I watched some of the first half of the Skins/Titans game and I have a few thoughts.
Slingbox is pretty cool. Not the greatest thing ever, but definitely cool.
I’m still amazed at how bad some (most? all?) DVRs are. Sure, it’s great technology and I couldn’t live without it but the design and development of the DVR software is years behind most of what you see on the web. I just don’t understand why the UI and some of the functionality is so bad. Apple, when will you tweak AppleTV and turn it into an awesome DVR? (I’ve never actually used a Tivo so maybe that’s the answer. My experience has been with ReplayTV, Cox’s DVR, and Verizon’s FiOS DVR.)
The final thing is about football. I know preseason doesn’t matter. Teams can lose all their preseason games and still be good. Teams can win all their preseason games and still be bad. For the Skins a strong win in the preseason would really make me feel better. Heck, 10 first downs would feel good too.
August 14th, 2007 at 9:54 am
See, UI and functionality are the differentiators for TiVo. Now that they have release a (barely) slimmed-down offering of their Series3 in the form of the TiVoHD, there’s something that handles HD, has the renowned TiVo UI, has expandable storage, and looks good in a living room.
The only way I can see Apple getting directly into TiVo’s space in the next three-five years is through a merger/acquisition. There are a few things that TiVo could do better, but an Apple competitor would basically just add some reflections and plastic effects.
Comcast is partnering with TiVo to release a DVR for Comcast customers that has TiVo software on the Motorola set-top boxes that Comcast already uses. There’s some potential there, if the Motorola boxes can hold up.
August 14th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
So Tivo is the answer, eh? Once Comcast starts offering the TiVo software I’ll get Brian to try it out.
I’m on FiOS TV right now and my other options are Cox or satellite. I suppose I could try and drop a TiVo on top of FiOS - or Verizon could just come out with something that isn’t lame.