Saw this post on ZatzNotFunny, referring to a Times ad, and it struck a chord. The comments to the entry are even more telling.
I was thinking about this anyway on my own. The last few updates to the TiVo service have done nothing but find new ways to shove ads in my face.
I was thinking about this anyway on my own. The last few updates to the TiVo service have done nothing but find new ways to shove ads in my face.
I am now shown an ad on my main menu, in the "Now Playing" section where my programs are listed, and in each grouped program, they shove "relevant" ads for other things into the GUI as if they were just another program that had been recorded. (So, I'll see three "Jeopardy" recordings and a "Want to get away to Aruba?" ad, as if there were four recordings made. That's so annoying..)
And finally, now every time I hit pause during a show, I get shown an ugly dialogue that offers me MORE ADS, blocking an entire bottom-third of the screen.
Oh, yes, you can dismiss the "Pause" menu, but it just reappears on the next program you watch. The onus is on you to make it go away. And you can't do anything about the other ads.
TiVo seems to care more about providing metrics to networks and advertisers, and find new ways to bring advertisers to me, than what they used to say was their mission. "TV, your way".
I would have NO problem with any of this if the service were free. But I'm paying TiVo a monthly fee for this, and they keep finding new ways to put ads back in my life. The reason I got my TiVo to begin with was to AVOID ADS!
Most other online services have a "free" or "lite" version (ad-supported), and if you pay, they will switch off the ads. Why not TiVo?
TiVo, do you hear the irony?
I can no longer recommend TiVo, and as soon as there is any viable alternative, I will be dumping my TiVo box. The only thing saving them right now is that the alternatives (Comcast's DVR, among others) really suck, and the streaming services don't quite have everything I need. But they will, one day, and on that day TiVo had better watch out.
It's a shame. The service really is fantastic, but I was paying for TV *my* way. This is not my way at all.
Oh, yes, you can dismiss the "Pause" menu, but it just reappears on the next program you watch. The onus is on you to make it go away. And you can't do anything about the other ads.
TiVo seems to care more about providing metrics to networks and advertisers, and find new ways to bring advertisers to me, than what they used to say was their mission. "TV, your way".
I would have NO problem with any of this if the service were free. But I'm paying TiVo a monthly fee for this, and they keep finding new ways to put ads back in my life. The reason I got my TiVo to begin with was to AVOID ADS!
Most other online services have a "free" or "lite" version (ad-supported), and if you pay, they will switch off the ads. Why not TiVo?
TiVo, do you hear the irony?
I can no longer recommend TiVo, and as soon as there is any viable alternative, I will be dumping my TiVo box. The only thing saving them right now is that the alternatives (Comcast's DVR, among others) really suck, and the streaming services don't quite have everything I need. But they will, one day, and on that day TiVo had better watch out.
It's a shame. The service really is fantastic, but I was paying for TV *my* way. This is not my way at all.
Comments
You just saved me a lot of money; I was planning to get an HD TiVo because the Verizon DVR is a pile of shit. I'm glad I didn't.