[mythtv-users] tivo patents cover mythtv?

[Brian Wood]

On Saturday 06 March 2010 03:26:38 pm Nick Rout wrote:

> But I am guessing that's not a big chunk of tivo's market share. We
> have only just got a tivo service in NZ, but in the US it seems to
> have joined electrolux and xerox as a generic term, so I am guessing
> it has pretty darn good penetration.

I understand that TiVo has yet to make a dime of profit. They seem somewhat 
desperate, if you call to cancel service the first thing they will do is offer 
to cut the price in half to try and keep you as a customer. That is not the 
action of a company with "pretty darn good penetration".

Of course the lack of profits may be due to paying all those attorneys.

But I agree, the penetration of the term "TiVo" is quite good, just about 
everyone knows what it is, but most people seem to figure it's easier to just 
accept whatever DVR their cable or satellite provider is offering, no 
additional bill every month, and they already have a box from their TV 
provider taking up space.

It's easier to swallow a few dollars added to a bill you already get every 
month than to accept a big up front cost plus a new monthly bill.

So TiVo probably has correctly identified their main problem as the CATV/SAT 
companies. I guess that does give them something in common with many Myth 
users.