Yeah, a year of thrills and chills.
Doesn't it strike you as odd that a piece of consumer electronics hardware required dozens of software downloads/fixes in 12 months, and yet still is not delivering features that were advertised on the original box? Why should any product be released with all the bugs/issues the HR20 has had? And why should a company with the cash and resources of a Directv have to depend on a group of post-release volunteers to get their product right? This is a lot different than being part of the Microsoft beta testing or developer group. This was a box that was sold (make that leased with a two-year commitment) to replace another box to ostensibly record TV programming, first and foremost. In this case, HD programming. The bells and whistles - video on demand, networking, music and photos, etc....who needs them? Anyone can do the same things with a good DVD player and an iPod.
Here we are, a year later, and people still have missing or erroneously deleted programming, assorted bugs, audio and video dropouts and other problems/issues. Just last week, I tried watching a show on NBC (both on MPEG2 and MPEG4 feeds), and experienced constant sound dropouts. I consistenly see pixelation on my ABC and CBS feeds, as well as HBO-HD. Is it the HR20? Is it something else? Who knows? But it's annoying as hell, and it comes through the HR20.
Most interestingly, Directv has not once officially recognized the DBSTalk "cutting edge" community as one of its own. If you called and asked their corporate office about it, they might even deny that such a group exists. Maybe Bob Mercer, the head of PR at Directv, will be touting the "citizen beta testers" process in a press release, but seriously I doubt it.
Okay, so year one of the HR20's lifespan has been a wild, exciting ride. Is that good? Not to me. And I could care less about Tivo vs. NDS, etc. It's a matter of selling/leasing something that works for the vast majority from the outset. This box and the other Driectv box, the SD R15, both stunk out of the gate. Have they improved? I sure would hope so. But just as the authors can say this is a great case study of how a company can work with customers to get things right, the counter-argument is that no company should ever lease/sell a product (representing it as ready to go from the start) and then depend on customers post-release to get it fixed/updated, etc. (and that process still hasn't been completed). For most companies, especially those who sell manufactured goods, a recall is more the typical course of action, not asking end-users to fix things.
If Directv had recruited a beta testing group from its customer base BEFORE they released the HR20 (in fact, given it to their beta testers free of charge), did all the necessary fixing (and I am not talking about adding features), and THEN leased it to the rest of its customer base, that would have made complete sense. Doing it this way just shows how little regard the company had for ALL of its customers last September.
No wonder Directv is so willing to throw money (in the form of credits) at customers. If they believed they had unleashed a reliable, solid piece of gear in September '06, they never would have been so free with their pocketbooks.
So the HR20 saga continues. Now you can download (yes download via your broadband connection) a compilation of crap programming via DoD (Directv on Demand). Great. Just what we needed, more junk not to watch. Why not release the HR20 as a fine-tuned, reliable DVR first, and then, maybe then, worry about VOD and other add-ons?
I guess I am just weary of all the back-slapping that goes on at DBSTalk. It's really sad that so many have been so duped by a mega-corporation that will gladly accept free labor to fix a basically broken product. And why not? Imagine all the money they saved. In fact, it's probably how Directv funded all the credits they so happily gave away during the HR20's first year.
Hmmm, come to think of it, I guess I am shortchanging Directv after all. Smart, very smart.
Advertise
RSS Feeds