[mythtv-users] MythTV Installer Usability: An Analysis

[chris at cpr.homelinux.net]

On Fri, Nov 04, 2005 at 11:33:41AM -0500, Dewey Smolka wrote:
> One of these is that the ring buffer is not a standard recording, so
> that when you change channels, for example, the ring buffer is erased
> and restarted.

I know the question has been asked before, but it begs repeating: WHY?  
Why do you need to delete a buffer and then recreate it when you could 
simply stop sending data to the buffer until a new signal comes in and 
then continue from where you left off?  This behavior would suggest 
that the code implimenting the buffer is too tightly integrated into 
the tuner code and should be refactored as a separate module.

>  Of course watching
> it immediately eliminates the ability to skip ads, which is one of the
> main reasons why people build a PVR in the first place.

I'd call that a false assumption.  I think the main reasons people are 
using PVRs is so they can "pause live TV" and so they can "timeshift" 
like a VCR.  Those two reasons form the basis of almost all of the 
advertising in the commercial PVR market.  Skipping commercials is a 
nice feature but probably not the driving force behind the sudden 
growth in the PVR demand.  (Some PVRs don't have the ability to skip 
commercials automatically.)