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Kevin Werbach on Tivo

Kevin Werbach, assistant professor of legal studies at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and organizer of the popular Supernova conference, writes Tivo's obit.

OK, I have to admit it. Tivo's goose is cooked. I've been a Tivo user for years, and like most Tivo owners, I absolutely love the product. I've been convinced since I first plugged it in that some day, all TV would work like this. And I'm still convinced of that. Television as a fixed schedule grid determined by networks and cable operators is doomed. User control is the future of TV.
...
Tivo, though, still has two big assets. I'm reasonably confident those assets will be valuable enough for one of the major industry players to purchase, or perhaps a consortium. The assets are Tivo's brand, and its patents.

What do you think will happen to Tivo?  Who might benefit most from Tivo's patents or brand?  Or is there another important asset of Tivo that Werbach missed?

Werblog: Who will buy Tivo for scrap?

by Gen Kanai February 2, 2005 in TiVo

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