[mythtv-users] MythTV production run

Tue May 4 01:54:30 EDT 2004

What if you go to one of companies in China and tell them that need box of
this size with tv tunner mpeg 2 decoder
and that you want run linux on it they design it for you and write drivers
and in volume it may cost you 100 to 150 a box and price hard drive. You can
make more money in HDTV market
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Chmura" <Bill at Explosivo.com>
To: "Discussion about mythtv" <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
Sent: Monday, May 03, 2004 10:37 PM
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] MythTV production run


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>
> The other thing to see is that there is not just Tivo anymore.  The big
ones
> are starting to get in on it... so your digital cable box will have the
same
> feature set soon.   Tivo is responding by dropping prices down to $149...
>
> More below...
>
> On Monday 03 May 2004 11:57 pm, Larry Howe wrote:
> > I think the three most important things about getting more people to use
> > linux (e.g. MythTV) are volume, volume, and volume. After volume, the
next
> > three most important things are ownership, privacy, and privacy.
>
> To get it into the mainstream you would have to just have it boot
mythtv...
> Linux would have to be transparent.  IMO anyway.  If you want to push
volume
> you don't want to be selling them another computer for the house (the
wives
> would never go for it)
>
> > Someone did mention volume and how there may not be too much advantage
to
> > more volume. I have a bit of a counterexample. I made some custom
hardware
> > a few years back and I could only break even when I made a couple at a
> > time. When I did get an order for 20 or so at once, then I could turn a
> > profit. This is of course a classic chicken and egg problem, more people
> > don't use it because more people don't use it, etc.
> >
> > In terms of ownership and privacy, this is something I think needs to be
> > emphasized more in all linux advocacy. Someone mentioned digeo.com on
here
> > and how it is "the competition" for MythTV. It is not the competition
for
> > MythTV. If you look at the digeo literature you'll see that it not only
> > monitors your viewing, it then cleverly inserts targeted advertisements
> > INTO THE NAVIGATION MENUS. So it is only the competition for people who
> > don't mind that sort of thing.
>
> Which is the majority (myself excluded).  From what I have seen people
will
> tolerate a whole lot to save a buck.  To most people they don't care if
their
> viewing habits are recorded and tracked.
>
> > For me personally, maybe it's my age, but I've had one too many ads fed
to
> > me, and I don't want more of them popping up in new places. How many
people
> > would be willing to spend $20 per month for a supported MythTV that has
> > more features, and isn't trying to sell them stuff? And would $20 per
sub
> > per month be enough to support a business of supporting mythtv boxes?
>
> Only if SCO doesn't notice :)... Seriously the costs of providing support
will
> add up fast.  Just to have one person on doing it full time (as primary
> income) making lets say $35,000 / year would require something like 34
people
> paying $20 / month each.  That does not include phones, repaying for
> hardware, investors, benefits, etc...  Not to mention credit card
processing,
> collecting from deadbeats (also known as customers on a good day).
>
> > I would be willing to put up some money (but not all the money) to
support
> > a short production run (20 boxes maybe?). I can also help with sales and
> > marketing but someone else would
> > have to do the design and offer the support. My feeling is we would have
to
> > hit near the $300 price point to even be able to sell 20. Any takers?
>
> Right now, tivo is selling for $149, plus $12.95 a month.  I have some
future
> in-laws with Tivos and when we go through the feature set they concur that
> Myth does have some nice features but none of them seem to be ready to
> switch.
>
> Can a myth box be put together that cheaply?  If you are going to count on
the
> $20/mo to pay back the box it could be a long wait...  If your box costs
> $500, it will take over 2 years to pay for the hardware alone.
>
> You also have the issue of support.  If you start selling these to people
on a
> support arrangement ($20/month) and then your XML feed for channel
> information blows out you've got a problem.  What do you do when Jack
> Valencia goes down to washington and gets them to ban time-shifting
programs?
> Effectively making recording illegal.  Yeah, I know it can never happen...
> big business does not control the government...
>
> As a small business owner I can certainly tell you its a pain in the ass.
>
>
> > Larry
> >
> > Quoting sukeband at vzavenue.net:
> > > Hey everyone,
> > >
> > > I know the subject of selling commercial mythtv boxes has
> > > been probably talked about to death, but Iâ?Td hate to see
> > > talents and skill of the major developers on this, go
> > > unrewarded monetarily. Iâ?Tve been playing around with the
> > > software for a few months now and, I feel like it's nothing
> > > short of brilliant.
> > >
> > > Is anyone adverse to the idea of marketing prebuilt systems
> > > and having any some of generated go to the major developers?
> > > Does anyone see a fairly large market for these? If this is
> > > the case, I donâ?Tt see a problem taking advantage of that, if
> > > it went towards the betterment of the players in the
> > > community, especially the people that made this project
> > > possible?
> > >
> > > What are your thoughts on this guys?
> > >
> > >
> > > -Rob
> >
> > ----- End forwarded message -----
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > mythtv-users mailing list
> > mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
> - -- 
>
> Bill Chmura
>
> w. http://www.fistfullofcode.com
> w. http://www.explosivo.com
>
> - ------------------------------------------------------
>
> "No matter what, never, ever, ever, ever tell your girl friend she is
looking
> a little puffy."
> - -Ancient chinese proverb
>
> "Some people go to bed with Lucifer, then they cry when they don't greet
the
> day with God"
> - -Monster Magnet
>
> Without good motivation, science and technology, instead of helping, bring
> more fear and threaten global destruction. Compassionate thought is very
> important for humankind.
> - -His Holiness the Dalai Lama
>
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