Is Tivo a marketing ploy?
 

static cling's coming out of hte closet thread and a bit on cnn about the same wsj article had me thinking.

alot of people complain that tivo records stuff they aren't interested in, well could this be a gimic? say Fox is releasing a new series about "when really bad tv specials get worse" and they pay Tivo (who is probably aching for money) and somehow this show miraclously appears on everyone's Tivo as a suggested show or whatever....hmm....

I think Disney ownes my TiVo....every time I come home from work it has recorded something from Eisner's empire.....not that I ever watch on my own.

"recommendations" are clearly the result of a station's sponsorship/advertising

i dont mean the recommendations under that one menu...i havent had the service forever so i dont remember all the menus and terms. but i meant those shows it records on its own for you...what if it recorded certain shows for everyone. basically youre paying for ads then

I don't feel that TiVo ever recorded something it didn't truly feel I would like. I love my TiVo, and I respect my TiVo. It would never do me wrong.

I was annoyed by the recommendation feature and just turned it off.

I don't think so. I love my TiVo, and for the most part when it autorecords something for me, it's some documentary (Where I record quite few of them myself).

It has tried to record 'The Critic' cartoon a few times, I just gave it 3 Thumbs Down, and now it's gone.

TiVo=Gooooooood.

-k
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Yeah, a least it doesn't interfere with normal operation of the TiVo. I like recommendations!

I have had 100% no problems with my recommendations. It's all based on your recording history and likes/dislikes.

Not everyone in the world is involved in an elaborate conspiracy to screw you over. Sheesh.

There was a time when my TiVo might have tried to pull something like that. Back when it was young and cocky it tried to record all kinds of crap, from the Weather Channel, CSPAN, to Public Access and the local news of city 1500 miles away. Not anymore!

I had to whip it into submission and, while we get along great now, it doesn't record anything extra for me, which is the way I like it.

What happens when 2 or more "recommended" programs are on at the same time? Is there a priority feature also built into Tivo?

wow, didn't realize how many people left the recommendation feature on... i shut it off when i first got mine.. i absolutely love my tivo and really don't know how i ever got by without it before... it's an amazing machine that will one day take over the world.

:)

Yes.

It is impossible to know what is or is not a "recommended" program. I believe it has a complex algorithm that decides whether to record a suggestion based on thumbs up/ thumbs down of programs with the same genre, actor, director; space remaining on the TiVo; suggestions it has recently recorded; etc; etc; etc.

I also disabled the suggestions, as it was annoying more than anything and it sure filled up my meagre 35hr directivo fast.

I was then never certain if it really deleted those first, or my own recordings which were not set to never delete.

I still love my tivo though.

When you've got a big hard drive in there, the recommendations feature becomes an easy way of knowing at a glance how much space you've got left on the system. I hardly ever watch any of my recommendations, but when there's say 10 hours or less of them left in my "Now Playing," I know it's time to either watch or delete more programs...

Thank god I can sort my "Now Playing" list alphabetically now!

i've got an 80gb drive in mine, but still don't see the need (or want) to turn the recommendations on...

oh well... to each his own..

i don't have a tivo but i have a replaytv. got a quick question though.

do the recommended recordings u guys are talking about ever get in the way of u watching tv? i mean do u ever go sit to watch tv and ur tv viewing gets interupted by the tivo trying to record a recommendation? and how often will it try to record recommendations? everyday?

it seems like a pretty annoying feature in my opinion, although it wouldn't be a problem if u had a tivo with two tuners like the directivo. any care to comment?

How'd you do this?

I have the original 15 hour Tivo and didn't know this was possible.

I'm sure that the recommendations are at least partially driven by sponsorship or advertising. Two weeks ago I hooked up my first TiVo and after activating the service and playing around for a few minutes, went to work. Needless to say, when I came home, TiVo had recorded some suggestions. Suggestions based on what?? For you conspiracy theory fans, the 2 programs that were recorded were some Disney channel cartoon I'd never heard of, BuzzLightyear on the WB, and it was set to record Will and Grace that night.

AXP: Like the 30-second skip forward, the Sort is disabled by default and has to be enabled.
---------
SORT:
In Now Playing, Enter:
(S)low (0)Zero (R)ecord (T)humbsUp

From then on, you can press 1 or 3 to toggle between normal/by date and alphabetical, Or press Enter for additional sort options.
------------
30-SECOND-SKIP

Select-Play-Select-3-Zero-Select - Toggles 30 second skip mode. This turns the Skip to End button into a 30 second skip button. Many (myself included) prefer this to the fast-forward for bypassing commercials. Your taste may vary.
-----------
(If your TiVo is unplugged or has a software reset, you'll need to enable these again.)

For a complete list of TiVo codes, try here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...threadid=26530

(Maintained by Otto, also a regular here at DVDTalk...)

It only records recommendations if hasn't detected you watching "live" television in a while. If you are watching a football game, it won't switch channels for a recommendation, just for the season passes and other programs you have preprogrammed to record. Seeing as I never really watch live television any more, I get several recommended shows. If TiVo thinks that you'll like a show, it will record it (if you allow recommendations to be recorded), everyday.

I don't find it annoying in the slightest. I gave Batman: TAS 3 thumbs up and it started picking up some Batman Beyond shows that I hadn't seen and did not realize were on, plus Buzz LightYear :D It will always delete these shows before deleting any that you have set up to be recorded...i.e. if you have a season pass for 24 and it decides to record Law & Order (a recommendation), it will always delete Law & Order before deleting 24.

Re: Is Tivo a marketing ploy?
 

Hey, I didn't come out of the closet... I'm still in the closet!

I mean... I didn't come out of the closet... my TiVo outed me!

Wait... okay... this isn't going the way I planned it at all...

First thing I did when I got my DirecTiVos was turn suggestions off. I know what I like and there's always plenty to choose from (40+ Season Passes will do that :) ).

Knowing free space is irrelevant on a TiVo. If something gets automatically deleted before I watch it or manually extend the save date, I don't care - hey, it's just TV folks. I was never real upset about missing a show before TiVo, and if a program finally scrolls off the Now Playing list without being watched after 2 or 3 weeks of storage, then I REALLY don't miss it.

Thats what they said before the the machines took over.

Just get a Replay TV and you don't have to worry about it. :D