Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: What the TiVo deal signifies

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  • Gareth Ward,

    while the TiVo on-demand programming is delivered via IP, it isn't internet content.

    This is the main point to me - this isn't "walled garden internet content". It's paid-for TV programming that just happens to be delivered over IP technology.

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Brickley Paiste,

    It's Telecom that has to make this work, and TiVo in New Zealand has gone from being a Freeview DVR with an added facility for on-demand IPTV programming, to an IPTV receiver that's also a Freeview DVR.

    Does that actually make sense?

    I think I might have stopped watching television subconsciously to avoid having to learn new dazzling acronyms and gatherings of letters.

    Does anyone else find themselves lost in all this?

    I'm reminded of Rip Torn's line in the Larry Sanders Show:

    "My television goes up to 13 like a normal person."

    Since Mar 2009 • 164 posts Report Reply

  • Carol Stewart,

    And finally, don't forget to vote in the Forest & Bird Bird of the Year poll.

    This whole exercise seems gloriously pointless to me, but what the heck, the saddleback got my vote. They are glossy, bold and noisy, and so rampant in the Karori sanctuary that they've even been venturing outside the boundary fence with the odd sighting in the Aro valley. That's pretty cool for a bird that had disappeared from the NZ mainland.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    "My television goes up to 13 like a normal person."

    In the US that just means they don't have a UHF aerial ... (or if they have cable they've got the cable/broadcast setting in their TV set wrongly)

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    There's an occasional problem with audio distortion which I'm told only cropped up after it was compressed by Vimeo.

    Umm... I doubt it. The audio for that is basically entirely unmastered. Nevertheless, props to them for the first ep, and best of luck for future episodes.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Luke Williamson,

    Does that actually make sense?

    I think I might have stopped watching television subconsciously to avoid having to learn new dazzling acronyms and gatherings of letters.

    Does anyone else find themselves lost in all this?

    I'm reminded of Rip Torn's line in the Larry Sanders Show:

    "My television goes up to 13 like a normal person."

    Quite! After 15 years of the same 20" old-style telly, I've started shopping around for a new LCD screen. But by the time you try to figure out which has Freeview built in, which doesn't, why, what's HD and what's full HD, and how you can try and future-proof yourself for these things like internet TV and pay per view etc. etc. I get very tempted to just give up and go to the library for another book.
    Is there anywhere on-line that gives a simple breakdown of what is available now and what is coming up, and the implications? Or is it all just changing too fast?

    Warkworth • Since Oct 2007 • 297 posts Report Reply

  • Luke Williamson,

    Oh, also meant to say that I voted for Kakapo. Always loved the idea of a giant, flightless parrot that snoozes all day then stalks about the bush at night making booming calls.

    Warkworth • Since Oct 2007 • 297 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Oh, also meant to say that I voted for Kakapo.

    I attended one of Auckland Zoo's kakapo evenings this week so was utterly biased in my own voting...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Brickley Paiste,

    Quite!

    I'm glad I'm not alone!

    I get very tempted to just give up and go to the library for another book.

    Do!

    Is there anywhere on-line that gives a simple breakdown of what is available now and what is coming up, and the implications? Or is it all just changing too fast?

    Even if there were, it wouldn't change the fact that every time I look at the TV listings I can't find one single thing I would watch except under torture.

    Television has gotten so bad that giving it up was almost an issue of self-defence.

    Remember this: if Goebbels could come back to life and witness the degree to which capitalism was able to assert itself over the minds of the masses through television he wouldn't stop wanking for billion years.

    Since Mar 2009 • 164 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Remember this: if Goebbels could come back to life and witness the degree to which capitalism was able to assert itself over the minds of the masses through television he wouldn't stop wanking for a billion years.

    That's quite a novel Godwin...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    It's Telecom that has to make this work, and TiVo in New Zealand has gone from being a Freeview DVR with an added facility for on-demand IPTV programming, to an IPTV receiver that's also a Freeview DVR.

    Does that actually make sense?b

    Fair enough.

    DVR: Digital Video Recorder, aka PVR. Distinguished from a simple hard drive or DVD recorder by having its own tuner(s) and ability to use an EPG. You can also pause, rewind and replay live TV programmes you're watching. MySky is a popular DVR.

    EPG: Electronic programme guide. Lists both currently screening programmes and forthcoming ones, for forward booking of recordings,

    TiVo: The original DVR, thus enjoying massive generic recognition, but struggling a bit to grow beyond its initial niche. The regional licensee, Hybrid TV, is owned by Australia's Seven network and TVNZ, which bought in this year. The NZ version has two Freeview tuners (watch one channel, record another), plus on-demand programming via the home broadband connection. Claims to present a unified browsing interface across the different kinds of video, with "TiVo recommendations" based on your own viewing. Also offers some cool stuff with sharing to other devices in the home.

    IPTV: Internet Protocol Television. Delivered from your provider via the same technical protocols as your regular public internet, but not actually internet content.

    Freeview: If you don't have Sky, have a half-decent TV (not even a new one), and can find $200, for goodness sake go and buy a basic Freeview decoder. The sound and picture are markedly better and you get extra channels -- including TVNZ 7.

    What to buy: You're probably not that bothered about having a really big TV? That makes it easy: just buy the best 32" either Sony or Samsung (although the Pansonics seem okay). Over that, they're almost all full HD these days. Three or more HMDI inputs is good. Some models have USB ports and will your flash drive full of pirated television. Shop around. The Appliance Shed is good on price but doesn't offer the never-never HP the other chains do.

    HDMI: High Definition Multimedia Interface: the new way to plug stuff in, with sound and vision in one plug, and way superior quality. Prices for cables vary wildly, but there seems no need to buy expensive ones.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    Television has gotten so bad that giving it up was almost an issue of self-defence.

    My three-point plan for not being such a Debbie Downer about television:

    1. Get thee to a decent DVD rental shop.
    2. Get The Wire. (You could also get probably ten other really fantastic TV shows, off the top of my head, but I'm simplifying matters for you.)
    3. Hush it up.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    "Prices for cables vary wildly, but there seems no need to buy expensive ones."

    So true - anyone trying to sell you a 'gold' one because it gives better picture quality probably has their other hand in your wallet ....

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Honiss,

    Having both a TiVo in Australia and MySky (SD) in NZ I am inclined to think the MySky is the better device to use, certainly my partner, who is less inclined to fiddle, around votes in favour of the MySky.

    There are some nice features (Suggestions for one) on the TiVo but I find spend a lot more time digging around menus than I did on the MySky. This is probably a reflection of it being a more sophisticated device in general.

    I paid ~$AUD600 for the unit (RRP here is $699) I've seen people get lower prices ~$AUD550 with a lot of haggling. My setup allows me to have it fairly close to my ADSL router which means that I don't need the wireless adapter ($50 saving) but did I buy the home networking package (HNP) that allows me to transfer programs off the Tivo to my PC for editing. This program normally costs $AUD199 but I got for $99 because I gave up some demographic info in a survey, they seem to run these sort of deals periodically here.

    Because Australian digital TV is broadcast in MPEG2 it takes up a lot of space on the disk (160 gb, only gives 20 hours of HD), so if there is any thing I want to keep I transfer it off to PC and edit to remove the massive amount of ad's they shove in and re-encode in to MP4. This is time consuming though, am considering voiding the warranty and upgrading the disk to 1 TB, as it is relatively easy (for me) and cheap.

    I can download movies from Blockbuster and because my ISP has a tie-in with TiVO this is unmetered so doesn't get counted in my cap. The movies cost slightly more that I could get from the video store but I guess I don't have to drive there. Despite this I still haven't used it yet because the selection isn't great.

    HDMI cables can be had for as low as $5 from my local computer store thought the gold one will set you back a princely $15.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12 posts Report Reply

  • WH,

    there was this one act on x factor recently...

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report Reply

  • Brent Jackson,

    We want a freeview decoder, and a PVR. From what I had originally heard I thought Tivo was the answer. It seems not (Telecom tie in, expensive, not enough disk space). So is a cheap freeview decoder, and some XXX GB PVR the answer ?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 620 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Ashby,

    @Simon Honiss

    I can download movies from Blockbuster and because my ISP has a tie-in with TiVO this is unmetered so doesn't get counted in my cap. The movies cost slightly more that I could get from the video store but I guess I don't have to drive there. Despite this I still haven't used it yet because the selection isn't great.

    That is my experience with on demand videos through Cable here in the UK, there is a huge selection but most of it is crap, lowest common denominator, packed full of TV movies, sequels etc. I hardly ever use it. Film4 on the digibox has better films and comes free with my cable subscription.

    @Russell
    Wow!! I didn't have to log in to post this! I don't know what got fixed, but very big thanks for getting it fixed.

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    They translated the cookies intae Scotish.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Wow!! I didn't have to log in to post this! I don't know what got fixed, but very big thanks for getting it fixed.

    It was a long overdue update to the latest version of CactusLab's SuperModel CMS. That enabled various fixes and features for the forums. The cookies issue was one of those annoying things that's hard to fix in isolation.

    @Sacha:

    They translated the cookies intae Scotish.

    Now with new "shortbread" functionality ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    We want a freeview decoder, and a PVR. From what I had originally heard I thought Tivo was the answer. It seems not (Telecom tie in, expensive, not enough disk space). So is a cheap freeview decoder, and some XXX GB PVR the answer ?

    Pay close attention to our PA-reader Freeview PVR reviews this week.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Drinnan completely misses the mark in a story attempting to cover Telecom's side of the TiVo deal:

    But it says consumers considering buying the $899 device and attracted by the free broadband offer - a key part of its appeal - need not worry it will be wound back.

    No. There is no "free broadband offer".

    As well as interactivity between TV sets and the internet, the generous free broadband is a key part of TiVo's appeal.

    No.

    TiVo is not an internet device. You cannot use it to browse the internet or look at any third-party content.

    The broadband is not free. You still have to buy broadband service from Telecom (which is presumably Telecom's major motivation for getting involved). The on-demand TiVo video won't be measured as part of your internet data cap. This isn't so much "generous" as the way IPTV services work.

    For goodness sake ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    You can lead a journo to a watering hole..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Jonno Roberts,

    Oh god - I found this late... how do I download this track? It's fantastic, but all I can do is hear it on the page... need it in my ipod...

    NYC / LA • Since Nov 2006 • 1 posts Report Reply

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