[mythtv-users] MythTV Presentation - Requesting Comments/Opinions

[Matt Mencel]

Excellent...this what I'm looking for.  To me MythTV means commercial free
TV watching consumer empowerment, my kids ALWAYS have something recorded
that's ok for them to watch.  To some, it's the "coolness" or
"technology/geek" factor of just how MythTV looks/works.  To another it's
something else.  I think everyone has their own reasons for why they love
MythTV, and it's that broad spectrum of opinions that I like to see.

Excellent responses so far.  I finally went back through that "Broadcast
Flag" thread and there's some really good stuff in there as well.

Question...where's the best place to go to find some of the latest
"projects" that are being worked on for MythTV?  TVWish looks cool, and I
remember back a few weeks ago reading about someone who was working on a way
to be able to stream your recorded programs to mobile devices like handhelds
and cell phones.  I think one of the big things I'm going to stress about
MythTV is the "innovation" factor that Brad mentioned here.  For someone
with the ability to do it...being able to say, "I wish I could do X with
MythTV." and then going and making it happen...can't do that with Tivo!

Thanks All...
Matt

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brad Templeton [mailto:brad+myth at templetons.com] 
> Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 4:14 PM
> To: Andy Long; Discussion about mythtv
> Cc: mr-mencel at wiu.edu
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] MythTV Presentation - Requesting 
> Comments/Opinions
> 
> On Thu, Mar 03, 2005 at 03:48:57PM -0600, Andy Long wrote:
> > Some other things you might mention:
> > -Ability to configure the frontend to have a multitude of different 
> > themes.  Can really make your box "stand out" as opposed to 
> the more 
> > generic Tivo/Replay themes
> 
> Yet from a technology standpoint, could not be much less important.
> 
> DVRs have generated a real revolution in how TV works, and MythTV
> is one of the leaders.   But nobody, except a purist comparing the
> minutae of all the different types is going to think 
> themability is one of the revolutions.
> > -Ability to add multiple capture cards to record 2, 3 or 
> more shows at 
> > a time.  The most I've ever seen on a store bought box is two
> 
> This does fit with the vision because part of the revolution 
> is "not caring
> about when programs are on."   Multiple tuners exist to fix one of
> the minor problems 1-tuner systems have in making that happen.
> > 
> > -Ability to put it whatever casing you want.  Can make it look much 
> > nicer in the living room
> 
> Again, this is style, not substance.  Not that style isn't 
> important, but the real revolution is in tech.
> > 
> > -Full customizability.  Only does what you want
> 
> Interesting -- though in some cases this is actually a bug, not a
> feature.   We all want to custom tune all the features to our exact
> needs, but the result is a system whose number of 
> configuration choices is quite frightening to the typical 
> home electronics user.
> 
> Realize that the Tivo and the rest don't have all those configuration
> choices _deliberately_.   They could have put them in.  They decided
> not to.
> > 
> > As for a comment:
> > 
> > I love that MythTV gives me the power to control what I 
> want to watch 
> > and gives me more control over the interface than any commercial 
> > product.  How many other people can record 3 shows at once, 
> and watch 
> > whatever they've recorded in any room of their house?
> 
> The multiple frontend thing is important (though it can also 
> be found in other DVRs today, I think Replay had it first.)
> 
> 
> Myth's true vital difference is more abstract.   It's ease of
> innovation.   Consider that Tivo's big "innovations" of late have
> been things like Tivo to Go and Home Media Option.   Even before
> MythTV had plugins for music or pictures, you were always 
> running on an open linux box with access to all the other 
> tools -- music
> players and jukeboxes, slideshow programs etc.   They just didn't
> have a similar UI.
> 
> TivoToGo?  On Mythtv that's called "file copy"
> 
> Two things attracted me to Myth.  The open system where you 
> could innovate, and support for HDTV.
> 
> The ablity to innovate made me develop the TVWish program I 
> just released here.  I wanted to make that because I think it 
> goes headlong at the revolutionary aspects of PVRs, changing 
> not just how we watch
> our TV, but also what TV we watch.     Myth and Tivo and the rest are
> still largely schedule oriented for non-series -- browse the 
> movies and shows that are on the schedule for the next two 
> weeks regularly, and pick shows to record.  I wanted to 
> reverse that -- list all the movies you are interested in 
> watching, and they just show up.  (Sort of like you
> might use netflicks.)   But importing other people's recommendations
> goes a level beyond that so it's what I will explore next.
> 
> But that's what I coded.  Point is lots of people are out 
> there coding things they want.  Many of them are of no 
> interest to most of the users but there are so many that you 
> will get new things of value.
> 
>