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Technology Stocks : Tivo (TIVO) Interactive TV -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wyätt Gwyön who wrote (1614)	3/28/2005 1:17:53 PM
From: Andre Williamson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2093

You point out that extenders aren't $300 but $250. But then throw out gems like this one: why should people pay $15 a month to the cable co (or Tivo) for each TV they want a receiver/DVR on? it gets expensive quickly. After the first tivo unit (available for $49 + $12.95/mo), others can be bought for just $49 + $6.95/mo for service. Not $15/month. And DirecTV's 10 million subs have Tivo available at $49 for new units, with only a $5 per household charge for Tivo service - regardless of how many units they have. As is typical, the competition from Microsoft is always "just around the corner." I find that very convenient. Fortunately for consumers, many upstarts refuse to roll over in the face of vaporware threats or second-rate products from Microsoft. Just because something can be done doesn't mean it's the way things will go. Check out today's WSJ article on re-intermediation in the photo industry - everyone thought that home photo printing would be the way of the future - well it looks as if those online photo sites are really where the mass market will be. Andre

To: Wyätt Gwyön who wrote (1614)	3/28/2005 3:02:28 PM
From: MartinDane	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2093

Lifetime product subscription can reduce the monthly cost to nothing. Copy from TiVo to DVD and watch on other TV. No 2nd sub fee. J6P, which is me, although I preferred to be called J12P, is constantly trying to get close to what you have without paying for it. We struggle everyday. We are the largest group. Invest in what we buy, not what you buy.

To: Wyätt Gwyön who wrote (1614)	3/28/2005 8:17:04 PM
From: pyslent	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2093

"but, who would pay $150 for this product standalone when you can get it in a new Dell PC for $400." Since you just got a MCE machine from dell, I'm sure you are aware that you cannot actually buy a MCE PC with the TV functionality we are talking about for less than $900. You can get a Dell with MCE loaded on it for $600, but it won't have a TV tuner installed. I'm a big fan of MCE, but do i think it's ready for the mass market? probably not. The mass market will be sold through cable/satellite companies. Of that, I'm relatively sure. The ability to do dual tuners from a single STB is too attractive a feature to ignore. Cable companies also have a significant advantage in pricing and distribution, and the low hanging fruit will not be swayed to spend more to get the bells and whistles offered by MCE or the highly touted user interface of TiVo. CableCard may lessen the stranglehold that cable companies have on features like dual tuners (PIP, etc), but I'll reserve judgement on whether it really levels the playing field until I see dualtuner cable card offerings from TiVo (not due until 2006) and M$ (rumored to be added with a MCE2005 update). Even then, TVs that incorporate DVR features are probably better positioned to appeal to J6P. Now either M$ or TiVo may try to be the underlying software for these TVs or for future cable/satellite offerings, but the standalone market, as it stands now, will not be a huge seller, IMO. The networked eHome is just too fanciful for poor Joe.