Cox has apparently decided to join ‘em. In a recent story in the L.A. Times, Cox will put their video-on-demand (VOD) service into standard TiVo personal video recorders (PVRs), eliminating the need for a separate set-top box. The TiVo box also gives access to online services such as Netflix streaming video and Rhapsody music.
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HDTV Almanac - Can’t Lick ‘Em?
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alfredpoor
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videograbber
- Major Contributor
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- Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 7:10 am
That's cool! I wish Charter would do that.
I have to rent an extra box for $10/month just to get VOD (or $20/month if I wanted it with a DVR). Other than VOD, my TiVo already does everything I want, far better than the cable co. boxes. So that would be a significant savings, since I use VOD a lot. I get all the HD shows I want from SyFy and USA via VOD, without having to pay an extra $34/month to subscribe to Expanded Basic. Plus, when my local ABC and NBC affiliates put crap all over the screen during a show (logos, huge weather-maps, banner crawls, plus extra popups), many times I can go to VOD the next day and get the same program, completely clean of all such garbage.
In my opinion, VOD could really be the saving grace for cable cos., but they're dropping the ball badly in terms of the UI and making it easy to use. Basically, it's stone-age software.
- Tim
I have to rent an extra box for $10/month just to get VOD (or $20/month if I wanted it with a DVR). Other than VOD, my TiVo already does everything I want, far better than the cable co. boxes. So that would be a significant savings, since I use VOD a lot. I get all the HD shows I want from SyFy and USA via VOD, without having to pay an extra $34/month to subscribe to Expanded Basic. Plus, when my local ABC and NBC affiliates put crap all over the screen during a show (logos, huge weather-maps, banner crawls, plus extra popups), many times I can go to VOD the next day and get the same program, completely clean of all such garbage.
In my opinion, VOD could really be the saving grace for cable cos., but they're dropping the ball badly in terms of the UI and making it easy to use. Basically, it's stone-age software.
- Tim
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ccclvib
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- Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:35 pm
Interesting. Of course it makes a difference where you are. We have Charter here, and because of the absolutely worthless availability - channel lineup and picture quality - I started with DirecTV in 1994. If you saw the number of satellite dishes in this town, you'd know I'm not the only one unhappy with Charter. I'm now a Dish customer, and glad of it. My Dish DVR622 has an OTA antenna input and all the OTA stations are just part of the grid on the DVR - really a great arrangement.videograbber wrote:That's cool! I wish Charter would do that.
However... From what I understand, newer Dish receivers don't have the OTA input, so I'm stuck with the 622 or one more with a little more pizzaz but about the same vintage. In addition, it is my understanding Dish is now starting to play games with the HD availability, and as luck would have it, AT&T Uverse is becoming available here. Looks like after 16 years I'll be giving up on satellite. But... there are local channels still only available OTA, and that means I need something to decode OTA digital. Looks like I'll need to get a Tivo box, but again, as luck would have it, that will also give me all the download capabilities Tivo has that I currently don't get from Dish and wouldn't get from Uverse. Real serendipity!
Although I'm always on the lookout for something new, I don't know what would have happened if Charter had been worth the effort back then.
Mike Richardson
Capitola, CA
On the shores of the blue - and cold - Pacific
Capitola, CA
On the shores of the blue - and cold - Pacific