As the ill-fated 2009 starts to wind itself down, it’s making it more clear than ever that it’s not going to let us forget how much pain and suffering it inflicted on us all. Some more than others, obviously, but by-and-large it’s been a pretty depressing year. My family in particular was hit harder by more cataclysmic events at once than at any point in my lifetime, with my dad losing his job due to the slowing economy, the deaths of two family members (just a month apart, no less) and a myriad of other problems besides.
Although Apple and I have fared pretty well in comparison to many other Americans — even other members of our families — we’ve still received a disproportionate amount of negative reinforcement from The Powers That Be. This week, in particular, was like a microcosm of that very idea, presenting us with one out-of-left-field event after another: breakdowns, unforeseen events, ridiculous instances of lightning striking twice. The Second Law of Thermodynamics seems to have conspired against us to accelerate entropy to an almost comical level.
I used to do a lot of bitching on this blog. Not so much anymore. But today is one of those days where I feel like if I don’t get it off my chest here, I’ll take it out on someone who doesn’t deserve it, so away we go with a little old-fashioned rant.
Forfeiting the Comcast Battle (But Not Quite the War)
My seemingly eternal struggle with Comcast over the billing and service for my TiVo HD came to an anti-climactic end early this week. (You can follow the history of the saga here.) After apparently getting a solution from corporate to the two HD service fees I was getting charged — one for each CableCARD in my TiVo — the celebration came to an abrupt halt last weekend when my second tuner lost all HD service. Again.
Sick and tired of it, I bypassed phone support altogether and filed another corporate complaint. This time, however, despite the corporate head office’s agreement with my position, the “corporate liaison officer” at our local Comcast department gave me a call to say there was nothing that can be done. In my area, she explained, the billing system requires that a separate HD service charge be assessed on each single-stream CableCARD. So, if I want HD service on both tuners of my DVR, I have to pay for it twice. And that’s that.
So I asked her, if Comcast would offer me a multi-stream CableCARD to replace my two single-stream cards, would I only pay one HD fee despite getting the exact same service? She said yes. Of course, Comcast still doesn’t have multi-stream CableCARDs here. As a result, I pay twice as much for the same service, because of their lack of equipment. Oh, that’s really nice; I’m so glad I could help. Is that extra money I’m paying you going to finance, say, acquisition of any fucking multi-stream CableCARDs, by any chance? (The woman did say that multi-stream cards were currently being tested and would be offered to us early next year, but I’ll believe that when I can hold one in my hands.)
As a consolation, the Comcast corporate liaison officer told me that they’re already crediting me for the extra $6.95 HD service charge by lowering our second CableCARD fee to $1.50, because it’s normally like 8 bucks. Huh? According to Comcast’s own CableCARD FAQ, the second card fee can be only “up to $2.05.” They’re saving me 55 cents, not $6.95. And if you check that same link, you’ll see that I wouldn’t even be paying a second card fee if I just had a multi-stream card. That’s another $1.50 I wouldn’t be paying if Comcast could offer current equipment.
But by this point I had had it. I’m sorry, I really had. I just can’t do this fucking song and dance anymore. I told the woman to just go ahead and restore service to my second CableCARD, and I’ll pay their extra $6.95 monthly fee. What else am I gonna do? At some point you have to recognize that it’s just seven fucking dollars. I will be hounding them next year to make sure I’m one of the first people to get a multi-stream card — assuming that wasn’t just a line of bull — but until then, I have more important things to deal with.
Speaking of which…I’m just getting started.
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TiVo’s Big Announcement Is…WebTV?
By Chief Oddball on March 4th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
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Last month, TiVo teased us with an upcoming announcement, saying that their inventing the DVR was just the opening act, or some such puffery. This week they finally revealed the meat and potatoes: it’s the all-new TiVo Premiere, otherwise known to us old hats as the Series4.
The big news about this box, to me, is the fact that the long-familiar TiVo user interface has been completely redesigned using Flash, of all things. It now runs in full HD resolution, unlike the existing UI which is 480p only. It also adds a “picture in picture” view of the channel you’re watching in the upper right corner like most cable company DVRs, an oft-requested feature. But the central point of the TiVo Premiere’s release, if you believe all of the TiVo marketing speak, seems to be the fact that it’s a “single box solution” for all of your video needs, including streaming video from Netflix and Amazon as well as web video from YouTube and what-have-you.
Personally, I found this announcement strange, because my TiVo HD already does all of those things. I’ve long been able to watch Amazon video on demand, although I never do because of the cost. I’ve long been able to watch YouTube, although I never do because, trust me, most YouTube videos look like total shit when they’re blown up to 1920×1080 on a 57-inch screen. I’ve even been able to stream Netflix Instant Queue titles to my TiVo, although I never do because the interface is poor and the performance is far inferior to the streaming on either my Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 (the latter of which is currently my Netflix streaming device of choice).
So it was hard to see the TiVo Premiere’s apparent raison d’ĂȘtre as anything but a new skin on a feature set that’s already been there for months or even years. If I were to get really derogatory, it’s almost like the TiVo Premiere is the next generation of Microsoft’s WebTV — a set-top device designed to as an alternative to a computer that allowed people to browse the web on their TVs, albeit at standard-def resolutions (a miserable experience) and without the features of most PC-based web browsers.
Now, realistically, TiVo is known for their great UIs, and from what I can see of the new UI in action, the Premiere UI looks to be no exception. Still, as a current two-TiVo owner and lifetime subscriber, I can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed — my current TiVo seems to be at least as capable as the Premiere when it comes to being a “single-box solution” for getting content on your TV. And, as one commenter on Engadget remarked, how can the TiVo Premiere be a “single-box solution” if it doesn’t play Blu-ray discs and DVDs?
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