Consumer Reports future article

[hoosierengineer]

The November, 2019 issue of Consumer Reports magazine states that "If you're using an antenna, there are several DVRs that let you record over-the-air programs. In fact, we'll be testing five or six of theses systems... this fall. Stay tuned for our report" (Page 8, second EDITOR'S NOTE).

Has anybody affiliated with SageTV made them aware of the product?

[xjim1]

Since Sage is no longer a commercial product, with no formal development efforts, there is no one to market it. I get the impression it's not that competitive anymore.
Still, I'll be interested to see what CR includes in its report.

[JustFred]

Originally Posted by xjim1

I get the impression it's not that competitive anymore.

Depends on the meaning of "competitive".

IMO, the primary reason that Sage isn't a household name is because the average Joe can't order up a turnkey Sage box from Amazon, plug it in, and "it just works".

I've looked at a number of the commercial DVR products over the years. Feature-wise, Sage still continues to shine (and has done so for over 10 years). But features alone don't always determine popularity. And marketing has a lot to do with it, too.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by JustFred

Depends on the meaning of "competitive".

IMO, the primary reason that Sage isn't a household name is because the average Joe can't order up a turnkey Sage box from Amazon, plug it in, and "it just works".

I've looked at a number of the commercial DVR products over the years. Feature-wise, Sage still continues to shine (and has done so for over 10 years). But features alone don't always determine popularity. And marketing has a lot to do with it, too.

I've often wondered if a viable "plug and play" product could be developed using Sage.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by xjim1

Since Sage is no longer a commercial product, with no formal development efforts, there is no one to market it. I get the impression it's not that competitive anymore.
Still, I'll be interested to see what CR includes in its report.

And yet not a single one even come close to SageTV as being a solid DVR it my not have pettiest UI but it still miles ahead of every one else

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by SHS

And yet not a single one even come close to SageTV as being a solid DVR it my not have pettiest UI but it still miles ahead of every one else

stupid as this is, I tend to agree with you. Can you imagine how insanely great it may have been if the Google sale never happened, or not?

[SHS]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

stupid as this is, I tend to agree with you. Can you imagine how insanely great it may have been if the Google sale never happened, or not?

I know or if Google had taking it to next level make it mulit platform in stead of just doing Google Fiber only they really miss out stand alone OTA DVR like Amazon Fire Cast DVR and few other and we would got one see SageTV stand alone Dual Tuner DVR back in 2011 giving TiVo a run for money.

I wonder if Jeff had regret selling SageTV, but I guest we never know.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by SHS

I wonder if Jeff had regret selling SageTV, but I guest we never know.

I can't speak for Jeff, but if it were me, I wouldn't regret the sale. I think it's the same foresight that created this product that sold it, at just the right moment. It seems fairly clear that media is moving in a different direction, and let's face it, it's fragmenting, where every media distributor wants to get theirs on their own service. I don't know how SageTV, or anyone else for that matter, will bring all that together legitimately in one deliverable.

It's frustrating when we've had it so good for so long.

[KryptoNyte]

(I would like to clarify here that we can still create plenty of half-baked ways to continue using this - or if EnterNoEscape sticks around as his kid grows up, full-baked methods.)

[xjim1]

Originally Posted by JustFred

Depends on the meaning of "competitive".

...

I've looked at a number of the commercial DVR products over the years. Feature-wise, Sage still continues to shine (and has done so for over 10 years)...

I whole heartedly agree and increasingly using it to manage my video library as I migrate my dvd's to mp4's.

I say competitive in the sense that the typical user is interested in streaming services, and with most content available on-demand, no reason to need recording capabilities. I don't use streaming or any home clients, but I'm sure I'm in the minority. I want to own my content, no Internet strings attached.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

I can't speak for Jeff, but if it were me, I wouldn't regret the sale. I think it's the same foresight that created this product that sold it, at just the right moment. It seems fairly clear that media is moving in a different direction, and let's face it, it's fragmenting, where every media distributor wants to get theirs on their own service. I don't know how SageTV, or anyone else for that matter, will bring all that together legitimately in one deliverable.

It's frustrating when we've had it so good for so long.

What platform do you run Sage on? I use Windows 7, 32 bit (1394 channel changing). Problem there is that Microsoft stops supporting W7 in January 2020. Not sure what to do about this...

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

What platform do you run Sage on? I use Windows 7, 32 bit (1394 channel changing). Problem there is that Microsoft stops supporting W7 in January 2020. Not sure what to do about this...

Why do anything? Windows 7 will continue to run indefinitely. There are still thousands of business PC's running Windows XP.

[NetworkGuy]

What the market really needs is a platform that aggregates all streaming services, OTA and Cable. A platform that provides a single place to view all the shows that I can watch and maybe even record them.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

What the market really needs is a platform that aggregates all streaming services, OTA and Cable. A platform that provides a single place to view all the shows that I can watch and maybe even record them.

Or everything on one streaming service, like Spotify fro music (or Apple Music, Google Music, Amazon Music, etc).

Music has shown the best model for consumers - a modest monthly fee that gives you access to 99%+ of what you want to listen to. But that doesn't appear to be a great model for artists or the corporations - so that is why we won't see this for video.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

I can't speak for Jeff, but if it were me, I wouldn't regret the sale. I think it's the same foresight that created this product that sold it, at just the right moment. It seems fairly clear that media is moving in a different direction, and let's face it, it's fragmenting, where every media distributor wants to get theirs on their own service. I don't know how SageTV, or anyone else for that matter, will bring all that together legitimately in one deliverable.

It's frustrating when we've had it so good for so long.

I refer to OTA as more and more people are get antenna and yes it fairly clear that media is moving in a different direction of online steaming but at end of rainbow the online TV Steaming folks are going to be right back there started with high cost service sure it cheap for now but what about in next few years.

And if look at all other 3rdparty PC DVR many of then don't support Multi-Recording HardDrive, Intelligent Recording and Save Watched History and display in TV Guide and no matter I try I always end have used SageTV TV guide to baby sit them app hell even DirecTV because there so dumb when come to implementing proper Intelligent Recording heck in TV Steaming are just as lame to even Youtube is just as disappointing as well.

Most cable are high because of the Local TV Station and Sport channel and there only one option that is HDHomeRun Prime + CableCard plus all that disappointing DRM carp.
Then there Satellite TV even just the 3 room we have $100+ I'm think about looking in to Orby TV $40/mo with 4 room all at some low price and they add rental option.

[wayner]

There may be more people getting OTA but I think it is still a tiny proportion of the overall market. And OTA is lagging when it comes to UHD adoption which is the opposite of what happened when HD was adopted. ATSC 3.0, now branded as NextgenTV is very late to the game. Streaming is where everything is going, that is very clear. It may not be the best solution for consumers but that is where we are.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

What the market really needs is a platform that aggregates all streaming services, OTA and Cable. A platform that provides a single place to view all the shows that I can watch and maybe even record them.

We had that, it was called Cable TV. Then the consumers decided that their customer support sucked, they charged too much, there were no choices or competition, etc. Some days I'm grateful for all the streaming services, and then next I'm cursing them.....

[SHS]

Originally Posted by wayner

There may be more people getting OTA but I think it is still a tiny proportion of the overall market. And OTA is lagging when it comes to UHD adoption which is the opposite of what happened when HD was adopted. ATSC 3.0, now branded as NextgenTV is very late to the game. Streaming is where everything is going, that is very clear. It may not be the best solution for consumers but that is where we are.

We have wait see what happen with ATSC 3.0.
I know lot people will not be able to TV Steaming because of data cap unless you live in major city

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

What platform do you run Sage on? I use Windows 7, 32 bit (1394 channel changing). Problem there is that Microsoft stops supporting W7 in January 2020. Not sure what to do about this...

I never upgraded after Windows 7 on any my home machines, and they will stay that way until I purchase some hardware device that I can't live without that requires a more recent operating system. Even then, the more recent OS will be on a limited number of devices.

The industry has led people to believe that an old, defunct, allegedly unused operating system is the most dangerous to run from a security standpoint. I think that most computer savy folks would say any operating system connected to the Internet is a high risk system, unless you know how to use it.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

We had that, it was called Cable TV. Then the consumers decided that their customer support sucked, they charged too much, there were no choices or competition, etc. Some days I'm grateful for all the streaming services, and then next I'm cursing them.....

As much as I detest their customer service, cable, TiVo and SageTV make life easy, especially when traveling. If I lived just 10 miles closer to a major, metro area (60 miles dead-on between LA and San Diego), then OTA would complete the picture. While Amazon & Netflix offer some good shows, options and variety, being tied to the cable companies bandwidth sucks. And Amazon goes up 30% every three years.
I’ll be sticking with cable until TiVo dies...