with the forum. They're not interested in a conversation, but many are interested in keeping up with the small news items that mainstream media doesn't report on.

Efficiency is a good point. Quality is important to me. I would be interested in a Blog about TiVo that saved me lots of time by providing reliably high quality information (in a very timely fashion too.)

I also find that I learn alot and generate new ideas of my own, which stimulates my thinking and creativity, by reading the random nuggets of insight from others in the forum. Those new ideas are refined by the comments and critiques of people's responses. How could I get that with a Blog?

[gonzotek]

There's no robust forum for your life, so blog away; but there is a TiVo forum, so why TiVo Blog? You answered it...taboos, vanity, cash.

I pretty much have no interest in discussing what can't be discussed here. The rules actually enhance the quality of interchange more than they detract by limiting. As I see it, the positives of a forum blow away the few advantages of a blog, and I don't intend to waste significant amounts of time reading them.

I hope blogs don't start to replace forums. That would be like having seperate Chinese, Iranian, EU, OAS, and US Internets.Most everyone with a blog package not hand-written (and many of them as well) support RSS (or another feed technology), so you don't have to visit 15 different sites to keep up with things. I have a Google homepage with feed boxes for many different blogs and forums, as well as other sites, that keeps me up to date with my interests. As new information (or speculation) about TiVo pops up, whether it's on Dave's site, Cnet, this forum, or elsewhere on the internet, I often find out about it much earlier than I would by surfing this forum alone. Also, I just read this quote on someone's blog (http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/)(literally 20mins ago), and I thought it was pretty apropos:
Somebody was once asked to define blogs. They refused and said:

I don’t care. There is no need to define “blog.” I doubt there ever was such a call to define “newspaper” or “television” or “radio” or “book” — or, for that matter, “telephone” or “instant messenger.” A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from change the world to share your shopping list. People will use it however they wish. And it is way too soon in the invention of uses for this tool to limit it with a set definition. That’s why I resist even calling it a medium; it is a means of sharing information and also of interacting: It’s more about conversation than content… so far. I think it is equally tiresome and useless to argue about whether blogs are journalism, for journalism is not limited by the tool or medium or person used in the act. Blogs are whatever they want to be. Blogs are whatever we make them. Defining “blog” is a fool’s errand.It's just a tool, as is a forum. Comparing the two as though one would eliminate the other is as silly as saying im could eliminate email, or email doing the same to the telephone.

/edit: Also, 'blog' is just a buzzword. These kinds of sites have existed as long as the web. People used to get excited about just having a personal webpage (think 1993-6ish).

[gonzotek]

If people are interested in seeing certain content or personalities on the blog, now's the time to speak up:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3778112&&#post3778112
I just came out of a meeting with Nova and our VP of Marketing, and everyone is in favor of the idea.

Folks, who would you be interested in hearing from? What areas of the company would you like to see post in our official blog?

[megazone]

Yeah, I find blogs a lot more useful than this forum - because this forum is so overloaded with noise. There are a handful of blogs that are well written and informative and it is easier to keep up on information and news that way, especially with RSS, than slogging through all the crap in here. 'Robust' is one way to put it - 'noisy' and 'overloaded' are others, I lean towards the latter.

The forum is better for discussion - or, as seems common, screaming matches. The blogs are better for those just looking for info and news.

[robaustin]

Hey Tivo folks...

If you're listening...TIVO blog has been a little slack lately. For a while it was pretty interesting - interviews with TIVO staffers, other info, etc... Last three entries though are ONLY contest winning stuff.

Don't slack off! Keep up the interesting stuff, lest you get taken to task again by Thomas Hawk! ;-)

--*Rob

[robaustin]

Once again I'll say it - the TIVO blog, which upon unitial criticism from Thomas Hawk got spurred into being interesting, is now once again a total waste of space on the internet.

Just figured I'd clarify that. Results from the American Idol contest, and pretty much all that's up there, do not make for a good blog. Boring and lame. Come on TIVO folks, you can do better.

--*Rob

[davezatz]

Results from the American Idol contest, and pretty much all that's up there, do not make for a good blog. Boring and lame.
Word of Mouth Basic Training 2
3:30-4:00 PM
TiVo Ambassador Program Case Study
San Francisco, CA
Wednesday June 21, 2006
Speaker: Jacqueline Yau, Marketing Manager, TiVo Inc.
http://www.tivo.com/5.3.6.asp?index=00&repeat=001&page=02

;)

[robaustin]

Tivo Blog - worthless. More info on all the unofficial TIVO and PVR blogs out there.

They hype this "ambassador" contest and then that person doesn't even blog.

They posted yesterday about something locally relevant only to Nashville. Last post before that was a month ago.

Obviously, they do not see the value of the blog as a way to have a conversation with their customers. S3 is almost out but no mention.

Any TIVO folks here: Get off your duff and start blogging. Or else your blog is a waste, waste, waste.

--*Rob

[megazone]

I have been wondering about the Ambassador thing. He made two posts, IIRC - his intro and then one more, and that was it. I wonder if something happened to make him unable to blog, or if it was some issue with TiVo, or what. Originally when people commented on the blog being kind of quiet the response was that the contest would help that, with the new Ambassador doing more posting.

I've liked some of the posts, but wish they did more. Like mentioning that they just won an Emmy - they should make a big deal out of that on the blog.

[davezatz]

I have been wondering about the Ambassador thing.

That's why you pay someone after they've done the work... ;)

[headroll]

Do we need to start a TiVo Blog Death Watch.

No new posts to the blog since August 18th 2006.

-Roll

[ChuckyBox]

Seems already dead, just not buried. Maybe we should take up a collection so that it can have a decent funeral. Isn't there a TC con coming up? Maybe a little ceremony there would be appropriate.

[davezatz]

I'm available if TiVo would like to hire me.

[Solver]

Looks like the last entry should have been about the over paid VP that ordered the confussing price increases plus drastic and obvious cuts on customer service, support, product development, quality control, complaint dept, accounting, retention, shipping, reward programs and Macintosh programmers but there wasn't the budget to do so.

[ChuckyBox]

I'm available if TiVo would like to hire me.
You've got my vote.

[ChuckyBox]

Looks like the last entry should have been about the over paid VP that ordered the confussing price increases plus drastic and obvious cuts on customer service, support, product development, quality control, complaint dept, accounting, retention, shipping, reward programs and Macintosh programmers but there wasn't the budget to do so.
Boo hoo. Weren't there enough whiny threads for you to post in already? Do you have to go OT with the broken-record complaints in this one, too?

[ZeoTiVo]

I'm available if TiVo would like to hire me.
:up:

[gonzotek]

Dave,
You're much too valuable to the community as an independent blogger to be TiVo's full time lackey. However I wouldn't be opposed to seeing them bring in you and/or few other guest bloggers to get some regularly freshened-up content.

TiVo,
I've got to be honest with you, I'm more than just disappointed with the TiVo blog. It actually makes me a little bit angry when I check my feeds and see the same stale article from August in there, to the point that it's nearly been dropped from my reader several times. Even when it is updated, the majority of the content might as well be a PR or regular newsletter item. You've got employees with personal blogs (reference: Zeigen.com and Rohjuh.com) and photo sites (ref: TiVoJerry's SmugMug photoset (http://heyjerr.smugmug.com/gallery/1610009)) that beat the pants off the official blog for updates, as well as interesting TiVo and non-TiVo related content. Why not ask them if they would share some of their personal stories (either already written ones from their own sites, or preferably new material) with the TiVo Blog? Refer to the Google blog for just one example of a shared corp. blog that's regularly updated.

[davezatz]

For interesting ideas in corporate blogging, check out this Netgear contest. They're going to pick an independent writer from the blogosphere to cover CES. It'll surely cost Netgear less than TiVo's failed Ambassador (cash, custom Mini Cooper) and should generate a decent amount of direct traffic to their site as well as indirect coverage via other blogs. (Yes, I did enter!)

http://www.livedigitally.com/2006/11/29/want-to-go-to-ces-for-free/

Dave,
You're much too valuable to the community as an independent blogger to be TiVo's full time lackey. However I wouldn't be opposed to seeing them bring in you and/or few other guest bloggers to get some regularly freshened-up content.

I'm probably a little too honest to be TiVo's official blogger for anything other than a guest stint. Though I wouldn't mind providing a few "on location" posts for their blog if they flew me out. I'm sure I could dig up a ton of interesting things to share. Again a small price to pay to get some good coverage and simultaneously reach out to their fan base.

BUT actions speak louder than words and it's pretty clear the corporate blog hasn't been a priority for them (maybe they should take the site links away instead of promoting stale content). I have appreciated TiVoStephen's efforts on his personal blog.

[megazone]

I'm available if TiVo would like to hire me.Me too. :-)

[megazone]

I'm probably a little too honest to be TiVo's official blogger for anything other than a guest stint. Though I wouldn't mind providing a few "on location" posts for their blog if they flew me out. I'm sure I could dig up a ton of interesting things to share. Again a small price to pay to get some good coverage and simultaneously reach out to their fan base.**** - you, me, Alex - any of us would've done a better job as ambassador. I didn't apply because I didn't think I'd be what they needed - but now I'm kicking myself for not applying because I would've done *something*.

I just had the 'working for TiVo' conversation with someone the other day. A few years back I applied for a few jobs there, but never got called in - I tell myself it is because I'm on the other coast and not because I suck. ;-) But, while I still think of TiVo as one of two places I'd seriously consider working (the other being Google), it isn't as sure now. I've been so active in the online community, more and more as time goes by, that giving all of that up to work there would be hard. I don't think I'd be able to continue doing what I do and saying what I say if I were on the payroll. While it'd be cool for me to be on the 'inside' and get to see more of the cool stuff, the tradeoff would be having to keep my mouth shut more. I'd probably have to give up TiVoLovers.com and other things.

But I wouldn't mind doing guest reports for the blog of being their next ambassador - and I wouldn't want the Mini anyway, I'm too big for one.

[ChuckyBox]

But I wouldn't mind doing guest reports for the blog ...
Chucky is willing to contribute reports on what the Fat Cats are up to, if TiVo wants that for the blog.

[davezatz]

I wouldn't want the Mini anyway, I'm too big for one.

I'm sure someone would be willing to pay good money for a new car with custom TiVo paint job! Then you can buy yourself a H3 and put a TiVo window cling on it. ;)

[davezatz]

For interesting ideas in corporate blogging, check out this Netgear contest. They're going to pick an independent writer from the blogosphere to cover CES. (Yes, I did enter!)

Guess who won!
http://www.netgear.com/Community/Blog/20061221_BloggerSelected.aspx

I have been wondering about the Ambassador thing.
That's why you pay someone after they've done the work... ;)
Has Netgear been stalking me? They won't pay up until AFTER CES. Guess I'll have to do some writing!

This should be a VERY interesting experiment. I think everyone's still percolating the details how it will play out - how much on my site, how much on their's, what's topical, etc. But they've been super supportive since notifying me - I said to set up Netgear Blogger Headquarters I need a Netgear travel router and a Skype phone for the hotel room and they said done... AND we'll throw in a laptop, a printer, and a shirt. I think I can keep the shirt. ;)

One of the dudes coordinating wrote these things in the blogosphere - the wide latitude and corporate sense of humor made me comfortable in applying:
1. If we wanted the guest blog to be only about about NETGEAR, we would have written it ourselves.

2. There is a big, crazy CES out there. You have a unique perspective. You are there for everyone else who will never have the opportunity to experience the overwhelming, amazing, four day, 102 inch plasma adrenaline rush that is the Consumer Electronics Show. (http://www.engadget.com/2005/01/07/samsung-ces-the-worlds-largest-plasma-tv/).

3. All those amazing new gadgets at CES? We at NETGEAR live to network them all together and to the Internet. Wired, wirelessly, whatever it takes. And, no surprise, we believe that “connectivity” is as important a trend as “convergence.”

4. We don’t want to just hear about why NETGEAR products are so great (our customers already know that); we want you to help the world understand how all the pieces fit together into one giant connected life. Capice?

5. And of course, the fine print: any personal gambling debts that may be incurred in Las Vegas during the course of being “blogger-in-residence” are the sole liability of said blogger.

Mega: My tentative itinerary has me at the TiVo booth Tuesday AM for a formal chat and I'll probably drop by informally some point on Monday as well. I assume you'll be in the vicinity? :) Anyone else going to be at CES and want to say hi?

OK, I'm done taking over this thread - I got a little excited and wanted to share. (It's not every day somebody awards me $2k for a week's worth of blog posts!) Back to your regularly scheduled official TiVo blog commentary.

[DancnDude]

Wow Dave congrats! :up:

[gonzotek]

That's great Dave! You have definitely earned the job with the amount of time you've put in blogging pretty much all of the media tech developments since you started. Netgear chose wisely :)

[ashu]

Yay! I bet you'll do a great job for them! Be sure to pot the URL so I can add it to my 'Too-Poor-and-Busy-in-Jan-for-CES' folder in Wizz (the best RSS aggregator for Firefox)

Dibs on any duplicate/extra loot locally ;)

[megazone]

I'm sure someone would be willing to pay good money for a new car with custom TiVo paint job! Then you can buy yourself a H3 and put a TiVo window cling on it. ;)I'll keep my Charger - and I have window clings I can put on it. I used to have an antenna ball - but the Charger doesn't have an external antenna!

[megazone]

Mega: My tentative itinerary has me at the TiVo booth Tuesday AM for a formal chat and I'll probably drop by informally some point on Monday as well. I assume you'll be in the vicinity? :) Anyone else going to be at CES and want to say hi?There's a CES thread in the meets forum for people going. :-) I'll be around all week - 6th-12th - so I can be anywhere I need to be.

I usually hit TiVo as my first stop - it paid off last year. :-)

Congrats on winning the NetGear gig, sounds cool.

[ChuckyBox]

Crap. You guys are making me want to go. Vegas is a riot, and the show is just the kind of gaudy, overstimulating affair that Vegas does so well.

What do I have to do, print up a business card that says I'm in the biz?

[megazone]

What do I have to do, print up a business card that says I'm in the biz?Yeah, pretty much. I just use my real cards.

[robbytein]

Another one to be adding to my RSS reader :)

[davezatz]

Be sure to pot the URL so I can add it to my 'Too-Poor-and-Busy-in-Jan-for-CES' folder in Wizz (the best RSS aggregator for Firefox)Uh, yeah, about those feeds... ;) My first request was: You must install REAL blogging software and you must turn comments on no matter how uncomfortable it feels. BUT with all the holiday madness and their CES prep, there's probably not time so I'll most likely be providing Word files to their webmaster. Not ideal, but I shall overcome!

In the meantime, my buddy (and coincidentally one of the other four Netgear finalists!) Davis Freeberg turned me on to Ponyfish (http://www.ponyfish.com/) as a way to track Netgear's site (http://www.netgear.com/Community/Blog.aspx).

Dibs on any duplicate/extra loot locally ;)
I don't know what they're introducing yet, but they said I'll be getting samples. I'm happy to share any extra/dupes. But I'll probably hang on to that WiFi Skype phone if they let me! My Vonage line has gone to crap and support is worthless.

What do I have to do, print up a business card that says I'm in the biz?I just ordered my first set (outside of "real" work) business cards from Moo.com. They're half height and they print on both sides which is cool. Hopefully they arrive in time so I look legit... well as legit as any blogger can handing out purple business cards with comic font. ;)