[Mike Farrington]

I hate it when I turn on my TV and see programming that I personally despise, like professional wrestling and religious programming to name two.

So I'm suggesting a new functionality for TiVo to adopt. If a new program starts while the TiVo is idle, and it has three thumbs down, then turn the channel.

Parents can use it to keep their kids from turning on the TV and seeing an insipid cartoon with no redeeming qualities (which of course the kid would watch in its entirty just because its a cartoon).

Personally, If I never have to see Judge Judy's face ever again, I can die a happy man.

What do you say TiVo? Three strikes and the channel gets changed automatically. Just jump to whatever the suggestion engine says I might like. It doesn't have to record, but just jump to it.

-Mike

 

[DavidSTiVo]

I second the motion! All in favor?

 

[Jonathan_S]

And if they implement this they should extend it so that a wishlist doesn't record anything with three thumbs down.

 

[Greg K.]

And if they implement this they should extend it so that a wishlist doesn't record anything with three thumbs down.

The lack of features like this is why I turned off suggestions a long time ago.

 

[hc130radio]

The lack of features like this is why I turned off suggestions a long time ago.

No doubt! i turned off suggestions after my first 2 days of having tivo.

 

[rcapolete]

great in theory but what happens when you accidently press thumbs down lets say when the tv is off (tivo fuctions still works as we all know.) Then you start missing show that you would otherwise like to watch.

 

[ZeoTiVo]

A very nice idea, especially the way to exclude things from autorecord wishlists but TiVo has better things to work on.

as others have said it would mean they would have to give you a way to manage your thumb ratings and that opens a whole nother kettle of fish of a lot more coding to make it all work.

 

[jkalnin]

great in theory but what happens when you accidently press thumbs down lets say when the tv is off (tivo fuctions still works as we all know.) Then you start missing show that you would otherwise like to watch.

He said that for 3 thumbs down to change the channel, not just one. If you accidentally push a button three times then you have a twitchy finger issue.

 

[mdsutherland]

Why not just push the Tivo button before you turn on the TV? Then there is no chance of seeing anything that might bother you.

 

[mdsutherland]

And if they implement this they should extend it so that a wishlist doesn't record anything with three thumbs down.

I do like this idea!! That doesn't seem like it would be that hard to do either.

 

[ZeoTiVo]

I do like this idea!! That doesn't seem like it would be that hard to do either.

it would be a major change to thumbs and wishlists. two different systems. It would be a lot of work to design , implement and test. That alone is not a reason to say don't do this but it will be a lot more then adding a line of code
if thumbs(DOWN).numberIs(3) then Wishlist.doNotSchedule()

 

[rainwater]

I would expect my auto-record wishlists to record everything no matter what the thumbs rating is. If it didn't, I would not be that happy.

 

[Moebius]

I would expect my auto-record wishlists to record everything no matter what the thumbs rating is. If it didn't, I would not be that happy.

A good example of why TiVo leaves well enough alone in cases like this. It's impossible to please all the people all the time. Two posters above want thumbs to overrider wishlists. Rainwater doesn't.

Next people will ask TiVo to read minds. "There's a 3 thumbs down show coming up in two hours. The remote hasn't been touched in a while, but I've got a hunch they'll be coming home soon, so I better change the channel now".

Note, not an attack on anyone, just pointing out that it's impossible to make it exactly the way everybody wants it because not everybody wants the same. What if a 3 thumbs down is following a sports program that runs long while you're watching live. Then the TiVo is going to pop up and ask to change channel (or by the OP, just do it). Too many variables.

 

[mmascari]

And if they implement this they should extend it so that a wishlist doesn't record anything with three thumbs down.

The lack of features like this is why I turned off suggestions a long time ago.

What do these two have to do with each other?

Suggestions will not record anything with even one thumbs down now. The only thing the thumbs ratings have any impact on is Suggestions. If you don't use Suggestions, then the thumbs buttons are useless.

The functionality of Wishlists is completely independent of thumbs ratings. Changing that at this point would be a major confusion to people who understand the difference between a wishlist and a suggestion currently. A new auto-record thing would be needed if you want to incorporate thumbs ratings and search criteria at the same time.

 

[jamdod]

The problem I see with this is you would need to find each individual show and thumb it down.

There is no way to give thumb ratings to a genre directly. I could give thumbs down to all religious services, but give a couple thumbs up to some Billy Graham specials and I'd be affecting the religious genre in both cases. The same holds true for actors. I can thumb up all Clint Eastwood movies except Play Misty For Me and Paint Your Wagon which I thumb down and affect Clint's ratings in both directions.
There is just no way for me to know how I'm affecting the ratings beyond the individual series or show, where I can see the thumbs rating.
This would be a big problem with some genres like reality shows. I may love two of them and hate the other three million, so I would have to go in and give three thumbs down to all those that I hate.

Myself, I just hit the TiVo button before turning on the TV like mdsutherland suggested.

 

[Guyute1210]

if thumbs(DOWN).numberIs(3) then Wishlist.doNotSchedule()

Is that C# or Java ???

 

[ZeoTiVo]

Is that C# or Java ???

wondered if someone would notice my hybrid mix

I think tivoapp is written in C++ but I was not going to go find the primer for that language since I do c# or Java nowadays. And actually it is more like the Structured Rule Language inside the Blaze rules engine I have been working with lately.

 

[anom]

Since when did simply glimpsing a show you don't like when turning on the TV become so offensive? Best to leave well enough alone, I think; I can't imagine this is a serious concern for many people.

 

[smark]

Well the 5 seconds you see of the program before hitting the Tivo button or changing the channel may scar you for life or ruin the your day.

 

[dswallow]

Thumbs ratings affect more than jsut a show title; they relate to genre, to some other aspects of the show categorically, to some of the cast members individually, and sometimes to a director as well -- should a 3-thumbs-down mean "never record" each and every one of those items in the future?

The devil is in the details; this isn't a really practical suggestion. It would really need to be very specialized in the way it worked, probably allowing the end-user to make some very unique rules as tests. I'd love a way to never see anything to do with "Marcia Gay Harden" but odds are that sort of rule would have to lose out to another one that might be "see everything with "Brad Pitt", et. al.