TiVo Search froze my box for 5 minutes and then dumped me to live TV

[jakerome]

That happened the first time I tried it. Very discouraging. Combined with the guaranteed crashing of NetFlix (my internet connection is fine, thank you) and YouTube wonkiness, and it seems most of the new features that are supposed to set TiVo apart from the generic DVRs just don't work.

Longtime user, and this is the most down on TiVo I've ever been. You've lost a salesman.

[ZeoTiVo]

if both TiVo search and netflix crash your box fairly consistently, then perhaps there is a problem on that box.

[nrc]

There seemed to be some kind of problem with TiVo's servers last night. The search problem should be dismissed as it's beta, but the problem with On Demand is a little surprising.

[DaJoos]

FWIW I had trouble with the Search function also last night (1/27) - stuck on something like 'Please Wait' (can't recall exactly) for a couple minutes. Going back (left) did nothing, but when I pressed the Tivo button at the top of the remote it responded and brought me back. I have used the Search once successfully before, however (50% success rate!).

[dab9324]

I played around with the search function and utube Sunday (AM) before last and had good luck with it. The search seemed pretty fast and watchng the utube videos on the Living Room LCD was interesting. I have not tried the Netflix yet because I had to upgrade my Netflix account and have not been back to it. I have used the Amazon with success and have no plans to order pizza. Overall I am happy with the added features and their performance.

[TiVoPony]

There seemed to be some kind of problem with TiVo's servers last night. The search problem should be dismissed as it's beta, but the problem with On Demand is a little surprising.

Yes, unfortunately we experienced some issues last night. We're getting it sorted out. If you had trouble with TiVo Search last night, please accept our apologies, and try it again today!

Pony

[nomisxid]

Yes, unfortunately we experienced some issues last night. We're getting it sorted out. If you had trouble with TiVo Search last night, please accept our apologies, and try it again today!

Pony

You used one of those annoying blue-you-totally-have-to-read-this-message-screens to tell me about the feature today, and as everyone else has mentioned, it black screens the box for 5 mins, then dumps me to live TV.

It's called a first impression, and if you couldn't spend the effort to get that right, I am not much inclined to give you a second chance with this feature, because I doubt you spent any more effort on the feature itself.

A beta isn't an alpha. You are supposed to have done more than just a first pass at QA internally. Now, instead of getting valuable info about unusual or difficult to find bugs, you've squandered what little goodwill you have with your most technical customers. What a terrible waste of your money and our time.

[TiVoPony]

You used one of those annoying blue-you-totally-have-to-read-this-message-screens to tell me about the feature today, and as everyone else has mentioned, it black screens the box for 5 mins, then dumps me to live TV.

It's called a first impression, and if you couldn't spend the effort to get that right, I am not much inclined to give you a second chance with this feature, because I doubt you spent any more effort on the feature itself.

A beta isn't an alpha. You are supposed to have done more than just a first pass at QA internally. Now, instead of getting valuable info about unusual or difficult to find bugs, you've squandered what little goodwill you have with your most technical customers. What a terrible waste of your money and our time.

Hi nomisxid,

The problem you're experiencing wasn't planned, unfortunately we're having some issues with the broadband services in general at the moment. It's particularly unfortunate that it's happening at the same time that we sent that message out to the DVR's to try TiVo Search.

I saw your note to the feedback email address as well. I hope that once the service issue is resolved you'll reconsider and give the feature a try.

Thanks,
Pony

[vyper63]

If there's a service problem, the Tivo client should have enough intelligence to toss up an error message stating that the service is currently unavailable after a few seconds. As currently implemented, customers think there's something wrong with their box and will do painful things like rebooting.

FYI, the "Please Wait" problem happened to me the first time I launched the Netflix client as well. Seems to happen each time Tivo launches a new feature. Microsoft is much more reliable with equivalent services on the Xbox360.

[nomisxid]

Hi nomisxid,

The problem you're experiencing wasn't planned, unfortunately we're having some issues with the broadband services in general at the moment. It's particularly unfortunate that it's happening at the same time that we sent that message out to the DVR's to try TiVo Search.

I saw your note to the feedback email address as well. I hope that once the service issue is resolved you'll reconsider and give the feature a try.

Thanks,
Pony

Try again? Why bother? You guys took a product that used to intelligently record stuff based on my likes and dislikes, and have consistently worked to turn it into a tool for trying to get me to watch junk based on who paid you the most to push their mid-season crapfest. If you guys are pushing a new feature, it's because you have some advertiser telling you to, not because you think it will improve the watching experience. You want to convince me your new feature is worthy retrying? How about going back and fixing Tivo Suggestions, so it doesn't skip a 3-thumbs-up program, in favor of a just-happens-to-be-a-pilot-show in a genre I've never given a single thumbs-up to.

You couldn't even bother to host the support forum on your own site, how much care could have possibly gone into implementing this feature?

[TiVoPony]

Try again? Why bother? You guys took a product that used to intelligently record stuff based on my likes and dislikes, and have consistently worked to turn it into a tool for trying to get me to watch junk based on who paid you the most to push their mid-season crapfest. If you guys are pushing a new feature, it's because you have some advertiser telling you to, not because you think it will improve the watching experience. You want to convince me your new feature is worthy retrying? How about going back and fixing Tivo Suggestions, so it doesn't skip a 3-thumbs-up program, in favor of a just-happens-to-be-a-pilot-show in a genre I've never given a single thumbs-up to.

You couldn't even bother to host the support forum on your own site, how much care could have possibly gone into implementing this feature?

I'm sorry that you're having trouble with TiVo Suggestions. They do not work in the manner you've described, but they do look at much more than genre when choosing a program to record. Suggestions are not paid endorsements in any way, and never have been.

Regarding hosting the feedback forum being on this site vs. TiVo.com, there were a couple of factors that influenced that decision. One (and this is primary)...you always fish where the fish are. TiVoCommunity has been around almost as long as TiVo has, it's an active community, and we've participated in it from the start. It's a good place for us to 'fish' for input, there are certainly people here who are willing to share constructive, thoughtful feedback. The second item to consider - the support forums on tivo.com are just that - they're about support issues. With this forum we're certainly interested in issues people are having with the feature during beta, but we're really working to foster discussion about what people like, dislike, value, etc. Support is a secondary goal here. Combine those two aspects and the decision where to host the forum was an obvious one.

Again, we apologize that you happened to try the feature on an evening where we were experiencing some issues with the broadband services. If you're willing to try the feature and share your impressions, we'd certainly appreciate it.

Cheers,
Pony

[vyper63]

I tried again just now - 11AM on a workday when I assume there aren't too many people using the service. Still got the "Please Wait" screen and I gave up after several minutes. I then restart my Tivo and tried again - still no luck. Are you guys still having problems with your servers?