# Wistful mention of Tivo in UK



## Leif_Davidsen (Jun 5, 2002)

There is a item on 'The Register' talking about possible updates to Sky Plus, talking about how it still lags behind Tivo - and talking about nursing their irreplaceable Tivo boxes here in the UK

Article is here
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/19/sky_plus/


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## BaggieBoy (Dec 4, 2000)

The comment:

"But those of us still nursing our irreplaceable TiVo boxes will be pleased to hear that Sky+ is at least taking steps in the right direction."

couldn't be further from my feelings! It would be a cold day in hell when I'm forced to get a Sky+ box.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Leif_Davidsen said:


> There is a item on 'The Register' talking about possible updates to Sky Plus, talking about how it still lags behind Tivo - and talking about nursing their irreplaceable Tivo boxes here in the UK
> 
> Article is here
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/19/sky_plus/


Interesting article.

I wonder if I should apply for the job at Sky as large parts of my CV (apart form the unemployment bit) would seem to make me a very well matched candidate.


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

...and you're waiting for...?


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

Oh - I remember now. You don't want to sell your soul to the Devil.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

ColinYounger said:


> You don't want to sell your soul to the Devil.


Unless I can teach the Devil that developing a soul can help make it more money.


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## 6022tivo (Oct 29, 2002)

The fact that Sky+ does not have very useable operating system and no HDD allocated to processing, it is a very limited product


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

You don't have to sell your soul to work with Sky, but I did have to lease mine when I worked with them last year 

The idea behind the recommendations engine is very smart - join the dots between what you watch and what you like on a variety of Sky platforms and what Sky have in the media bank that has similarities - but as that job description makes clear the practice is going to be very hard work indeed.
If Sky+ had thumbs then user ratings could be used to influence recommendations but I think that was patented by someone else ?

Now my Tivo keeps recording suggestions for BBC Radio 7 and Radio 4 A LOT - I've never recorded a radio show in my life, but obviously someone somewhere is adding enough information in the guide data for my Tivo to cross compare and decide to try these programmes on me. I wonder if they've seen that job ad?


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## aerialplug (Oct 20, 2000)

What on earth are they talking about when saying that we'll have to wait for a new product (Sky+ II) for Sky Anytime services to be made available on set top boxes? My Sky box has a 160GB drive in it, of which only 80GB is actually being used by the recorder at the moment. I was under the assumption that the rest of the drive (as Sky HD customers are already experiencing) will be used to record Sky Anytime programming overnight/when the tuner's not otherwise engaged.

I guess the SKy+ II box will have a more powerful processor and more memory so that it can do some of the things we've been used to seeing on a box designed in the late 1990s as opposed to what Sky can come up with in the late 2000s...

(for the record, the hardware that Sky+ is using is more than capable of surpassing what our current UK TiVo can do - Sky made a deliberate decision to provide a dumbed down interface that mimicked the crappy Sky software so that the transcision from Sky to Sky+ was as minimal as possible for their customers.)

My Sky+ box has an ethernet socket and also a USB socket. While the ethernet socket remains useless, the USB socket appears to be a good plug for the phone charger, USB fan and novelty USB mug warmer.


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## BrianHughes (Jan 21, 2001)

aerialplug said:


> ...
> My Sky+ box has an ethernet socket and also a USB socket. While the ethernet socket remains useless, the USB socket appears to be a good plug for the phone charger, USB fan and novelty USB mug warmer.


Hey, I gotta get me one of those Sky+ boxes - at last - some useful features


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## davisa (Feb 19, 2002)

Sky+ has one HUGE failing - it only works with Satellite Sky! Some of us aren't allowed a dish - so Sky+ never even enters into the equation.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

davisa said:


> Sky+ has one HUGE failing - it only works with Satellite Sky!


... and today's "well, duh!" award for stating the blindingly obvious goes to... 

(Sorry! Well it is Friday, _and_ I just got a job interview notice through the post  )


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

cwaring said:


> (Sorry! Well it is Friday, _and_ I just got a job interview notice through the post  )


But how will the Tivo UK section survive if you get a job Carl?  

Still there's always that next awkward hurdle of the interview to overcome.................


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Gee, ya think! I don't need reminding, thanks


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

cwaring said:


> Gee, ya think! I don't need reminding, thanks


What is the job. Or would you rather not say.


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## Raisltin Majere (Mar 13, 2004)

cwaring said:


> I just got a job interview notice through the post


Good luck :up:


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Pete77 said:


> What is the job. Or would you rather not say.


Well, for the sake of relative peace and quiet on this forum, let's just hope it's not with Sky or Ofcom....


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

Good Luck Carl!

Who are you hoping to spy on now, or won't the Russians let you say?


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Pete77 said:


> What is the job. Or would you rather not say.


Local council, actually. Just a CS telephonist.


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## davisa (Feb 19, 2002)

cwaring said:


> ... and today's "well, duh!" award for stating the blindingly obvious goes to...
> 
> (Sorry! Well it is Friday, _and_ I just got a job interview notice through the post  )


Obvious to us, but not to almost everybody else for some strange reason! Honest.


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

cwaring said:


> Local council, actually


Ah. Spying on the neighbours.


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## Nero2 (Aug 22, 2005)

Maybe this is the appropriate time to start an American style rah-rah thread for Carl.

Congrats with the interview and good luck.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Nero2 said:


> Maybe this is the appropriate time to start an American style rah-rah thread for Carl.


Oh please don't! That _will_ jinx it


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## BrianHughes (Jan 21, 2001)

Go Carl


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## ericd121 (Dec 12, 2002)

Nero2 said:


> Maybe this is the appropriate time to start an American style rah-rah thread for Carl.


Well, I wouldn't want to skirt the issue... 

Good Luck, Carl.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

I don't need luck, I need money for bribes  Thanks all!


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## mjk (Mar 13, 2002)

blindlemon said:


> Well, for the sake of relative peace and quiet on this forum, let's just hope it's not with Sky or Ofcom....


I'd definitely recommend Carl to Ofcom! It would be so much better if they had someone who actually understood what this stuff is all about!!

Anyway, good luck, Carl.


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## TCM2007 (Dec 25, 2006)

Good luck Carl indeed.

Back on topic-ish, I actually think Suggestions is one of the things which STOPPED TiVo gaining traction in the UK. A very large number of people I evangelised TiVo to were violently *against* that facility, apparently believing that that was the main way TiVo worked and finding it nannyish or pointless. Odd, I'll grant you, but definitely a common reaction. When Season passes and pausing live TV were explained, then things got better, but Suggestions definitely were perceived as at best neutral and by many as actually negative.

Personally I've not had Suggestions turned on for years!


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## mjk (Mar 13, 2002)

My wife thinks that TiVo is like Big Brother and objects to "a little metal box telling her what to watch"! I tried to tell her it was like "having a flat-mate who stays in and watches TV for you and records things they think you would like", but to no avail.

That said, I actually have Suggestions switched off anyway, but that is more for reasons of trying to avoid clutter. When I originally got my first TiVo it really impressed me in the fist week by recording something that I had wanted to see again for years, (All Quiet on the Preston Front), that I didn't know was on, on a channel I didn't know I received.


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

TCM2007 said:


> Back on topic-ish, I actually think Suggestions is one of the things which STOPPED TiVo gaining traction in the UK. A very large number of people I evangelised TiVo to were violently *against* that facility,


Yes, and it works against the watch what YOU want when you want idea of tivo,
when explained that way,

They nicely fill up dead hard disk space and dead recording time though.

I personally think it should have gone further in ALWAYS recording the current programme as a suggestion - only deleting it if you happen to change channel before its complete.

Disk space allowing, tivo should be recording all the time (it is anyway for the live buffer, but discarding the old parts).


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

mjk said:


> When I originally got my first TiVo it really impressed me in the fist week by recording something that I had wanted to see again for years, (All Quiet on the Preston Front), that I didn't know was on, on a channel I didn't know I received.


That's similar my first experience with Tivo. It was in the first week or so of my having it. I set up some SPs so had some programmes thumbed-up. When I had a look at the Suggestions, I found the second episode of the then-current season of "Third Watch" which I didn't know had started the previous week.

Always knew I'd like Tivo


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## ericd121 (Dec 12, 2002)

TCM2007 said:


> ...Suggestions is one of the things which STOPPED TiVo gaining traction in the UK. A very large number of people...[believed] that was the main way TiVo worked and [found] it nannyish or pointless.


I was that soldier. It put me off for three wasted years. 


mikerr said:


> I personally think it should have gone further in ALWAYS recording the current programme as a suggestion - only deleting it if you happen to change channel before its complete.
> 
> Disk space allowing, tivo should be recording all the time (it is anyway for the live buffer, but discarding the old parts).


This a great idea! :up:


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