Why? Sure, a relatively few people will use Tivo, but many more won't. Empirically, the convenience / lack of planning necessary to watch streaming video is worth approximately 10x more.
This illustrates the importance of using data rather than anecdotes to draw conclusions. As a HN poster, our personal experience tends to be heavily biased towards our self-selected associations with more technically oriented people rather than "normal," average people.
Netflix could easily deploy on a DVR machine which could pre-buffer watch list or recommended video. There's nothing wrong with DVR technology. I suspect limitations really stem from the legal licensing distinctions between distributing video streaming vs buffer & watch-later.
The problem with Tivo is their growth was cut-off when the service providers started selling their own DVRs. Who's going to buy an extra Tivo box when your cable or satellite company sells you an all-in-one box with the ability to record multiple channels at once?
I expect the number of people who use DVRs is close to that of premium television subscribers. People who don't are cord-cutters or only receive a low-cost basic package.
Tivo is a massively outdated business model. It's still relient on a time schedule run by TV networks. I'm looking for the modern equivalent of TiVo, something that lets me save and keep the content I'm streaming.
Parent was not using an anecdote to illustrate that streaming is better/worse than downloading.
Parent was using an anecdote to prove the fact that UIs exist that allow people to store media, rather than constantly streaming it.
Netflix's annual revenue is 4.3 BN (i.e. over 10x higher), and the company is worth 21bn. (https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3ANFLX)
Why? Sure, a relatively few people will use Tivo, but many more won't. Empirically, the convenience / lack of planning necessary to watch streaming video is worth approximately 10x more.
This illustrates the importance of using data rather than anecdotes to draw conclusions. As a HN poster, our personal experience tends to be heavily biased towards our self-selected associations with more technically oriented people rather than "normal," average people.