Is TiVo Screwing It's Own Customers By Disabling Features?
Update: Well, TiVo has responded (mirror) to the problems in a very professional manner. I am very pleased that these issues will be corrected in the next software release. This does not, however, change the fact that some of the TiVo features are disabled for months. If TiVo is interested in truly correcting this, they should provide a minor upgrade so we don't have to wait until September. Another way to provide all the functionality we had before is to give free service until the upgrade is ready. Who knows, maybe a few months of service will be enough to convert some of us non-subcribers.
Update: I was contacted by a TiVo representative that assured me the one-touch recording would be put back into version 2.5 of the software. When I asked when 2.5 would be released, the reply was "sometime this summer". Guess I will have to wait and see for when I can use the record button. I then asked him about the changes to the display of the Now Playing List, and he said there was never any dates listed there. One of the guys at my work has a TiVo without the subscription (and it wasn't plugged into the phone line) so I will be posting some screen shots of the Now Playing List in version 1.3. The guy even said that 2 senior engineers confirmed that there wasn't any date information in the list. It sounds like they are not planning on correcting that change.
Update: The screenshot of the old Now Playing List is here
Update: Here is a log file I promised earlier. This is not from my TiVo, but from someone elses. This is information that TiVo stores about your viewing habits. Click here
Last weekend (6/2/2001) when I turned on my TiVo, I was greeted my a rather unpleasant surprise. My TiVo unit had made its routine call in the middle of the night, but this time it upgraded it's software to version 2.0. Well this may have been a welcome surprise to everyone who subscribes to their service, it was disturbing to those of us who didn't subscribe (but who did plug it in to the phone line).
The changes TiVo made...
It turns out that TiVo decided to disable features of the TiVo unit if you did not subscribe to their service. Below is a list of changes the TiVo made. These are the only ones I have found, but I am betting there are more:
- One-Touch recording: This is now disabled. If you press the "Record" button on the remote, you are now greeted with a message that you need to subscribe to their service to use this feature.
- Now Playing List changed: If you press the "List" button on the remote to get your "Now Playing List" of your previously recorded programs, it will no longer display the times that they were recorded. So if you record multiple programs on the same day, it will display the same name in the list for each one. The only way to figure out which one is which, is to play each one and watch it.
- Update: Here is a screenshot of the old Now Playing List (version 1.3).
- Message between channels: I guess you could say this is an "added feature." When pressing the channel up/down button, a message telling you to subscribe to the service is displayed between each channel. Could this be an attempt at annoying you into subsrcibing to their service?
Is this ethical, even legal?
I purchased the TiVo unit last year, knowing what its capabilities were with and without the service. I did not sign any contract requiring me to join the TiVo service. It even mentions in the instruction manual that the TiVo unit will work without the service, but it would not have all the functionality of a unit that has the service. I was happy with the functionality of the TiVo unit without the service, so I bought the TiVo and did not subscribe.
Now TiVo has changed the functionality of the unit, and it is not the same as the one I purchased. Do they have the right to continue to disable features of something that you purchased and own outright? Imagine buying a VCR, and then the company disables recording until you send them $10 a month.
What does TiVo have to say about this?
I called TiVo's toll-free number to ask them about this. The guy I talked to did not have much information on the upgrade, and could only tell me that version 2.0 of the software is "better". I then asked him to downgrade the software on my TiVo unit to its previous version, and his reply was that they cannot do that. After I insisted that it had to be possible, he transferred me to (what I think he said was) an engineering department. I was then placed on hold for 45 minutes, only to get the same story. This guy in the engineering department did say that TiVo had disabled features in version 2.0 to force people to subscribe to their service. I guess spending $400 on their product is not good enough for them.
Why did I have it plugged into the phone line?
TiVo won't let you set the clock on your own recording unit. You have to connect it to a phone line so they can set it for you... how convenient. While they are at it, they download all sorts of information, like what you watch, how long you watch it, even the buttons you press on the remote and the amount of time between each button press! I will be posting a log file that was saved on the TiVo to be sent to them over the phone line. Check back soon...
Why would you want to use a TiVo without the service?
There are many reasons:
- you can still pause/rewind live tv
- no need to search for VCR tapes when you want to record something
- no labeling or guessing what is on VCR tapes
- delete programs with click of a button
I can't justify spending $10 a month for program data that is free on the web and comes in the Sunday newspapers. I don't (didn't) need the names of the programs listed in the Now Playing List. I'm sure that TiVo will make it more painful to use the recorder without the service as time goes on though...
- Now Playing List changed: If you press the "List" button on the remote to get your "Now Playing List" of your previously recorded programs, it will no longer display the times that they were recorded. So if you record multiple programs on the same day, it will display the same name in the list for each one. The only way to figure out which one is which, is to play each one and watch it.
- Update: Here is a screenshot of the old Now Playing List (version 1.3).
- Message between channels: I guess you could say this is an "added feature." When pressing the channel up/down button, a message telling you to subscribe to the service is displayed between each channel. Could this be an attempt at annoying you into subsrcibing to their service?