EchoStar to Acquire Sling Media

[GaryPen]

Oh crap.

Any bets on how long it will take Dish to funk up a great product?

I say the first announcement of bad news will be by March. By June, something bad will actually start happening. By the end of '08, Slingbox, as we know it and love it, will be gone.

 

[drdroo]

I agree, but since you need the sling finder id to use your slingbox, echostar can easily diable you box to a pay use whether you upgrade your firmware or not.

Slingfinder is for people who can't easily find their unit because they're on a residential service. I'm on a commercial DSL connection with a static IP. This is moot.

 

[drdroo]

Any bets on how long it will take Dish to funk up a great product?

This 'funk up a great product' never happened with the Archos units. I do think they deserve the benefit of the doubt at the very least.

 

[digiblur]

Any idear if this is a way to get around distants? Want to get your New York locals? Live in Binghamton where DISH doesn't provide? Just hook up a sling at your friends house in NYC DMA.

Thoughts?

You don't need a slingbox to do that.

 

[Stargazer]

A whole house tv/DVR solution is really needed in this day and age. I think we will see a future product that will allow us to view programming wherever we are for an additional monthly fee. Could be a whole new market of portable television.

 

[drdroo]

Especially if the whole thing can be done over high speed DishComm... It'd truely be 'plug and play'.

 

[GaryPen]

This 'funk up a great product' never happened with the Archos units. I do think they deserve the benefit of the doubt at the very least.

Based on their history, they do not deserve the benefit of the doubt. I was a Dish customer for over 5 years, and still administer the Dish account where I work.

I am also a Sling user, and lover. (It's a way better product than Sony's LocationFree.)

So, I am familiar with both companies, and the way they do business.

I hope this news doesn't affect Sling in a bad way. But, I won't count on it.

BTW, did Dish purchase the Archos company outright?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

No Dish is just an investor in Archos.

 

[drdroo]

Based on their history, they do not deserve the benefit of the doubt. I was a Dish customer for over 5 years, and still administer the Dish account where I work.

I'm a Dish Network customer for 4 years. Was an 'the other carrier' customer for 3 years before that. Have been a Sling customer for 2 years. How the 'other carrier' does business makes E*, Sling, Apple and even Microsoft look like friendly companies. I'm not seeing them suing paying customers claiming they're stealing the services they pay for, for instance.

BTW, did Dish purchase the Archos company outright?

According to Wikipedia they own 19% of Archos, which is less than I thought (I thought they had a majority stake, but I did not believe they owned the whole thing). However, owning nearly 20% is still potentially some pull.

However - I don't see where Echostar would benefit from paying out 380 million and then closing up the product. Sling has sold a lot of devices and has created their own identity (much in the same way Tivo has). I agree with you as far as Locationfree goes too.

Charlie is a lot of things, including the fact he likes money. Selling Slingbox devices would be another revenue stream to fund whatever he really wants to do.

I think ultimately it's like people say.. He wants the Intellectual Property for other things beneficial to E* customers and his bottom line.

 

[iKramerica]

This 'funk up a great product' never happened with the Archos units. I do think they deserve the benefit of the doubt at the very least.

I agree. I've used the Archos units on American Airlines on their transcons, and they work very well. These are new products from the current Dish/Archos period, not legacy products from pre-Dish.

 

[GaryPen]

No Dish is just an investor in Archos.

Big difference.

 

[drdroo]

Echostar owns 19% of the company. If they really wanted more or wanted things a certain way, I suspect they have that much pull.

But again, while Microsoft invests in or buys companies to rape their IP and tank the company, that is not the norm by any stretch.

 

[GaryPen]

I'm a Dish Network customer for 4 years. Was an 'the other carrier' customer for 3 years before that. Have been a Sling customer for 2 years. How the 'other carrier' does business makes E*, Sling, Apple and even Microsoft look like friendly companies. I'm not seeing them suing paying customers claiming they're stealing the services they pay for, for instance.

Irrelevant in this context.

However - I don't see where Echostar would benefit from paying out 380 million and then closing up the product. Sling has sold a lot of devices and has created their own identity (much in the same way Tivo has).

And you see how successful Tivo has been.

Charlie is a lot of things, including the fact he likes money. Selling Slingbox devices would be another revenue stream to fund whatever he really wants to do.

If simply selling Slingboxes really made a lot of money, they wouldn't have sold the company. They'd just continue to sell their products.

I think ultimately it's like people say.. He wants the Intellectual Property for other things beneficial to E* customers and his bottom line.

That is exactly what they are doing. And, standalone SlingBoxes are definitely not their priority. So, the bottom line is, I am probably right about this not being good for the standalone Sling user. Of course, only time will tell. (I'll probably still be here next year to say "I told you so.")

 

[drdroo]

And you see how successful Tivo has been.

Because Tivo sold out their core customers and failed to innovate their product forward. They also think their product is worth more than it actually is. The game only works if people will pay it. DirecTV was one such company that didn't feel an urge to pay it anymore.

If simply selling Slingboxes really made a lot of money, they wouldn't have sold the company. They'd just continue to sell their products.

Echostar already was an early investor in the company and it's quite possible they offered quite a deal. This won't be the first or last time a company got in on the ground floor and then decided to buy the whole thing.

There are several examples publicly in recent years of companies that determined they could do things better with large company backing than as a small company too. It wasn't necessarily a financial difficulty issue.

That is exactly what they are doing. And, standalone SlingBoxes are definitely not their priority. So, the bottom line is, I am probably right about this not being good for the standalone Sling user. Of course, only time will tell. (I'll probably still be here next year to say "I told you so.")

Standalone Slingboxes still sell. If people have concerns they won't be available in the future, then by all means Buy One Now!, it'll still work in the future in the same manner it does today.

I'm just not one of those 'The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling' folks. I already own one, it does its job great and will still do its job into the future. Sure, there's the possibility that the standalone Slingbox owners could not gain in the future, but they will lose nothing.

I won't rob you of your ability to say "I Told You So" if that situation occurs (as you believe it will). However, if it happens 5+ years into the future, instead of in the next 1 or 2, all bets are off.

 

[gbjbany]

A whole house tv/DVR solution is really needed in this day and age. I think we will see a future product that will allow us to view programming wherever we are for an additional monthly fee. Could be a whole new market of portable television.

Also seems this provides a remote programming feature. define your recording preferences on a website and it will set the record in place, potentially in a "dvr farm" optimizing it to the free dvr, from anywhere in the world.

 

[drdroo]

I would love the ability to remotely schedule in general. It's something I could do with the ReplayTV that I really used a lot.

 

[db2]

I would love the ability to remotely schedule in general. It's something I could do with the ReplayTV that I really used a lot.

Should be coming to the ViP DVR's next month.

 

[drdroo]

Here's hoping. I hate that "Crap I won't be home, I shoulda marked that to record" feeling.

 

[skysurfer]

Any bets on how long it will take Dish to funk up a great product?

I'm certainly giving DISH more of a chance with slingmedia to not screw things up compared to a chance I would give DIRECTV, for instance.

Charlie is pretty tech hip for a guy of his age. DIRECTV are just a bunch of stodgy people, IMHO. I've seen more DISH network innovation and willingness to listen than DIRECTV innovation in the time I"ve been a subscriber of both services.

 

[Andrewwski]

From what I've seen those things sell pretty well.

Financially, it makes no sense for them to spend that money to shut them down. They probably see an opportunity and figure it will be profitable for them.