I can't watch all that!

Posted by: gbeer

I can't watch all that! - 06/10/2004 17:04

from newsscan
Quote:
SONY'S 1000-GIGABYTE COMPUTER
Sony is introducing a computer and home-server system in Japan with
1,000 gigabytes of hard-drive storage, which is enough to record six TV
channels for full week. There are no plans to market the computer overseas.
The machine has six analog TV tuners that can record six channels at once
for a week at 19 hours of programming a day, and has a regular personal
computer tuner for recording a seventh channel. (AP/San Jose Mercury News 6
Oct 2004)

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9849519.htm
Posted by: tfabris

Re: I can't watch all that! - 06/10/2004 17:11

Yeah, but think about the potential: a TeraTivo where a certain percentage of disk space is reserved merely for recording all programming on all channels for a certain number of days in the past.

Let's say you come in to work one day, and there's all this talk around the water cooler about this amazing, unexpected thing that was on TV last night. With that kind of storage, you could have that at your fingertips when you got home.

Or the simple "D'oh! I Forgot to set the Tivo to record that!" problem would be solved.

Of course, nowadays, both problems are solved when you've got the ability to share and search with all other PVRs on the internet... I wish that were a universal feature.
Posted by: Daria

Re: I can't watch all that! - 06/10/2004 17:15

Quote:
Yeah, but think about the potential: a TeraTivo where a certain percentage of disk space is reserved merely for recording all programming on all channels for a certain number of days in the past.


That's a lot of tuners...

Quote:

Let's say you come in to work one day, and there's all this talk around the water cooler about this amazing, unexpected thing that was on TV last night. With that kind of storage, you could have that at your fingertips when you got home.



Yeah, well, like I said yesterday, I want to be that guy in Canada who's already doing it....

Quote:

Of course, nowadays, both problems are solved when you've got the ability to share and search with all other PVRs on the internet... I wish that were a universal feature.


Poopli is neat, but the lack of portability between 4000 and 5000 series units is annoying. TiVo can do cool stuff, but only if you hack it. It's all very annoying.
Posted by: Daria

Re: I can't watch all that! - 06/10/2004 17:18

Actually, on that note, ReplayTV 4504 versus Pioneer TiVo DVR versus original Series 1:
Series 1 wins for hackability, hands down.
The TiVo remotes (both peanut style) are very friendly, almost enjoyable to use.
The ReplayTV wins for network features out of the box. The UI is very annoying, though.

I want the best of all worlds. Too bad I can't have it.
Posted by: gbeer

Re: I can't watch all that! - 06/10/2004 18:09

I would be happy to try!
Posted by: tanstaafl.

Re: I can't watch all that! - 07/10/2004 00:20

Or the simple "D'oh! I Forgot to set the Tivo to record that!" problem would be solved.


Ah, but you overlook the real "magic" of TiVo. You don't have to remember to tell TiVo to record things, because it already "knows" the kind of programming you like and will record it "on spec" so to speak without your even asking.

My TiVo constantly records things I wasn't aware of, and it is rare indeed that it chooses something I'm not interested in.

tanstaafl.
Posted by: Daria

Re: I can't watch all that! - 07/10/2004 01:22

Quote:
Or the simple "D'oh! I Forgot to set the Tivo to record that!" problem would be solved.


Ah, but you overlook the real "magic" of TiVo. You don't have to remember to tell TiVo to record things, because it already "knows" the kind of programming you like and will record it "on spec" so to speak without your even asking.


Only if you train it; It doesn't guess by what you watch.
Posted by: jbauer

Re: I can't watch all that! - 07/10/2004 19:21

Quote:
Only if you train it; It doesn't guess by what you watch.


Actually, it kinda does... When you record a show, it automatically gives that show a thumbs up as it knows you must like it enough to record it! So by watching shows, you ARE actually training TiVo what you like...

- Jon
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: I can't watch all that! - 07/10/2004 19:30

But only if you record those shows. If you're just watching live TV, it doesn't adjust any criteria. It'd be hard for it to, as it's always watching something, even when you have the TV off, and it'd be hard for it to know when you were watching and when you weren't. I suppose it could figure something out based on "trick play" activity during a program -- something like assume you like a show if it sees an entire showing of it and there were at least some set number of pauses, rewinds, etc. that might indicate you were actively watching the show.

My biggest problem with the TiVo is that it doesn't take quality of the TV show into account. I mean, we all have our guilty pleasures, if you will, but just because I watch Babylon 5 doesn't mean I want it to record every straight-to-SciFi-channel movie that ever comes on. Not that that's an easy problem to solve. Maybe pulling some aggregate information from viewers -- if many people who give thumbs ups to B5 also give thumbs ups to, say, Farscape, it could take that into account when figuring out what other B5 viewers would like to watch.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: I can't watch all that! - 07/10/2004 19:46

Quote:
Maybe pulling some aggregate information from viewers -- if many people who give thumbs ups to B5 also give thumbs ups to, say, Farscape, it could take that into account when figuring out what other B5 viewers would like to watch.


I thought that's what it did.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: I can't watch all that! - 07/10/2004 19:49

I do not believe so. If you install TiVoWeb (damn, that's a lot of caps), it'll show you the ratings it uses to decide whether to record something you haven't explicitly asked it to. As I remember, that sort of information is not in there. I think that it works exclusively on genres, actors, and directors. Maybe producers. If someone can show me I'm wrong, I'd love to hear about it.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: I can't watch all that! - 07/10/2004 19:54

Ah, too bad then. Seems like a logical step, much like the Amazon system...
Posted by: Daria

Re: I can't watch all that! - 07/10/2004 20:54

Quote:
But only if you record those shows. If you're just watching live TV, it doesn't adjust any criteria.


(and you go on to state why; But I never leave my TiVo "on" when I'm not using it, I put it to sleep.)

Still, it's annoying, because generally I watch SNL "live" through the TiVo if I'm home, but it has no idea I like it, for that reason. I could, and probably should, give it a big green thumb or two...
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: I can't watch all that! - 08/10/2004 11:28

Quote:
I never leave my TiVo "on" when I'm not using it, I put it to sleep.

Out of curiosity, why? I could understand more if it did do ratings based on what's currently showing, but it doesn't. It also doesn't stop recording live TV when it's asleep, right? Or really change any other function of the player except turning off output. So why put it to sleep? That's just one more step when you're done watching TV and one more step when you want to start.
Posted by: andy

Re: I can't watch all that! - 08/10/2004 12:23

To give the pixie that draws the picture a rest.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: I can't watch all that! - 08/10/2004 15:08

Quote:
Out of curiosity, why? I could understand more if it did do ratings based on what's currently showing, but it doesn't. It also doesn't stop recording live TV when it's asleep, right? Or really change any other function of the player except turning off output. So why put it to sleep? That's just one more step when you're done watching TV and one more step when you want to start.


When you put the Tivo to sleep, it knows you're not watching a channel and therefore it will free up that tuner to record additional suggestions that perhaps might not have gotten recorded if you'd left it on.

It's not an extra step for me sleep/wake the Tivo because it's part of an "all units on/off" macro on my remote. So when I turn the TV (and the HD receiver, and the amplifier) on and off, the Tivo wakes and sleeps at the same time.

And yes, the pixie needs her rest, too.
Posted by: tman

Re: I can't watch all that! - 08/10/2004 15:20

The TiVo assumes you're not watching anything if you don't press any of the remote buttons in a certain amount of time as well. If you've been pressing buttons recently then it shouldn't try to record a suggestion.
Posted by: Daria

Re: I can't watch all that! - 08/10/2004 15:24

Because when I leave my receiver on, it eventually decides to unpause or leave a menu, and suddenly I get loud sound with no picture (because the projector is off)

It's very disconcerting.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: I can't watch all that! - 08/10/2004 15:41

Quote:
The TiVo assumes you're not watching anything if you don't press any of the remote buttons in a certain amount of time as well.

Right, someone else here told be that timeout was 30 minutes. So, let's say that just got done watching West Wing, having paused or channel flipped or otherwise done stuff during the latter part of the show.

Now let's say I leave the Tivo on and turn off only the TV. On a different channel, in just a few minutes, a mega-awesome show is coming on that I didn't know was going to be on, but that the Tivo thinks I might like. Since I didn't turn off the Tivo, and I was using the remote just a few minutes ago, it won't change the channel to record the mega-awesome show. Whereas if I'd put the Tivo to sleep, then it would record that show without a problem.
Posted by: drakino

Re: I can't watch all that! - 09/10/2004 00:59

I turn my ReplayTV off when not in use, as when I do this, its CPU load goes down from not recording live TV and playing it back. Thus, DVArchive will download a bit quicker from the unit.

That, and the power light is kinda annoyning to see when the room is dark.