Community Comments on Google's Acquisition of SageTV

[bialio]

but primarily because GooSage told pro integrators they wouldn't refund their unused software license $$ if they sold any of their existing HD300's to end users.

Makes you wonder why they don't want the HD300's getting out there. What possible reason could Google have for not selling off the remaining HD300 stock....

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by darcilicious View Post
But neither of those have anything to do with the "right to purchase" product forever.

Originally Posted by rrhorer

And, neither do my comments. I am talking about product that has already been purchased because it, unlike other alternatives, was advertized as being able to provide whole house entertainment from a central location. Instead, the purchaser of this product abruptly finds that his purchase cannot deliver as stated in the product description --

And in fact, the software you have already purchased does continue to operate as previously advertised.

Also I believe you're reading far too much into the statement:

The Product overview in the SageTV Manual states that "with the addition of SageTV Client, you can extend the same functionality of SageTV to any PC on your network." It is stated as a current and ongoing product capability, not one that may disappear in the future.

It WAS stated as a current product. They have the right to remove products at any time they see fit, actually. There was no guarantee made for product availability at any point beyond what they stated they currently offered.

I am not in the situation that I describe, but sympathize with those who are [...]

I am in that situation and certainly don't read into that statement what you do. Am I annoyed and disappointed? Hell yes. Do I think Frey "owes" me anything. I wish they did, but no, they don't.

So I guess you and I will have to agree to disagree.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by bialio

Makes you wonder why they don't want the HD300's getting out there. What possible reason could Google have for not selling off the remaining HD300 stock....

Warranty... that is a very good reason to not sell off the remaining stock.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Warranty... that is a very good reason to not sell off the remaining stock.

They could still sell them, but as-is no warranty with a reduced price. I'd still buy one.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

They could still sell them, but as-is no warranty with a reduced price. I'd still buy one.

Agreed, but they need a reserve to service the existing warranties that still exist. Once G-Day +1 year passes, yes, they could sell them as-is.

[Spectrum]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Agreed, but they need a reserve to service the existing warranties that still exist. Once G-Day +1 year passes, yes, they could sell them as-is.

The usual MO is to sell the remaining stock like that to a liquidator and let them deal with resale. Here's hoping that when the time comes they are willing to sell them directly to the community or let the community buy them as bulk like a group buy.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Spectrum

The usual MO is to sell the remaining stock like that to a liquidator and let them deal with resale. Here's hoping that when the time comes they are willing to sell them directly to the community or let the community buy them as bulk like a group buy.

Usually with a liquidator there is still some sort of manufacturer warranty involved. Since sage is the manufacturer it isn't quite the same. If sage were selling WDTV boxes it'd be different.

When I worked for Circuit City we sold lots of stuff during liquidation, but you better make sure it worked before you left or you dealt with the manufacturer for a replacement/repair. Lots of complaints about that.

[chriskwarren]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

The 'locator' service will likely be shut down at some point, but that is easily replaced with one of the many dynamic dns services out there, like dyndns.org (most of which are free). No placeshifting data goes through a sage server at all, it is streamed directly from your sage server, to your placeshifter client. The only connection back to the server is if you are using the locator ID to determine your server's IP address.

OK this was what i was wondering about. So it won't work without some fiddling. I'll have to mess around with this a bit then. Hopefully there will be some support out there in case I get stuck. What is easy for some folk is not for others, but hopefully I can get this working.

[Fuzzy]

setting up a dynamic dns service is extremely simple, especially since most routers have the feature built in. Then, instead of entering the locator ID in placeshifter, you enter your domain name. I have never used the locator, because it's a LOT easier to remember my domain name, than a random string of characters.

[chriskwarren]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

setting up a dynamic dns service is extremely simple, especially since most routers have the feature built in. Then, instead of entering the locator ID in placeshifter, you enter your domain name. I have never used the locator, because it's a LOT easier to remember my domain name, than a random string of characters.

Got it working using dyndns. Thanks!

Mods, if this does not belong here please move. Thanks.

[currter]

SageTV does not seem to support new customers any longer.
My correspondence with SageTV or Google encourages me to
reinstall my operating system just to reinstall SageTV software client/server.

fromsagetv-dev sagetv-dev@google.com
tosagetv-dev <sagetv-dev@google.com>

ccTerrance Curry <currter@gmail.com>

dateMon, Aug 1, 2011 at 1:07 PM
subjectRe: SageTV open ports
mailed-bygoogle.com
signed-bygoogle.com
Important mainly because of your interaction with messages in the conversation.

hide details Aug 1


Terrance,

I'm sorry, but unfortunately at this time we are not selling software
or hardware.

But to restart the trial you can just re-install the OS on the PC.

George Oms

fromsagetv-dev sagetv-dev@google.com
tosagetv-dev <sagetv-dev@google.com>

ccTerrance Curry <currter@gmail.com>

dateMon, Aug 1, 2011 at 1:07 PM
subjectRe: SageTV open ports
mailed-bygoogle.com
signed-bygoogle.com
Important mainly because of your interaction with messages in the conversation.

hide details Aug 1


Terrance,

I'm sorry, but unfortunately at this time we are not selling software
or hardware.

But to restart the trial you can just re-install the OS on the PC.

George Oms



From: Terrance Curry <currter@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 1, 2011 at 2:38 AM
Subject: Re: SageTV open ports
To: sagetv-dev <sagetv-dev@google.com>


The temporary license is about to expire in 2 days... I do not see how to purchase
SageTV online on that website. Is there a way to continue using the software after
the expiration? Do I have to reinstall the operating system? Does it go by network
adapter MAC?

[will]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

The problem with the cable/satellite boxes is that I can't fetch the video files and do <anything> with them.

Hence why we all love SageTV and HD-PVRs! It's a shame that SageTV sold out, especially after reading about how Google just shutdown Slide (I could easily envision Google doing this to Google TV/SageTV).

[rrhorer]

Originally Posted by will

Hence why we all love SageTV and HD-PVRs! It's a shame that SageTV sold out, especially after reading about how Google just shutdown Slide (I could easily envision Google doing this to Google TV/SageTV).

In that article,

Slide said in a blog post on its website that its products will be retired over the coming months and that it will give its users ample time to download any data they want from its services, in case a user wants to move the data elsewhere. For example, on Slide.com, users will soon be able to "either download their photos or export them to a Picasa account." The export feature is currently being built and users will have "several months" to get their data before everything is gone.

The fact that Sage users did not get "several months" may actually bode well for a continuing Google/Sage effort. If this effort is expected to result in some form of enhanced GoogleTV+SageTV, its understandable that Google/Sage might want to avoid having current users expanding systems that may be obsoleted in the near-term. I'm hoping this is the case.

[will]

Originally Posted by rrhorer

The fact that Sage users did not get "several months" may actually bode well for a continuing Google/Sage effort.

My takeaway from the Slide situation was that Google has no qualms about shutting down purchased ventures (much like HP with Palm).

When you start a company, you nourish it like it is your baby and will fight for its survival to the bitter end. Corporations are often more eager to throw in the towel...

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by rrhorer

In that article,

Slide said in a blog post on its website that its products will be retired over the coming months and that it will give its users ample time to download any data they want from its services, in case a user wants to move the data elsewhere. For example, on Slide.com, users will soon be able to "either download their photos or export them to a Picasa account." The export feature is currently being built and users will have "several months" to get their data before everything is gone.

The fact that Sage users did not get "several months" may actually bode well for a continuing Google/Sage effort. If this effort is expected to result in some form of enhanced GoogleTV+SageTV, its understandable that Google/Sage might want to avoid having current users expanding systems that may be obsoleted in the near-term. I'm hoping this is the case.

That is the users own personal data (photos, contact info data, etc.) and Google knows better than to shut that down with no way of retrieving their own personal data. Sage doesn't have any user data that it is storing. No one knows what Google has in store. What we do know is Sage is bought and sold, no products (hardware or software) are being sold. And chances are slim to none that any of those sales will resume.

Gerry

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by will

Hence why we all love SageTV and HD-PVRs! It's a shame that SageTV sold out ...

Agreed, but I can't help but wonder which beach those guys will be retiring on!!

[matterofrecord]

My thoughts

Sagetv is miles ahead of any other media center. There is nothing else aroud that comes close ( multi tuner, modifiable and usable). However sagetv to my eyes wasn't a finnished product. Having just started to upgrade to high def in the UK there were features I would like to see.

- Better tuning model. I prefer Npvrs 1 tuner being able to record all the channels on that frequency rather than sages 1 tuner to 1 channel model. [ there is a work around use lm gestion dvb smart recorder but I'd like something that was built in and easier to set up ]

- better xmltv import ( outside of the usa and canada we have to use xmltv imports or the OTA epg) . Again npvr has a really simple interface for importing xml tv listings built in. A built in feature for sagetv would be really good. [yes theres a work around with lm gestion xmltv importer but built in is better]

- sage tv being capable of decompressing UK huffman encoded epg. In the UK some of the free to air channels have their OTA EPG is huffman compressed ( it leaves the ota epg looking a total mess of nonsensical symbols ). There are utilities that decode these listings. The huffman compression code is fixed so it doesn't need constant updating. [you can export the epg decode it and them import it again but it's much easier to just have the sagetv do this natively.]

- Fast forward and slow motion never quite happened well with sagetv. Cyberlink powerdvd is great for watching tv shows at faster than average speed ( 1.1X 1.2x 1.5X 2.0X with good quality speech) and I use it ALOT but I'd much rather use it from the sage interface ( that way I could use it whilst the show was recording ( slow -mo REALLY good for sports )

- easier setup - Essentially I would like something I could recommend to friends and family regardless of their technical capabilities.( I don't like being tech support to friends and family )

- bug fixes and updates are still desirable - I found 2 rare bugs in the recording scheduling engine the other day ( nothing major ). New hardware often requires extra support. And I'm currently going through codec hell with HD audio in the UK. not sure if its my soundcard or codecs or what but it ain't pretty ( exact same setting work fine on one computer but.. ) .

- Finally better gui support for cutting and converting recodings


The thing is before google took over I saw all these updates as possible with the sagetv team, the inventiveness of the community and the feeling that the only agenda was making sagetv better for the sake of having a really good dvr product available. I figured with enough time sage would continue along the same lines whilst slowly getting better and better.

Now, post google shock, I'm just still left wondering if googles agenda is entirely compatible with highly flexible tv recording. Will google have an incentive to keep sagetv similar to what it is now?

When microsoft bought skype everyone though wait what, how much, what are they going to do with it and why? Well when google bought sagetv I was left asking the similar questions. You see I have seen Sagetv as kind of a niche product which leaves me wondering "what google want with a niche product?". We can all make random guesses but the truth is I'm still apprehensive about having a good, flexible, customisable, always improving television recording software available.

I know sagetv still works as it did when it bought it but at the back of my mind I always thought I was buying into something that was always improving. I though sagetv would become more and more awesome until its awesomeness was undeniable. Now I fear it will become more and more about getting people using google. My big hope is whatever google do they will consider something similar to what they did with sketch up (ie doing a free version but also keeping a full featured paid version for "enthusiasts" ).

Heres to waiting and finding out.

[matterofrecord]

PS There is a lot of talk about sage extenders etc currently I don't use one but was thinking about it. I was wondering wouldn't it be possible to use a low power computer with placeshifter software license?? or am I not fully understanding what a sage extender is?

( I wonder if chrome based extendors with better internet access are on their way ? )

[jptheripper]

an extender (there were three, the hd100, hd200, and hd300) was a standalone appliance built and sold by sagetv that connected to a pc that acted like a server.

Without an extender, you (currently) have to use a full pc with the client software.

The hd300s sold for $150 bucks.

[matterofrecord]

Originally Posted by jptheripper

an extender (there were three, the hd100, hd200, and hd300) was a standalone appliance built and sold by sagetv that connected to a pc that acted like a server.

Without an extender, you (currently) have to use a full pc with the client software.

The hd300s sold for $150 bucks.

so the latest extenders were quiet, low power, slim and $150

Hmmm now I see the problem.

but with atom ion and amd apu 350's with mboard for $180 a case and psu for $70 slim hd $40 fans remotes cables memory $40 you got $330 + delivery + cost of license + cost of old xp license. thats not bad. but I can see why people would prefer the cheaper and better option. $150 is a good price.