Monday, January 15, 2007

TiVo brings back fast-forward ads

I complained about them but never even saw one last time around. Now TiVo’s said to be bringing them back:

There’s nothing that DVR owners like more than a good commercial, so TiVo subscribers will be overjoyed to learn that the company has once again begun overlaying advertisements to entertain viewers during those interminable seconds it takes to fast forward from one TV segment to another. Wait a minute, that’s not right. There’s nothing that DVR owners hate more than commercials, which is one of the reasons that they pay a monthly fee for the privilege of zipping through Madison Avenue’s wares. Well despite the fact that reactions were pretty negative the first time TiVo decided to drop banner ads on top of the fast forward screen, apparently the still shots (and their resulting revenue) were popular enough among company execs to warrant a second go-round. Unlike the initial implementation, however, these new ads supposedly mirror the commercials being skipped; so if you’re zooming past a BMW ad, for instance, you’ll likely see pics of a German luxury car superimposed on the content being ignored. Also back on the scene are the little green on-screen “thumbs up” icons that allow you to use your remote to access—you guessed it—even more commercials. With all the menu screen, post-roll, and now fast forward pitches that TiVo owners have to deal with, we’re wondering if the company should take a page from Web 2.0 and drop the subscription fee altogether in favor of a strictly ad-based model.

It’s soon time to upgrade to HD; it’s either TiVo or an ad and subscription free MythTV on the Monolith Media Center.

The Times had a piece today on advertisers filling up every imaginable space. Here, my zip code keeps me off the grid. I actually miss the energy advertisers used to use to grab my attention. TiVo’s got my zip code, I’m wondering if that’s why I didn’t get any ads last time around?

Gore: will he or won’t he

I read no more Gore and thought maybe he had decided not to run. After all, Reuters said so.

But later Bloomberg said, “Gore has said he hasn’t ruled out making another run for president, but he doesn’t ‘expect’’ to launch a campaign.”

LATER: MyDD wonders is the Reuters story bogus?

I have a dream today

Full text transcribed directly from audio. Slate MLK photo essay.

MLK papers go on view today in Atlanta

WaPo:

The words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. are as inspiring today for Shirley Franklin as they were when she saw him deliver his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

That helps make it especially important to Franklin, Atlanta’s first female mayor, that his papers be returned to the city where he spent most of his life.

An early draft of the speech and more than 600 of his other personal documents are going on display for the first time in Atlanta on Monday, which would have been King’s 78th birthday.