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To: Bill Harmond who wrote (145796)	8/20/2002 3:49:12 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

So is Msft's UltimateTV. It's all about digital Bill. UltimateTV is perfect for people who are contemplating switching to digital television, Empey said, because it combines that service with a DVR in one box. And UltimateTV has some advantages over its competitors, mainly that it lets you record two programs at once. There is certainly a cult of DVR fanatics, and it seems like everyone who has bought a system swears there is no going back to VCRs for recording programs. But so far, only about a million people are using them. So why isn't the DVR a hotter sell? Empey said he has been disappointed with the rate of sales, but said it typically takes a while for new technologies to be adopted by consumers. DVD players have been around since the late 1990s, he said, and it took a while for them to reach mainstream popularity. "If you look at the adoption curves, I think 'patience' is the word we should be using," he said. DVRs face acceptance hurdles because they require users to change the way they watch and record television programs, said TiVo spokeswoman Rebecca Baer. TiVo reported 422,000 subscribers at the end of April, and ReplayTV and UltimateTV have not released subscriber numbers. People have watched television the same way for so long that it's hard for some to understand how they could benefit from owning a DVR, she said. "We're not at that mass-adoption level yet," she said. "People don't recognize it as something they really need, and it has a high price point." signonsandiego.com