AOL Is Planning A Fast-Forward Answer To TiVo
from the end-run dept
Gonzo submitted this NY Times story about how AOL has been secretly working on a “TiVo-killer” called Mystro TV. First, I’m just waiting for the lawsuit from TiVo. TiVo and AOL had a close relationship (to the point that there some fairly credible rumors that AOL was on the verge of buying TiVo) – and finding out after the fact that AOL is working on their own competing product makes you wonder. However, the details of the system are more interesting. It’s a not a box – but would still be centrally based. You would control everything through your remote and be able to fast-forward or reverse through shows. You’d even be able t pick (certain) shows that you missed that you want to see – even if you didn’t “record” them. Sounds good, right? There are many, many problems, however. First off, the technology is not easy to do this. Some doubt it can be done at all. Second, since they’d be doing this partly as an entertainment company that doesn’t want people “TiVoing” shows, they’d build in all sorts of limitations that would hurt the product commercially. Among the “entertainment industry-friendly” ideas is the ability to insert a commercial any time someone tries to fast-forward. While it’s good to see people in the industry trying to embrace new technologies that will impact their business, this one still needs quite a bit of work.
