TIVO vs. Dish trial in Marshall, TX

drjdan

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Feb 12, 2006
167
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Dallas, TX
Is anyyone going to the TIVO vs. Dish trial in Marshall, TX. I say today where it has been delayed for two days at Dish's request.
 
I don't get why Dish is being sued by tivo... tivo should be suing direct tv over what they will rip off... i'm sure that's next if they were to win... although I hope tivo loses the case, so then dish can really begin to rip off the better features of tivo...

what a loser company tivo is, people don't want to pay 12.95 / month just to get guide data... while there are some nice polished features I miss about my tivo, the 622 does well.
 
I really don't see this going in tivo's favor, it's all about a couple of lawyers going after a cash cow. It's going to be more of a thorn in Dish's side than anything.
 
Tivo is desperate. Never made a profit. Lost their biggest customer, who promptly went into competition with them over their largest customer block (and will soon make Tivo units obsolete with the service). Cableco deals may not be enough. Concept has competition from many others, and most people seem quite content with "lesser" brands. Some other brands have features and speed Tivo lacks. Business model of charging a fee for guide data is outmoded.

Failed management and business plan/execution. Quick- call in the lawyers to save us!
 
This has absolutely nothing to do with this thread but I have to say it.

On November 7th, 1956 I came into the world in Marshall, TX. :D
 
My favorite headline has been:

Comcast, Time Warner: Cablevision's Remote DVR a Great Idea (ignore the source you paranoid/conspiracy theorists out there, there are others who have also post this headline)

So it looks like even the cable companies who tivo thought would be on their side (ahem, ahem comcast) are against them! Even if tivo wins the trial, it's over, the 100 million settlement (if they ever get it) will not hold them over long enough to turn profits, it's over. They needed to get out of the hardware business long ago and lease their decent OS / scheduling system.
 
The $12.95 they charge for their guide data is far too high compared to what everyone else is offering. On top of that they are now eliminating the lifetime subscription offer. TiVo has a great product though. The name will probably remain synonymous with DVR long after the company has folded.
 
Tivo would have been better off working out a different arrangement with the carriers, whereby consumers could opt for a Tivo box by paying a premium and giving a cut back to the carriers, rather than the other way around.

I am (and will likely always be) a Tivo loyalist who switched unwillingly. Long term, the standalone box between your cable/satelite box and TV could not survive.

Tivo's core competence was its interface and system intelligence. Tivo is just a very natural interface for me, and I would still prefer to have it. And yes, I would love to once again have Tivo guessing what I want to watch (and often being hillariously and catastrophically wrong). THere was something so 10 years from now about having a TV that figured out what things I liked and tried to find more of the same kind of stuff for me.
 
dwcobb said:
Long term, the standalone box between your cable/satelite box and TV could not survive.


I think TIVO became a dinosaur company before their time. If they were more agile and motivated they would have come to the party much sooner with a stand alone HD recorder. As it stands there's still no firm commitment from them on one.
They could have kept a decent chunk of market share longer.

Before that, they should have slashed prices on the boxes and met the charges that cable companies were charging for their DVR service. They would have gone a lot further.


Sam
 
If Dish is going to lose (and now it appears Dish WILL lose) the smart thing for Dish to do would be to BUY TIVO then go after others using the same technology. :)
 
Provided they lose, the outcome of this trial will have little real impact on E*. They will automatically appeal, based on the jury not understanding the technical issues.

From there the case will go to the appeals level where it will be ruled upon by a judge, who is much more likely to understand the very narrow scope of the patents.

Quite frankly the whole process of jury trials for patent issues needs to be tanked. Any process where ~40% of all rulings are overturned is clearly broken.
 
I agree Joseph and also feel that if Tivo wins battle one it will just be the beginning of a very lengthy road of appeals.
When it finally reaches higher educated people they will throw it out as should have been sooner.
 
DucTape said:
I agree Joseph and also feel that if Tivo wins battle one it will just be the beginning of a very lengthy road of appeals.
When it finally reaches higher educated people they will throw it out as should have been sooner.

If TiVo wins this round, I wouldn't be surprised if Rupert jump on board.
 
I understand why they are suing... I dont know which way i willsway.


I keep a Stand Alone tivo because I also have free cable (i pay 60 for cable internet and they charge me 50 for net and 10 for cable) but someof the new features are great....JAva software, Transferring recordings and stuff TO tivo....etc.
 
JosephF said:
Provided they lose, the outcome of this trial will have little real impact on E*. They will automatically appeal, based on the jury not understanding the technical issues.

From there the case will go to the appeals level where it will be ruled upon by a judge, who is much more likely to understand the very narrow scope of the patents.

Quite frankly the whole process of jury trials for patent issues needs to be tanked. Any process where ~40% of all rulings are overturned is clearly broken.

Very good points but as we all know each process makes someone rich (or at least adds to the kitty), so I'm not sure lawmakers can be counted on to change the process anytime soon.:(
 
heh

Heck, if they came out with a better solution than the IR blaster for MOST cable/satellite boxes, it would have had a chance.

During the time I used Tivo, I had 3 different TV service providers (digital cable to D* to E*). None of their boxes worked with the Tivo direct connection for channel changes, and so I had to live with the biggest Tivo headache...sometimes it failed to change channels properly and so missed recording a show.

That is why I think the standalone box was doomed. Unless they had the integrated solution, they would never get the various cable and satellite systems to have a wide installed base of compatible boxes. And with all those companies developing their own DVR's, none of them really had an incentive to do anything.
 
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