[mythtv-users] "Odometer" Threads

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Wed Feb 6 20:46:04 UTC 2008


jedi at mishnet.org wrote:

>    Not really. This is a classic case of taking something old, bolting
> it onto a new technology, and then dressing it up as something new. The
> interesting bit is "make a VCR out of a PC". Everything beyond that is
> obvious. Most if not all of what's in that patent application would be
> independently "invented" by any group of CIS undergrads told to invent
> a PVR as part of a class assignment.

I saw PCs being used in this way back in the early 90's at ABC in NYC. 
Of course the video had a lot in common with postage stamps in terms of 
size at that time. I definitely recall watching a wind surfing 
competition on a PC, which had been recorded "off-air".

Certainly the early Avids (non-linear video editors) had this 
"technology", and I think that was in the early 90's as well. I think 
they introduced their open media framework in 1994, well before TiVo's 
patent application.

The Tektronix PDR series obviously duplicated this technology, based on 
the futurebus in, I believe, 1987 (at least on paper). Tektronix 
eventually standardized on MJPEG, close enough to MPEG to obviate that 
TiVo patent IMHO.

>     I really don't want to help them at this point (Tivo Corp).

I just can't see how that patent could possibly have been granted. There 
is so much prior art it seems impossible to me.

But then again, patents are granted by the government.

beww


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