TiVo Faces Off With Flattering Clones (TechNews.com)

"TiVo Faces Off With Flattering Clones" is the tale of the classic battle of a company trying to maintain their branding and keep from becoming part of the lexicon. Xerox fought it tooth and nail (and lost miserably), Adobe is currently fighting the term "photoshopped" (and losing), I hear people call almost any personal mp3 player an iPod, and now it's TiVo's turn.

I had this happen to me last summer, when a Comcast cable installer came by and mentioned that they'd be offering TiVo in a few months. When I pressed him for more info, it turned out to be a generic DVR. It's not hard to hear people say they "Tivo'd that program" in interviews these days, though few of them actually own a TiVo instead of the DVRs many companies offer.

In the long run I don't think this will be bad for the company. They built a device that provided a fundamental shift in how we use a TV and they have attained the status of becoming a unique new word in our collective vocabulary as a result. I know that millions of people saying the word TiVo doesn't equate 1-to-1 with new customers and the company considers it brand confusion, but it certainly can't hurt if your brand and product recognition get to be so good that people use it as a term for the functionality. Everyone knows that to "TiVo" something you tape it on a hard drive based recorder. When they go into a shop looking to buy one, they'll only know one term to describe it, and that could equate to long term sales for the company, not confusion.

Comments

[Tim K.]

I've personally been on a crusade to use "replay" as a verb for ReplayTV. I'm sick of everyone lauding Tivo for its "simple" interface. Simple and annoying is more like it. I don't want shows suggested to me that I have to vote thumbs up/down on, and I don't want my viewing habits sold to the highest bidder. Viva ReplayTV!

[Mark Mascolino]

I tried doing the "replay" thing as well, but it was too much hassle, so I've switched to saying "TiVo" even though its less accurate.

[Michael]

Here we go again... For the 1,000,000th time you can turn the suggested recording off if you don't like that concept. You don't have to rate any shows if you don't want to. And if you turn off suggested recording there's no reason at all to rate programs.

Enjoy your ReplayTV, but at least get your TiVo facts straight before bashing it.

[Josh]

Hear, hear Michael! Thanks for squashing the FUD. That said, you didn't correct his second complaint, that of "selling viewing habits to the highest bidder."

Number 1, viewing habits are reported in aggregate and stripped of any personalized data. And number 2, YOU CAN OPT OUT!

[Dave]

When I called Comcast last year (Nov/Dec timeframe) to find out about their DVR offering they gave me the sales number for TiVo.

I think your tech was wrong in the 'generic dvr' info he gave you almost a year ago.

[Dave]

Speaking of word usage do you remeber when Coke tried to make every bartender who got an order for Rum and Coke to actually pour Coke instead of whatever cola they had on hand. Coke said that using other products was defrauding the customer.

[shawn]

Wasnt the first DVR/PVR a Replay? Who the hell is Tivo? I would never pay a monthly fee for something like this.

[shawn]

Wasnt the first DVR/PVR a Replay? Who the hell is Tivo? I would never pay a monthly fee for something like this.

[Jon]

My theory is, companies like to litigate whether or not it makes sense. Especially when in this case it's an affirmation taht they've arrived. Duh city!

[Dave!]

Actually, I think Replay did come first (but I could be off...)
Either way, the fact that "Tivo" is catching on and "Replay" isn't says something about the companies...

What, I have no idea. :)

Personally, I *love* my Tivo... and with the new on-line scheduling, and room-to-room viewing, I think it's well worth the pittance I pay each month.