Thank You Tivo and goodbye!

[wonka12]

Bought 2 Tivo 1's in Aug 2000 with Lifetime service

Lifetime service X 2 =$400.00

Tivo 1 X 2 = $99 (Won one in a Tivo Contest)

Total investment for 6+ years service = $499


Sold on Ebay this and last week:

141 Hours Tivo = $400

14 Hour Tivo =$269


Net FREE service for 6+ years and pocketed $170

No wonder they were not making money!

[Redux]

No wonder they [Tivo] were not making money!

Tivo will be a legend 20 years from now. Those of us who can talk about it from experience will be spellbinders.

Nobody will understand or appreciate that success for Tivo was almost impossible.

It was an environment where innovation was financially punished and thieves who used the innovators instead of their own R&D were rewarded. Tivo underpriced their service, but had little choice. Those who understood the service would have paid lots more, but they were few. Mostly its customers compalined that the price was too high. And the public at large wouldn't have bought in at half the price because they simply didn't have a clue as to what was going on.

[LifeIsABeach]

No wonder they were not making money!

TiVo eventually figured it out. That is why they got rid of the lifetime service option. :D

[ChuckyBox]

No wonder they were not making money!
Yeah, the lifetime subscriptions were a financial disaster for the company -- except they provided cash for operations. But for that not to become a pyramid game, TiVo would have to have experienced much faster growth, and reach profitability. And those things never happened, so they are left with a bunch of lifetime boxes draining their resources while they look for growth elsewhere. To say the company was mismanaged in its early years would be doing a disservice to mismanagement.

(But, as Redux points out, it wasn't all TiVo's fault. That certain companies have profited from TiVo's innovation and patented technology while damaging TiVo has been clearly established. Getting them to pay up is another story.)

[davezatz]

Tivo 1 X 2 = $99 (Won one in a Tivo Contest)


Who was selling TiVos in 2000 for $99??

[smak]

I bought my first 14 hour in August 2000 for $99 at Circuit City.

$299 - $100 Tivo Rebate - $100 Circuit City rebate.

14 hours, lol

-smak-

[c3]

Around that time, Amazon was selling the 14-hour box for $100. Add $200 for lifetime service and minus $100 TiVo rebate = $200 box with lifetime service.

[davezatz]

Wow, I didn't realize prices were so low. I probably paid that much for a used Philips a year later.

[BlackBetty]

I paid $300 (after $50 rebate) for a 80 hour S2 in December of 2003.

[timr_42]

I got a 20 hour S1 at a Kmart for 99 sometime around that time.

[jmace57]

Stop it. Ya'll are making me sick. My first one was an S2 and I paid $350...+ $300 for Lifetime...+ $50 for Home Media Options = $700.

[It is STILL the best money I ever spent. It is still going strong.]

Jim