More suggestions coming form the blogsphere on how to save TiVo. Mr. Blog hisself, Jeff Jarvis suggests more things TiVo could do. He sums it up best, when he says, TiVo should become the anti-cable.
Let us download, store, organize, and serve media from both cable and — this is the important part — the internet. Let us use it for BitTorrents, podcasts, recorded satellite radio shows, recorded broadcast radio shows, MovieLink et al movies, Audible stuff, MP3s, my pictures: anything. Make it a place for my stuff.
Fred Wilson thinks TiVo should
Get into the content aggregation business ala Akimbo and others to provide programming on this device.
I identified Matt as the writer of PVRBlog response. Actually It was George Hotelling who wrote this post. My apologies to George and readers for tardiness. I am going to try and sum it all up when all responses to the piece come in, and write an aggregate post. PS: Is blogsphere, the open source McKinsey?
Make TiVo open source and watch them come.
Bluetooth it to video cellphones and home
computer. Let people receive video phone calls
via TiVo.
interesting idea – but i am not sure they would go for it. i think they can add those features since they have an open API already. hopefully someone at tivo is listening
“Open-source McKinsey?” Yikes. Then we’ll all convert our CSS templates to Powerpoints (yellow text on black backgrounds), spend a month interviewing each other before presenting our findings, then publish them in the Harvard Business Review to establish thought leadership.
david, since we are going to be open source mckinsey, well we won’t use power points. we will refer to each others’ weblogs instead of doing interviews with each other, and soon we can expect to see a story aka results of this show up in a major publication.
I’d want to see Tivo evolve into a master Relevance Engine, noting my preferences and prioritizing and presenting content and services that matter to me. Tap its broadband capabilities and toolkit of APIs to let the community multiply the connections and make the box exponentially useful.
Instead of ‘Tivo gives me TV, my way,” redefine it. TV distribution maybe isn’t the game they should play. People are willing to pay a premium for services that make their lives simpler. So, “Tivo gives me any type of content, my way”.
I’ve always thought Tivo’s greatest asset should be its granular understanding of what viewers are actually interested in — all that data about the shows we Season Pass, what actually gets watched, when, in what fashion. Instead of using this as occasional PR schtick — e.g. the most clickable moment of the Super Bowl — bake it into a truly differentiated offering that no cable outfit or telco could innovate. Nuance is simply not their strong suit.
So, says my Tivo, I see you like baseball. Did you know that Tulane is offering a three-game package deal against three ranked teams in the next few weeks? Click here to view open seats and grab your tickets.
Did you know that there is a vintage APBA game listed on Ebay now?
That there are fantasy baseball leagues who need managers in your area?
That they’re showing Ken Burns’ baseball documonumentary at the Museum of Art, and he’s giving a talk?
That Orbitz has special deals on opening day trips to Wrigley?
Seen this baseball blog?
Want to see snapshots of Spring Training?
Naturally, the suggestions that have already been made — aggregating content a la Akimbo, etc. That’s fine. But it’s not about mere aggregation. It’s the intelligent recommendation filters that would matter. Let users suggest things — a la itunes mix, or SMEs, a la itunes essentials.
Etc. You get the drift. Amazon realized it wasn’t in the book business but in the online product recommendations & ordering business. One hopes that Tivo could do the same.
The key is to leverage your understanding of my likes & dislikes in order to truly make use of all that content that could flow in over open channels.
Hey Om, I posted some thoughts in my blog. As a said, it’s a bit rough around the edged, but I’d like to get your input.
boberkirch, you’re right on the money.
Thanks for the correction, I hope that I showed how a 2 million TiVo give-away could work for the company financially.