IP: Big fans, insufficient wind

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

I am a Tivo fan -- built into my Directv box. Great. Tivos business 
attitudes are weird
--
> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
>
> [Note:  I don't have one of these boxes, as they don't support the 
> Motorola 4DTV satellite receiver that I use.  However, I have a number of 
> friends who do use PVR's.  As this piece indicates they are starting to 
> show up in various new ways and with new features.  Take a look at the 
> Replay 4000 <http://www.replaytv.com/> which has an Ethernet connection 
> and TCP/IP support which can exchange video content with other similar 
> units over the Net.  DLH]
>
>               October 11, 2001
>
> Big fans, insufficient wind
> By <>Rafe Needleman
>
> Of the many people I know who have TiVo boxes, not one has a negative or 
> even lukewarm opinion of the service. They are all rabid fans.
>
> Yet neither TiVo, nor ReplayTV, nor Microsoft's UltimateTV, are financial 
> winners. ReplayTV didn't even make it as an independent company, getting 
> acquired by SonicBlue in August.
>
> The problem is not the devices, which are great -- it's the business. 
> Selling these things to consumers is an uphill battle without strong and 
> declared support from the people who actually make the most money from 
> television: the networks, broadcasters, and cable companies.
>
> This is changing, as both TiVo and Microsoft have products that put their 
> technologies inside DirecTV (satellite) tuners. ReplayTV has formed a 
> relationship with cable box maker General Instruments (GI; now Motorola's 
> broadband communication division). There's also a quiet company, Metabyte 
> Networks, that's eschewed the consumer market all along, but that does 
> have a deal with another cable box maker, Scientific-Atlanta. GI and 
> Scientific-Atlanta serve the cable companies directly, and thus it's 
> likely that these products will start to include broadcaster-friendly 
> features -- like targeted advertising -- that would be difficult to roll 
> out in products designed as stand-alone boxes to be sold to consumers at 
> retail.
>
> - <mailto:rafe-needleman () redherring com>Rafe Needleman
>
> Source:  Red Herring


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