December 15, 2004
From the desk of Jane Galt:TiVo talk
As readers know, I loved my TiVo with a rare passion until it recently died. I loved it so much that I composed a poem to it, which I will reprint here, so proud am I of my modest composition:
My Tivo has died, and I am sad
Sad like the western wind when the sun goes down
Sad like the death of truth and the end of days
Sad as Priam, wailing for his fallen son on the Trojan plain.
No more is the merry smile of my Tivo's
Animated character, dancing through the boot-up sequence
No more is the proud "bling!" of my Tivo's
Thumbs-up signal, helping me to rate a programme I have liked
Or deliver my own, personal critical rebuke
To the makers of plastic-surgery based reality shows.
Gone is the quiet competence of its steady power light
My Tivo has died, and I am sad.
Oh, Tivo, we were one, you and I! Together we chose the shows I would watch
Me with my "Choose shows to record" and you with your ever-helpful
"Tivo's suggestions". Now I no longer know the simple, perfect joy
Of browsing two week's worth of Turner Classic Movies
Recording this, and this, and this--but never that--
With an imperious flick of my thumb.
Once my life was full of light and laughter
(And not canned sitcom laughter, either).
Once my daily routine was perplexed by the
Glad quandaries of having to choose
Among the too, too many wonderful shows
You had captured for my delectation.
Now you have left me
You have crossed the dark waters of forgetfulness
Your hum is stilled
Your light gone out
I have only a silver carcass to caress, aimlessly
While watching The History Channel and wishing
Wishing
That something else were on.
My Tivo has died, and I am sad.
Now, it seems, TiVo is doing some pre-emptive grammar policing to protect its trademark:
The company's Web site has long included a legal page specifying that the word "TiVo" is to be used only in its adjectival sense: not "don't forget to TiVo Letterman!" but "do not forget to record The Late Show With David Letterman on the TiVo® DVR."Protecting trademarks from "dilution" is standard practice for any company. (After all, as TiVo's Web page cheerily reminds us, "trademarks are proud of the company that owns them!") Indeed, many of TiVo's more bizarre grammatical prescriptions (trademarks cannot be used as nouns? So much for classic ad slogans like "Coke is it" or "Leggo my Eggo!") come directly from the regulations of the International Trademark Association. Nonetheless, the TiVo story serves as an object lesson on the Catch-22 of brand identification: You want your brand name to be recognizable enough that everyone associates it with the product, but not so recognizable that no one distinguishes your product from similar ones made by other companies.
A good friend likes to tell a story about the summer he interned for Canon, which makes copiers. On his first day, he offered to "xerox" something, and immediately blushed with shame, thinking he'd committed some horrid gaffe. He rushed to correct himself, only to be told that they wanted him to call it Xeroxing, in the hopes that the trademark would be voided. Loving TiVo, as I do, I would never want that to happen. But I find it hard to imagine how I'm going to make that little trademark symbol when I talk.
The TiVo article offers another lesson: it's been five years, and TiVo still isn't turning a profit. This is surprisingly common with new technologies; innovators often (even usually) aren't the people who end up making money off the market. They invent their bright idea, and then some established player, one with the complementary assets like distribution channels and marketing departments, comes over and horns in just as it's getting profitable. As the old saying goes, smart ain't the same as rich.
Posted by Jane Galt at December 15, 2004 02:55 PM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound linksPoem was hysterical, poetry ....we won't go there, BUT, I heard out of the corner of my
ear yesterday or so that there's a new tivo-
like device coming in January that will kick
tivo's butt. So explore before you 'rebound'
into another 'tivo' relationship. Oh yeah,
might wanna stick to prose too!
I love TiVo as much as anyone... well okay, I haven't been inspired to write any poetry about it or anything (Winona Ryder, on the other hand...), but I do have a TiVo window sticker in my car, for what it's worth.
But I think TiVo's days are numbered, regardless of whether their name is verbed or whatnot. The technology has never been that complicated (geeks and DIY'ers can get the same service for free by rolling their own or using MythTV). I mean, the subscription fee essentially pays for programming information that is available for free on the web. That was never going to be a viable long-term business model.
And furthermore, television as a whole is going to go through an upheaval as the podcasting model gets applied to video (RSS + BitTorrent + TiVo). This is great for consumers -- but is anybody making loads of money from supplying RSS technology?
Posted by: fling93 on December 15, 2004 05:04 PMThat's a pretty damn good poem; Clive James would be envious.
Posted by: bill on December 15, 2004 06:46 PMLoved the poem. "Delectation"? Perfect.
But I tried to gügle the use of TiVo as a verb and came up short. Probably would also like to get Virginia Postrel's thoughts on this, but is it really so bad in this brand-aware age to have your trademark used as a verb?
I can't imagine anyone but the most obnoxious 9th circuit judge would rule against a company because somebody insisted their brand was public domain.
Posted by: grayson on December 15, 2004 07:51 PMSomeone remind me. What level of hell do mindless corporate lawyers get sent to when they die?
I like my TiVo, however, I don't lurve it. Especially since they announced that starting in a couple of months when you fast forward during a commercial they are going to insert their own ads.
In the future the usage of TiVo as a verb will change meaning from recording television to screwing up something beyond recogniton. As in, "I can't believe they Tivo'ed my idea".
Posted by: Joe Bagdonuts on December 15, 2004 08:18 PMJane, in what sense has your TiVo died? If it's "just" a hard drive failure, that can be replaced -- there are a couple of places that will do it for you -- and if you have a lifetime sub, it will still be valid because it's tied to an ID on the motherboard. Depending on the condition of the disk, those places might even be able to save your shows and/or Season Passes. If it's the board itself, or a dead modem, you're in worse shape. Checkout www.weeknees.com, especially the Troubleshooting link.
Posted by: DonBoy on December 15, 2004 08:25 PMis it really so bad in this brand-aware age to have your trademark used as a verb?
Initially, no. But when it starts being used as a verb to describe other company's products (e.g. people will still say "Xerox this for me" even if they have a Canon copier), the brand name becomes associated with the entire product class and stops being associated with you.
Posted by: fling93 on December 15, 2004 09:01 PMSomeone remind me. What level of hell do mindless corporate lawyers get sent to when they die?
The fourth, of course, where the greedy are condemned to an eternity of useless and repetitive labor. Which, now that I think of it, is not that different from their life on earth, is it?
Posted by: Greg on December 15, 2004 10:43 PM"innovators often (even usually) aren't the people who end up making money off the market."
A _true_ blogger would have linked to this :
http://www.techcentralstation.com/100804C.html
Posted by: pouncer on December 16, 2004 09:43 AMI note, with interest, that a year ago I was under consideration for a job with Harman International's R&D Lab, working on a digital media device, which would have been nice because the lab is a whopping 6 blocks or so from the house: I'd have bought a bicycle for the occasion. Regretably, despite some dozen phone calls in which the recruiter kept promising an interview, it never materialized.
Fast forward to October 27, 2004: <http://www.qnx.com/news/pr_1121_1.html> Harman International buys QNX, purveyors of perhaps the most highly regarded embedded/real-time operating system on the market.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Posted by: Paul Snively on December 16, 2004 11:10 AMSad as Priam? Jeez, it's not like he could go to the store and get another Hector!
Posted by: Ridolph on December 17, 2004 04:46 AMI've had 2 Tivos and I now use a Replay DVR. They have commercial advance that skips over ads without fast forwarding through them. It also records shows in power off mode so you can record a show while watching another. very cool.
Posted by: dfack on December 18, 2004 09:02 AMJane:
What a great opportunity you have! Now that your TiVo is dead kill your television too.
Honestly, I have not had a TV since leaving home for college some decades ago. Between the daily paper, interesting journals, books, playing music, listening to music, preparing good food, connecting with my #1 person in my life and friends, riding my bike or hiking...
I have asked myself what would I give up in order to watch the idiot box? What would I do less of in order to sit passively in front of the boob tube?
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