Greetings from the land where the Comcast DVR interface is made. I am responding to statements made about the Comcast DVR (and cable/satellite provider DVRs in general) on the 365th podcast of November 29, 2006. The 3 ? minutes where M.T.V. (Molley, Tom, and Veronica) talk about the DVRs has been internally passed around our firm.
First, we all agree the TiVo interface works very well. It does set the standard for all other DVR interfaces. That said, comparing the TiVo to those DVRs provided by the cable companies, like Comcast, isn?t truly a fair 1:1 comparison.
Differing Hardware
As you know, Comcast does not make their settops, but instead purchases them from 3rd party vendors like Motorola, Scientific Atlanta, Pace, and a few other companies. Additionally, each vendor has numerous cable boxes, each varying slightly while offering the same end result to the consumer. Add to this that each of those companies have their own firmware and hardware architecture, and you can see how building an interface that works across all of these platforms can be challenging.
Additionally, there have been times when we had a better design, but it could not be implemented due to hardware and/or firmware constraints. An alternative had to be created and implemented until the manufacturer to resolve their issues.
Differing Cable Providers
The EPG (Electronic Program Guide) you see in Comcast?s Bay Area is not specific to Comcast. That guide is used in Time-Warner, Cox, Charter, RCN, Adelphia, Shaw, Cogeco, and many other cable providers in Canada, USA, and Latin America. That?s right, one guide, millions of consumers, and many cable operators all wanting it to be ?their way?.
Storing of Program Info.
The way the program listings get delivered to the hardware is different. For Motorola boxes, program listings are stored on a server at the hub (a.k.a headend). The data is continually streamed down to the settop and stored in volatile RAM. Meaning, you unplugged the cable box, it can take 4 hours to get all 14 days of data listings back into your settop.
Contrast that with TiVo, which actually stores the listings on your cable box. Pull the plug, restore the power, wait for the box to reboot, and *woo-hoo* all of your cable listings are there because they?re stored on the box, not remotely.
Legal Issues
While cable providers want to produce a better interface, TiVo and other firms hold many patents that may or may not be feasible to license. For example, did you know someone holds the patent on a 3-column grid? Yep, that?s right. You can build an interface with 2 ? hour columns of program data, or maybe 4 ? hour columns of program data. But if you want 3 columns, you?ll have to pay a licensing fee ?cause someone owns it.
Now, imagine how many patents TiVo has since it basically created the DVR industry. Imagine you can?t name your regularly schedule programs a ?Season Pass? or you can?t show your guide in green, or implementing the Skip Fast-Forward feature at a rate of 5 seconds, but must use 6 instead? get the idea? Take DRM, rename it Patented Intellectual Property, and try to create a similar wheel while staying within the legal realm and pay little to no licensing fees? not pretty.
Additionally, you?ll notice the little TV Guide logo on your TiVo listings? Want to know why it?s there? It was part of a settlement of a law suit TV Guide and TiVo had. Funny part is, the program information on the TiVo actually comes from Tribune Media Services, not TV Guide.
Time
Like any business, the cable business is driven by time-to-market. So while issues like the muted volume while recording, or the ?This recording has stopped.? overlay hangs there for a minute, are annoying, they weren?t seen as ?showstopper? issues, and therefore deployed as-is. Poor user experience? Yes. Money generator? Yes. But like that?s new of any company nowadays...
I hope this provides you with some insight into some of the reasons the Comcast DVR looks & acts as it does. We are continuing to work on improving the look, feel, and behavior of the DVR as we move forward. (I?ve already seen the preliminary of what the 2008/2009 version of the guide is going to look like, and it?s sorta Macintosh-esque)
Just be aware, your concerns are being heard.