mangas
01-07-2009, 07:39 PM
Here's my "suggestion" for Tivo:
Remove all advertising embedded in the Tivo interface.
I've been a very vocal Tivo advocate since my first S1 (directivo). I am the tech-savvy geek that friends and family go to for advice on gadgets of all types. My current S3 is probably my 5th tivo unit but my recommendations to friends and family have easily given Tivo 10 new subscribers.
I used to tell people how much I loved my tivo but I don't feel that way any more. The presence of ads within the tivo interface is very offensive to me (even though the ads are not very obnoxious by today's web standards). I would not buy a car which had banner ads on the dashboard, and I would not have purchased my S3 if I had known about the ads now included in the tivo interface.
The #1 feature I value in my tivo is the ability to fast-forward through commercials. I can hardly stand to watch Tivo-less network TV now, because the advertising feels so invasive to me. What Tivo gave with one hand has been taken away with the other.
Of course it is within tivo's right to sell ad space on their device (and yes, I know it's in the user agreement blah blah). As a consumer, it is my responsibility to speak with my wallet.
My long relationship with tivo will end at the completion of my current 3-year subscription. I am sad about this. Tivo used to be such a great product. Tivo could have sold an ad-supported service for $10/month and an ad-free service for $20/mo. People like me would have happily opted for the latter.
Because I already pay what I think is a fair price for tivo's monthly service, I am especially upset by the injection of ads into the Tivo interface. Cable TV customers are already double-charged for their content of course: we pay the cable company each month, and they give us content which is filled with ads. But more and more, ad-averse and tech-savvy customers like myself are reconsidering that relationship too. Since I can get 95% of my current content through a combination of (free) OTA HD, netflix, amazon and bittorrent downloads, I am getting closer to dropping my cable TV subscription completely. Without Tivo, I have one less reason to keep paying Comcast each month. I'll build a nice media center PC to drive my HDTV, script my bittorrent downloads and ad-removal software, and buy/stream other content a la carte.
Remove all advertising embedded in the Tivo interface.
I've been a very vocal Tivo advocate since my first S1 (directivo). I am the tech-savvy geek that friends and family go to for advice on gadgets of all types. My current S3 is probably my 5th tivo unit but my recommendations to friends and family have easily given Tivo 10 new subscribers.
I used to tell people how much I loved my tivo but I don't feel that way any more. The presence of ads within the tivo interface is very offensive to me (even though the ads are not very obnoxious by today's web standards). I would not buy a car which had banner ads on the dashboard, and I would not have purchased my S3 if I had known about the ads now included in the tivo interface.
The #1 feature I value in my tivo is the ability to fast-forward through commercials. I can hardly stand to watch Tivo-less network TV now, because the advertising feels so invasive to me. What Tivo gave with one hand has been taken away with the other.
Of course it is within tivo's right to sell ad space on their device (and yes, I know it's in the user agreement blah blah). As a consumer, it is my responsibility to speak with my wallet.
My long relationship with tivo will end at the completion of my current 3-year subscription. I am sad about this. Tivo used to be such a great product. Tivo could have sold an ad-supported service for $10/month and an ad-free service for $20/mo. People like me would have happily opted for the latter.
Because I already pay what I think is a fair price for tivo's monthly service, I am especially upset by the injection of ads into the Tivo interface. Cable TV customers are already double-charged for their content of course: we pay the cable company each month, and they give us content which is filled with ads. But more and more, ad-averse and tech-savvy customers like myself are reconsidering that relationship too. Since I can get 95% of my current content through a combination of (free) OTA HD, netflix, amazon and bittorrent downloads, I am getting closer to dropping my cable TV subscription completely. Without Tivo, I have one less reason to keep paying Comcast each month. I'll build a nice media center PC to drive my HDTV, script my bittorrent downloads and ad-removal software, and buy/stream other content a la carte.