Video on demand’s experimental years
Cory Bergman August 5th, 2006
If I extrapolate my own experiences, video on demand is still an experimental medium. For the last two weekends here in Seattle — where Comcast rules and Microsoft powers the user interface — my VOD has crapped out numerous times in the middle of a movie/show. Then I have to exit out, replay it and fast-forward (with just one SLOOOOOOOW speed), until I pick up where I left off. Tonight it’s happened four times. Last weekend it was a half-dozen. The best analogy is the old days of streaming video when everything buffered to the point of absolute frustration. But, hey, streaming video has come of age, and so will VOD. Someday.
12 Comments Add your own
1. Eric | August 5th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
Just to provide another experience, I’m also in seattle. Have a motorola digital cable box from Comcast powered by a Microsoft interface. I use on demand all the time and have never once had a problem.
FF, REW, pause, stop, resume. All work perfectly. I’m usually always up for bashing a cable company, but my on demand experience has been a pleasant one.
Perhaps you should call comcast to have them check out your box?
2. Aaron | August 5th, 2006 at 11:21 pm
Down here in Portland, Comcast VOD works like a charm, with only the occasional 1/2 second audio glitch. We’re on Motorola boxes, but not the Microsoft interface.
It works well enough that when my TiVo died, I didn’t bother replacing it. Between HBO OnDemand and the occasional (ahem) torrent download, I don’t really miss the DVR.
The only missing link is content. Why isn’t the last local newscast always available on demand? Why do I have to go to bittorrent to get broadcast programming? Shouldn’t the networks be offering extras on demand? Think DVD commentary tracks — but for each episode of a show like West Wing or Studio 60.
3. Safran | August 6th, 2006 at 4:38 am
I simply add an AMEN to Aaron’s comment. In the future, the television guide “grid” will be the VOD grid. For now, storage and capacity do play a role, but they are not the only reasons.
4. Frank Catalano | August 6th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
I’m afraid I second Cory’s observations. Recently replaced my downstairs TiVo with a Comcast Motorola DVR using the Microsoft interface. (Why? Because TiVo doesn’t support HDTV yet, and I have one of those cool LCD HDTVs now, and I want to record programming.)
Awful, by comparison.
There is definite lag in how the DVR recognizes remote commands while playing from the hard disk and from On Demand. Occasionally, On Demand alone just stops and I have to go through Cory’s same routine (start from the beginning, again). The Microsoft software is buggy and doesn’t seem to understand that recording episodes of a series at a specific time means ONLY at that time and not randomly at other times. Plus various other kludgy interface issues.
All in all, I miss my TiVo. I occasionally go upstairs to the bedroom to visit it and the old Sharp TV set there.
5. andrew beach | August 7th, 2006 at 4:04 am
I live in NYC and have time warner cable with the scientific atlanta HD tivo-esque box. Generally it works fine (much better actually than the SD box I had until March) however if the level of signal i’m receiving drops, the whole thing starts running very hurky jerky - channels don’t show up, shows won’t record, trying to watch recorded things crashes the box, etc.
The most annoying part? Everytime one of these episodes happens (a weekend or few day period of lower than normal signal level) the customer service insists on putting me through the same stupid hardware reboot game and trying to swap out my box for some refurbished model which they hope will shut me up.
6. Gary | August 7th, 2006 at 10:04 am
Same thing that happened to me this weekend. I was 110 minutes into a 125 minute movie and it stopped without saving my place. Took about 15 minutes to get back to my place. Shouldn’t happen.
7. greg | December 1st, 2006 at 9:35 am
coming from a tivo/directTV background, i can’t stand the motorolaHD-dvr. i’m assuming i have the microsoft interface, but i’m not really sure. all i know is it’s clunky, the remote lag times kill me - sometimes it’ll literally take a minute for an action to register - to bad by then i’ve already pushed 8 other buttons and the box finally registers and i get the ‘pause/play/pause/play/rewind/play/stop/off’ all at once. good times. and about VOD, i can’t stand not having reference points w/in a recording. i don’t use the VOD feature often, it’s way too annoying to deal w/. oh, and is it too much to ask for a jump back feature when you’re forwarding through commercials then trying to hit play when your show is back on.
seriously, would it hurt to give us some good basic features. oye vey.
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