Time to webify old and tired DVRs

Cory Bergman July 20th, 2008

On Saturday night, I searched for the words “British Open” on my DVR, tapping out each letter using up and down buttons on my remote. I didn’t know (or care) what time it was on, which network was covering it or whether it would be tape-delayed. I just wanted to watch it Sunday afternoon. The only search result was TNT’s coverage, which I set to record. On Sunday, I discovered TNT was just the warm-up act. The main coverage had played out on ABC.

This illustrates the stupidity of DVRs and why the web has a shot to replace them. First off, the home screen of my (non-TiVo) DVR shouldn’t look like some Commodore 64-inspired menu that I could’ve designed in BASIC when I was in sixth grade. It should look more like the cover of Hulu with a creative layout highlighting the most popular shows and movies of the moment. Just click to watch or record. It should allow me to use my remote like a Wii — pointing and clicking on the screen itself. It should recognize that I’ve recorded most of the major golf events this summer and automatically record the British Open. And if I forget to record something — and the DVR can’t anticipate it — then it should allow me to watch it anyway.

Imagine, for a moment, that you ported DVR software to Hulu. You couldn’t watch anything unless you logged in ahead of time and set it to record. Miss it? Tough luck. And you had to wade through those crappy menus, tap out letters on your remote and pray that Hulu was smart enough to keep recording if the golf game stretched into a playoff.

Now imagine if you could port Hulu to your DVR. Now we’re talking. Sure, there are lots of reasons why DVRs have not evolved with the times, not the least of which are DRM, limited bandwidth (where IPTV is stepping up) and the contentious relationship between the cable companies and content providers. But you have to wonder what will happen if/when you can play online video clips on your TV in adequate quality. Suddenly, I don’t feel a need for a DVR. Or my cable service. But if my DVR looked more like Hulu, I think I’d keep it around.

6 Comments Add your own

  • 1. TIim  |  July 21st, 2008 at 5:11 am

    Here’s an idea… the new digital TV standards include fields for content identification. There should be a standard (haven’t re-read it, it may exist) for identifying the beginning and ending of a show, so you can record the show without worrying about things like playoffs or re-scheduling due to overtime in a ball game before the show.

    Then add to it, an ID3-like tagging mechanism so you can record by genre, or director, actor(s), or whatever.

    One way to sell it? The tagging mechanism also would function as a super-Vchip like system. Don’t like the kids to see fiilms by certain directors because they’re always too sexually-oriented? Simple - block anything tagged with that director.

    I’ve been waiting since the advent of DTV to hear that Tivo and the like are using the content identification stuff - but, so far nothing. Maybe the networks aren’t sending it out? Anyone on the technical end of such things want to comment?

  • 2. Spud  |  July 21st, 2008 at 5:54 am

    DVRs are NOT old and tired. They will continue to beat out the internet as a delivery medium as long as the internet delivers a crappier picture. Which is not going to be changing any time soon.

  • 3. Emmett Flatus  |  July 21st, 2008 at 6:05 am

    Evidently Bergman is unaware that to the Brits it is “The Open” and that search string might well have produced his expected results.

  • 4. Daniel  |  July 21st, 2008 at 6:39 am

    You forget that if Comcast and Time Warner have their way, you’ll have to cough up mucho $$$$ to have the privilege of downloading large bandwidth hogging video files..

  • 5. Alyssa  |  July 21st, 2008 at 8:35 am

    I miss my TiVo, where I could search online and set it to record remotely. For the current (Comcast) DVR I have to do it on the box itself.

  • 6. Anonymous  |  July 21st, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    My DTV conveter has a program guide and so did a VCR I had? Hello? Why are you behing a computer more than me?

    Kids.

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