Macopinion

Tivo versus DirecTV HDDVR, Part 8

by Marc Zeedar macopinion@designwrite.com

Shortcuts / Speed of Use
Tivo's been around for years and has incorporated many customizations and handy shortcuts. Some of my favorites are the number shortcuts from the Tivo Central menu: pressing various numbers on the keypad instantly takes you to certain screens (like 2 takes you to your To Do list). This is much faster than burrowing through menus to get to the screen you need.

DirecTV has very few shortcuts, if any. The only one I could find is that if you are playing video you can press the Left Arrow to bring up the last screen you were at (such as To Do, Search, etc.). That's handy.

There are some menu-based features, and though I don't know if I'd quite call them shortcuts, they are timesavers. For instance, when playing video, pressing the Yellow button brings up a menu which includes a "Previous Channels" option: it shows you the last five or so channels you've been to and what's currently airing on those channels, which is nice.

But Tivo's definitely faster to operate: everything's smoother and quicker, though I wouldn't call the DTV HDDVR particularly sluggish. Its performance is generally satisfactory.

Tivo can be slow at times, but usually only when it's thinking. For many tasks, you can continue to work with the interface even if it's not updating. For instance, when browsing the Guide, you can press the Channel buttons to advance in screenfuls and go faster than the device can display the results and it's okay. With DirecTV, you cannot do that: pressing Channel Down five times really fast in the Guide and it will only scroll down one screen as you have to wait for it to redraw each screen. Aspects like that make navigating on the Tivo considerably faster.

Winner: Tivo

Advertising
Earlier I mentioned DirecTV's giant ugly logo on the progress bar, and I also talked about how the company seems to encourage you to upgrade your channel package by including results from channels you don't receive in your searches. But that seems to be about the max in terms of DTV advertising.

Tivo, unfortunately, is sinking more and more into obnoxiousness. Your main home screen (Tivo Central) has a large yellow-starred item at the bottom that's basically an ad for something (a show, a product, a new film).

Tivo's "Tivo Central" screen is its main menu. Notice the annoying, non-removable ad at the bottom line.

Recently Tivo started adding ads to the end of shows: when you reach the end of a show and Tivo asks you if you want to delete it or not, you're offered the chance to look at an advertisement. Some of these are deceptive. Like there was one asking me if I wanted to know what Oprah's next book selection was and I thought, "Sure, why not?" only to find that the link to me to a screen trying to get me to subscribe to Oprah Magazine, which I have zero interest in. Annoying, and I've refused to click on any of those ads since!

More recently Tivo as added yellow-starred ads inside folders in your Now Playing screen. These are really disturbing and annoying since they show up like an extra show in the list and it's confusing. Plus, I'm alert to the yellow color, since that's used to indicate shows that will expire within 24 hours.

(These end-of-show and in-folder ads seem random: I couldn't get any to show up for a screen capture for this article, of course. Or perhaps Tivo has changed their mind about these after poor customer feedback. That would be nice.)

I don't mind opt-in type advertising. I even welcome that. If there's something I'm interested in -- the trailer for a new film, a show I might want to record, Amazon Unbox specials, a link to request a brochure about a new hybrid vehicle, etc. -- I have no problem clicking the ad if I've got the time and it's convenient.

What I don't like are ads that are forced on me, ads I must watch or that insist on pestering me, or ads that are deceiving (like that Oprah one). Tivo used to be the former and is gradually heading more toward the latter. It's not there yet and may never go there: but how do I know? Who knows what Tivo, the company, is thinking? Ads on Tivo are increasing: that's a fact. It's a disturbing trend and worries me.

One simple solution for Tivo is allow me to delete the ads I don't like. Why can't I press the Clear button on my remote to remove an ad just like deleting a show? If it's an ad for a product I don't want, continuing to show it to just annoys and antagonizes me. Sure, I'm more likely to remember the product -- but in a negative way. (Like now my opinion of Oprah Magazine is down.)

Another thing Tivo should do is not show me ads I've already seen. That's just stupid. Granted, in a multi-person household Tivo has no way of knowing who in the family saw the ad, but I don't like being offered the same ad over and over after I already watched it.

Winner: DirecTV

Next Time: The Conclusion

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