TiVo Blog

gonzotek · 10-28-2005, 09:52 AM

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 · 10-28-2005, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonzotek

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 · 10-28-2005, 11:49 AM

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 · 10-28-2005, 01:55 PM

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 · 10-28-2005, 04:22 PM

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 · 10-29-2005, 07:27 AM

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 · 10-29-2005, 10:22 AM

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 · 10-31-2005, 06:10 PM

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 · 10-31-2005, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

Valentine Michael Smith

ZeoTiVo · 10-31-2005, 09:42 PM

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 · 10-31-2005, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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

Justin Thyme · 11-01-2005, 09:48 AM

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

robaustin · 11-01-2005, 12:09 PM

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 · 11-01-2005, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Thyme

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

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

Turtleboy · 11-01-2005, 02:22 PM

One post?

Moderated comments?

And then nothing?

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

robaustin · 11-02-2005, 08:04 AM

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 · 11-07-2005, 08:46 AM

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 · 11-07-2005, 08:53 AM

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 · 11-07-2005, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robaustin

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...i=1673855&sn=I

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

Quote:

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 · 11-07-2005, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davezatz

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...i=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

megazone · 11-08-2005, 02:52 PM

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 · 11-08-2005, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megazone

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 · 11-08-2005, 03:12 PM

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 · 11-09-2005, 08:33 AM

worst.blog.ever.

ZeoTiVo · 11-09-2005, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davezatz

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

rainwater · 11-09-2005, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeoTiVo

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

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 · 11-09-2005, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainwater

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

Quote:

Originally Posted by by daveZatz

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 · 11-09-2005, 11:43 AM

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:

Quote:

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:

Quote:

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 · 11-09-2005, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.
...
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 · 11-09-2005, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davezatz

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.