[mythtv-users] so how does Tivo do it?

[Joe V]

Yep.

The Tivo folks have the advantages of selling a lot of
boxes, and therefore, bulk price discounts.  Also,
because they don't use commodity PC's (they spin their
own boards), they can use different (slower/cheaper)
CPU's, with dedicated MPEG encoders.  Things like PCI
and AGP slots, and their associated buses, IDE, etc,
on a standard PC cost a lot.

This is actually a huge advantage, since it's only one
box, therefore the software is easier to design, in
priniciple less buggy (not necessarily the case), and
compatibility is usually better.  Of course, that
means higher initial overhead (the costs of
designing/spinning/respinning a board can be high),
and if a slower CPU is used (I think that some Tivo's
have 54MHz CPU's), the software has to be highly
optimized.

I've never actually seen a Tivo, but I'm guessing that
they sell the hardware at a loss (though not too
much), and then make up on the subscription side.  Or,
the subscription service is making up the initial R&D.
 Or something.  :)

-- Joe

--- Lan Barnes <lan at falleagle.net> wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 05, 2003 at 02:45:34PM -0400, John Wells
> wrote:
> > So, basically, if I want to create a MythTV box
> with all the features of
> > Tivo, I'm looking at a fairly hefty (at least
> $600+) price tag.
> > 
> > How does Tivo offer their systems at such lower
> prices?  I'm aware of
> > economies of scale, but what magic are they
> working?
> > 
> > I suppose the monthly subscription fee covers some
> of their cost, but it
> > can't be a very lucrative profit there...
> > 
> > Anyone have some insight?
> > 
> 
> Well, for one, manufacturers don't pay retail for
> their parts. I have
> heard that if you buy all the parts for a car at an
> auto parts store and
> then assemble it yourself, it's some horrible
> multiplier (5X to 10X)
> over the cost off a car lot.
> 
> -- 
> Lan Barnes                    lan at falleagle.net
> Linux Guy, SCM Specialist     858-354-0616
> 
> Those who cast their votes decide nothing.
>   Those who count the votes decide everything.
>                       - Josef Stalin
> 
> > _______________________________________________
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> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>
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> 


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