onfocus

"maybe I'm just being reactionary to the reactionary label?"

Dude. You just blew my mind.

I still think it's a bad way to go about it, but I guess I can understand how they came to that bad decision. I really wish they'd pursue other avenues for becoming profitable, but once all the details came out I didn't feel comfortable being the guy that would lead people to trash their tivos and sue tivo until they stopped. My outrage was lessened, and everyone was turning to me to rally the troops.

TiVo definitely got the message loud and clear that users are sensitive to advertising in their anti-advertising device, so hopefully they take it to heart and say something next week.

There definitely seems to be a communication problem, I hope they do explain things more clearly. I think you've been very diplomatic through it all--and I appreciate your honest view of things.

What I don't want to see happen is the cycle of [company announcement] -> [weblog backlash] -> [blame the bloggers]. TiVo is responsible for this shitstorm, in my view.

Reactionism will always be part of the blogosphere. it's the mindless "FIRST!" mentality that many bloggers participate in, then do the research and update. I also think the TiVo owners (I am one) are fiercely protective of "TV Our Way", so this was a particularly sensitive subject that no matter how Matt would have discussed it, the flames were inevitable.

"..the flames were inevitable."

And I would argue warranted. I don't consider my post from the other day mindless or irrational. And I found the discussion at THE PVRblogs post fascinating. The thread is also insanely valuable free audience research for TiVo.