You did know that your computer isn’t the only place you can have spam shoved in your face, right? TiVo knows this. Show Aunty a device which is connected to a network, and Aunty will show you a device capable of being exploited with pop-ups. TiVo knows this, too.
And with that knowledge, TiVo has started testing them on..well.. you, their users.
You see, it seems that the advertisers are a bit concerned about the TiVo user’s ability to skip advertisements. TiVo needs to keep those advertisers happy. Offering the pop-ups is a way to allow the advertisers to still be in the advertising game even when users have very clearly said, with the skipping of ads action which speaks oh-so-much louder than words “we aren’t interested in advertisements”.
The way that it works is that while the user is in the very act of skipping ads, the pop-up pops up and remains on the screen for a bit under a second, during which the user can do the TiVo equivalent of clicking on it.
While those pop-ups ostensibly carry messages from the advertisers for their products, to Aunty the message which they really convey is “Did you really think that you could get away with skipping the advertising? Silly user. We’ll fix that!”
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Given that the ability to skip advertising is one of the features upon which TiVo is strongly marketed (even if it is not overtly so marketed by TiVo itself), does the fact that pop-up advertising will be shoved on to the user, pop-up advertising which they can’t disable, mean that TiVo is selling out their users? Misleading the consumer? What do you think, dear readers?
And remember, there is an alternative! As Aunty mentioned earlier this month, you can get a fantastic deal on a ReplayTV, which offers a “skip forward 30 seconds” button for effective commercial skipping without pop-ups! And with no monthly fee! Amazon is offering a ReplayTV 40 hour unit for only $75.00 after rebate! To get in on this great deal click here.
[Follow up: Hmm…Aunty stands corrected, and apologizes. Back in the dark ages, when Aunty first signed up for her ReplayTV, it was “free” – either they changed the pricing model, or the price was built into the unit price. Many apologies! But ReplayTV is still a great deal!]
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I personally can’t imagine why anybody would want either Replay TV OR Tivo. Out at Buy.com you can get a Panasonic combination DVD recorder with 160GB hard drive recorder. Not only that, it comes with the online TV guide program absolutely free of any monthly fee. You can not only record a TON more stuff on the hard drive for the money, but you can easily archive it off onto DVD-R or DVD+RW and the price of the whole thing is $379, or just about the same as the Replay TV cheapo 40GB model with the liftime guide subscription. Here’s a link if this sounds too unbelievable to you:
Hmm…Aunty stands corrected, and apologizes. Back in the dark ages, when Aunty first signed up for her ReplayTV, it was “free” – either they changed the pricing model, or the price was built into the unit price. Many apologies! Kissy, kissy, Aunty Spam
no monthly fee! – MY @ss
Check the site. Replaytv.com. $12.95 per month or $300.00 lifetime, same as tivo. Are you smokin somthin Aunty? Smoked Spam perhaps?
If only we had these units in Australia
I personally think it draws a large vacum. It seems that Newton Minnonw’s “Vast Wasteland” is her to stay regardless of what the viewer wants.
No monthly fee? I thought it was “$12.95 per month or one time lifetime fee of $299.00”?