# D*, please re-design DOD!!



## DrummerBoy523 (Jan 9, 2007)

DTV, thanks for the onDemand stuff, but it is just too clunky to use. How about some re-design and changes? Here's my .02:

1. Why do you call it "on demand" when I have to add it to a queue? When we go to the in-laws and they have *gasp, cable, *gasp, "on demand", we can find the show quickly and hit "play" and after 15 seconds or less it starts playing. No queues, no nothing. No additional key presses!! DTV - Please give me an option to PLAY it instead of adding to the queue, then having the view the queue, then having to select the program, then having to select play. Geez, 4 keystrokes to 1 keystroke. I don't go to on demand to queue up a bunch of stuff - I go to on demand to watch a show ON DEMAND. Coupled with the fact that the remote response on these boxes is absolutely horrific, this just spells frustration for my wife and kids (who have both decided that DOD is not worth the trouble).

2. Please fix your category sorts. If I choose Kids shows and see only 2 listings for Bob The Builder, but then go to Sprout and see 7 listings, or ALL shows and see 7 listings, then there is something wrong. Once again, frustrating the heck out of my 5 yr old.

3. How about making the interface more polished? This is one thing where *gasp, the cable company, *gasp, gets is right. Their On Demand is so much easier to use than DTVs. Once again, on the in-laws on-demand system, My 5 year old can find his shows quickly by category. On DTV, he has no clue how to find his shows - you need some sort of encryption to figure out what the show name is half the time and the other half of the time he doesn't know that channel 1245 is Noggin on demand!

This thing (DOD) has so much potential - please polish this thing up - hire some graphic designers and make this thing look sharp!!! Fix your sorts and find a way to display the program information in a way that even a 5 year old could use it and you'll have me using it often (and you'll make my wife and kids happy). Until then it is just another useless feature.

Once again, just my .02....


----------



## flippedout (Sep 2, 2007)

DoD is in need of improvement. Since the Beta period, nothing has changed except the word Beta was removed. The category sorts are horrible but that might be because of the way the program is tagged by the content provider and not D*. If that is the case, I do not think there is anything D* can do. 

Two areas of improvement and then I might start using it again...
1) HD Content - If I find a program I am interested in 9 times out of 10 I can find it on the program guide and schedule it to record at a later date and usually in HD. 
2) GUI - The GUI is slow, feels almost as bad as Media Share.

Final thought, why call is DoD when you have to wait for a portion of it to be downloaded before beginning to view. Instead of DirecTV on Demand it should be called Download on Demand. I just do not see how this will be competitive when it requires customers to have a screaming fast connection. The only options for me are 1.5 Mbps DSL or cable and I will never give another $ to Comcast. For those with a 3 or 6 meg connection or FiOS, I'm sure this works great but unfortunately the FCC has been dragging their a$$ for so long this country is horribly behind in broadband deployment.

Way too much information in that rant, but to the OP's point - yes, D* should fix DoD but I bet the low subscriber numbers push this way down the priority list. They can say they offer it and that's about all for now.


----------



## DrummerBoy523 (Jan 9, 2007)

flippedout said:


> DoD is in need of improvement. Since the Beta period, nothing has changed except the word Beta was removed. The category sorts are horrible but that might be because of the way the program is tagged by the content provider and not D*. If that is the case, I do not think there is anything D* can do.
> 
> Two areas of improvement and then I might start using it again...
> 1) HD Content - If I find a program I am interested in 9 times out of 10 I can find it on the program guide and schedule it to record at a later date and usually in HD.
> ...


you hit the nail on the head - they can say they offer it.

It is just another clunky ugly piece of crap IYAM. I tried to teach my son to use it and he got frustrated quickly. Luckily he can use our Tivo upstairs.

Once again, D* comes up short and throws a piece of junk out there LONG before it is ready for prime time (kinda like the HR series DVRs)


----------



## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Keep in mind that the cable companies have been doing OnDemand for 5 or more years already, and that they spent a lot of time and money on it because they were getting their behinds beat by satellite. It was HUGELY important for cable.

OnDemand is not YET very important for satellite, and it is still very new. The vast, overwhemling majority of sat customers can't use it because either they don't have an HD-DVR or their HD-DVR isn't networked. And it's barely out of Beta.

I'm sure we'll see many improvements going forward, but keep in mind that if you use OnDemand right now, you're among the less-than-1% of DirecTV subscribers that does. Without a doubt, that number will grow, and the growth will put pressure on DirecTV to make improvements, but for now, be happy you have access to all the extra content. That doesn't mean you shouldn't report any issues you have, but understand that development cycles are long. DirecTV could have waited until everything was polished, but if that was the case, it might have delayed the rollout for 2 years. I'd rather have it as it is now than wait that long for polish.


----------



## Struff (Dec 24, 2008)

I actually like the interface. IMO it's much less confusing than the OD interface that my mom has on her cable in FL.


----------



## WestDC (Feb 9, 2008)

IIP said:


> Keep in mind that the cable companies have been doing OnDemand for 5 or more years already, and that they spent a lot of time and money on it because they were getting their behinds beat by satellite. It was HUGELY important for cable.
> 
> OnDemand is not YET very important for satellite, and it is still very new. The vast, overwhemling majority of sat customers can't use it because either they don't have an HD-DVR or their HD-DVR isn't networked. And it's barely out of Beta.
> 
> I'm sure we'll see many improvements going forward, but keep in mind that if you use OnDemand right now, you're among the less-than-1% of DirecTV subscribers that does. Without a doubt, that number will grow, and the growth will put pressure on DirecTV to make improvements, but for now, be happy you have access to all the extra content. That doesn't mean you shouldn't report any issues you have, but understand that development cycles are long. DirecTV could have waited until everything was polished, but if that was the case, it might have delayed the rollout for 2 years. I'd rather have it as it is now than wait that long for polish.


You forgot one more important thing--Most (NOT ALL) D* subscribers have D* because cable is not in their (Zipcode) which means also that High speed internet is even futher away.

The Cable co's use combined bandwidth for HSI and TV and we know the D* sub knows which service has the better picture for it.


----------



## karlhenri (Sep 25, 2007)

WestDC said:


> You forgot one more important thing--Most (NOT ALL) D* subscribers have D* because cable is not in their (Zipcode) which means also that High speed internet is even futher away.


Disagree. In most metro areas, which represent the largest population concentration in the country, there are other options. I'd venture that DirectV is the only option only in rural areas or very small agglomerations. I think most Directv subscribers subscribe by choice, not by necessity.


----------



## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

You're right that the majority of folks have some kind of high-speed Internet option, but in reality, most folks have the cheapest, lowest-speed option available to them. For a huge number of people, that means 1.5 MB download DSL, which isn't what you want for a good DoD experience. But most folks right now won't pay for anything more just for DoD.


----------



## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

WestDC said:


> You forgot one more important thing--Most (NOT ALL) D* subscribers have D* because cable is not in their (Zipcode) which means also that High speed internet is even futher away.


What?


----------



## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

WestDC said:


> You forgot one more important thing--Most (NOT ALL) D* subscribers have D* because cable is not in their (Zipcode) which means also that High speed internet is even futher away.


I have to disagree that "most" D* subscribers choose it because they don't have cable. I am sure some people fall into this category, but I'll bet "most" D* subscribers have cable as a choice, but instead chose D* due to things like content (sports packages), better quality (an all digital signal) and not being "tied" to cable (like when it's out for weeks due to downed lines).

As for the thread topic, I don't have much of a problem with DOD. I use it occasionally, but it's not a "staple" of my TV viewing. For example, last year, I used it to download all the Dexter episodes (we missed them when they were first-run). I also used it a lot during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Sometimes I browse around to see what's available and find something interesting, sometimes not. I do tend to filter it so I see only HD content, and that helps pare down the list considerably.


----------



## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

I don't have a problem with it either as I use it the exact same way (Dexter last year, Olympics, occasional kids shows). No big deal to me that I have to go to list and hit play Which is actually only 2 button presses - list, play - not 4 like the OP states (assuming it's the first think in the list, which it should be if you just added it to the queue).

So while DOD isn't perfect, it's only 1 extra button push from what the OP wants, I never have a problem finding stuff via the sort options (but I'm not a power user), and my 6 year old has no problem finding his shows.


----------



## vict (Nov 26, 2007)

rudeney said:


> I have to disagree that "most" D* subscribers choose it because they don't have cable. I am sure some people fall into this category, but I'll bet "most" D* subscribers have cable as a choice, but instead chose D* due to things like content (sports packages), better quality (an all digital signal) and not being "tied" to cable (like when it's out for weeks due to downed lines).


It would be interesting to see the statistics. My parents live in rural Idaho, and I know they subscribe to D* because they can't get cable, nor can they get broadband internet (not sure if they would choose cable if they had the choice though). The crazy thing is they only live 5 miles out of town, and it's been like that for 30 years. So I doubt they'll have a choice anytime soon, and I know they'd rather have broadband access than cable access.

I would think it's expensive to run new cable out to these areas, which is probably why it hasn't happened.


----------



## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

vict said:


> It would be interesting to see the statistics.


Yes, it definitely would. The only thing I could find is that 69% of D* subs live in "A/B" counties (http://www.directvadsales.com/pdf/mediakit/DIRECTV_MEDIA_KIT_DOWNLOAD.pdf) An "A" county is one in the largest 25 US metropolitan areas and a "B" county is one with a population over 150,000. Of course being in an A/B county doesn't guarantee you'd have cable, but it makes itmore likely than rural areas.

I know in our neighborood, at least a third of the houses (maybe closer to half) have a DBS dish attached. I don't know how many are active, but at least it shows that at sometime in the past, these cable-capable homeowners chose it over cable.


----------



## IndyMichael (Jan 25, 2003)

DoD was so easy to use with AT&T Uverse, but a PITA to use with DirecTV. Shouldn't have to connect to the internet to get DoD from a satellite company IMO.


----------



## JoeTheDragon (Jul 21, 2008)

rudeney said:


> I have to disagree that "most" D* subscribers choose it because they don't have cable. I am sure some people fall into this category, but I'll bet "most" D* subscribers have cable as a choice, but instead chose D* due to things like content (sports packages), better quality (an all digital signal) and not being "tied" to cable (like when it's out for weeks due to downed lines).


Price as well comcast wants just about the full price of Direct TV HD DVR pack for the digital preferred with only a basic box HD and DVR more + you need to get the sports pack to get channels that are in Direct TV HD DVR pack.
Less HD and smaller DVR's as well on cable.


----------



## rudeney (May 28, 2007)

IndyMichael said:


> DoD was so easy to use with AT&T Uverse, but a PITA to use with DirecTV. Shouldn't have to connect to the internet to get DoD from a satellite company IMO.


Right now, they just don't have the bandwidth to beam it from the satellites. I can understand how connecting IRD's to The Internet might seem daunting when compared to connecting a cable box, but it's really not much different and in some way it's easier. With the cable box, your only choice is a coax cable. For D* Internet connectivity, you can choose to hardwire it with CAT5, go wireless or powerline Ethernet. The future may even bring some sort of Ethernet over DBS coax solution.


----------



## flippedout (Sep 2, 2007)

I definitely agree the cable co's have a head start. D*'s version is pretty good but clearly needs some work. I would be curious to know how many subs actually use DoD / even have their STB connected to the network/Internet. I assume (and you know what that means) the numbers are relatively low and therefore there is not much of a financial incentive to bump of the service. I am sure it would be a better experience if my connection was faster. What kills me is I am right off major highways, roads, etc here in Atlanta (not in the sticks but 10 minutes from Buckhead) with fiber running all around me but AT&T seems hesitant to upgrade our area - very frustrating b/c I would pay for it.

On the topic of why people select D*, I highly doubt the majority is because they don't want cable. Most subs I know (D* and E*, some U-Verse) adamantly hate Comcast and would never switch back. According to NCTA, 124.6 million homes in the US have cable access as a choice. Of those, 104 million actually have service. (http://www.ncta.com/Statistics.aspx). In 2000, the last census, there were approximately 119 million homes. Even considering the ridiculous number of homes built in the past 9 years, I would say this penetration rate is really high meaning the majority of customers do, in fact, have a choice.

Just my 2 cents.


----------



## ghfiii (Mar 25, 2005)

rudeney said:


> For D* Internet connectivity, you can choose to hardwire it with CAT5, go wireless or powerline Ethernet.





rudeney said:


> The future may even bring some sort of Ethernet over DBS coax solution.


 The future just not this past...
two systems 10Base2 10Base5... coax solution sorta. Problems, speed 10Mbit/s and baseband not broadband, and let's not forget the converters to 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, and 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet).

how quickly we move on. It all just :kickbutt: and makes need multiple :icon_hug::icon_hug:

*Well as they say ignore the old guy yelling at the kids to "Get off my grass!" * :backtotop


----------



## myselfalso (Jan 26, 2006)

flippedout said:


> DoD is in need of improvement. Since the Beta period, nothing has changed except the word Beta was removed. *The category sorts are horrible but that might be because of the way the program is tagged by the content provider and not D*. If that is the case, I do not think there is anything D* can do. *
> 
> Two areas of improvement and then I might start using it again...
> 1) HD Content - If I find a program I am interested in 9 times out of 10 I can find it on the program guide and schedule it to record at a later date and usually in HD.
> ...


If that's the case, why does cable do a better job in cat. sorts?


----------



## DrummerBoy523 (Jan 9, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> I don't have a problem with it either as I use it the exact same way (Dexter last year, Olympics, occasional kids shows). No big deal to me that I have to go to list and hit play Which is actually only 2 button presses - list, play - not 4 like the OP states (assuming it's the first think in the list, which it should be if you just added it to the queue).
> 
> So while DOD isn't perfect, it's only 1 extra button push from what the OP wants, I never have a problem finding stuff via the sort options (but I'm not a power user), and my 6 year old has no problem finding his shows.


Key Press #1 = Press Enter on Add to Queue
Key Press #2 = Yellow button to View Queue
Key Press #3 = Press Enter to Select Show
Key Press #4 = Press View/Play Show

vs. Cable's OD:

Key Press #1 = Play

Much more than "only 1 extra button push"


----------



## DrummerBoy523 (Jan 9, 2007)

flippedout said:


> DoD is in need of improvement. Since the Beta period, nothing has changed except the word Beta was removed. The category sorts are horrible but that might be because of the way the program is tagged by the content provider and not D*. If that is the case, I do not think there is anything D* can do.
> 
> Two areas of improvement and then I might start using it again...
> 1) HD Content - If I find a program I am interested in 9 times out of 10 I can find it on the program guide and schedule it to record at a later date and usually in HD.
> ...





myselfalso said:


> If that's the case, why does cable do a better job in cat. sorts?


agreed myselfalso.. the cat sorts are horrible.

The intent of my OP was to gripe about another D* feature that is just a piece of crap and release way ahead of schedule just so they can say they have it. Maybe get D* to do something right for a change. I want D* to totally be the best because I believe in them and have been loyal for a long, long time.

So, IMO, If this thing was cleaned up and polished, maybe people would use it. It could really be a flagship for D*, but when I can't even figure out how to get to a point to scroll down on the program descriptions (you have to hit the LEFT arrow key, not the Up arrow key even though the description is above where the button on which the yellow focus is... just one example).

That's all..


----------



## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

DrummerBoy523 said:


> Key Press #1 = Press Enter on Add to Queue
> Key Press #2 = Yellow button to View Queue
> Key Press #3 = Press Enter to Select Show
> Key Press #4 = Press View/Play Show
> ...


You don't need to View Queue
You don't need to enter to select show (the default is that the top show will be highlighted)

1. Add to Queue
2. List
3. Play

So, 2 more button presses than just hitting Play on Cable (assuming that's all you have to do), which take a total of less than 2 seconds. I don't think that's necessarily an issue.


----------



## philherz (May 3, 2008)

I came from Time Warner (& Adelphia before they crashed) for 15+ years and I will say that their On Demand was definitely superior. (Once they got all the bugs out!)

DoD isn't great, but it works fine for me to get stuff I don't need to watch immediately, so I have to plan ahead a bit.

Now, with all of the other cable issues that were way worse than anything I have with D*, I'll gladly forego their On Demand and higher prices for a little inconvenience!!!!!!!


----------



## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

DrummerBoy523 said:


> Key Press #1 = Press Enter on Add to Queue
> Key Press #2 = Yellow button to View Queue
> Key Press #3 = Press Enter to Select Show
> Key Press #4 = Press View/Play Show
> ...


You're dealing with different technologies that simply aren't feature-identical.

Cable actually uses dedicated Internet bandwidth to deliver their OnDemand content in real-time. There are copies of all of the content at the head-end of the local cable system franchise, which is likely located in your town. That head-end only has to serve the folks in your town or the surrounding couple of towns.

Satellite covers the entire country with the same content, with the exception of the spotbeams that carry unique local channels to various regions. But there's no where near enough bandwidth on the satellites to allow people all over the country to download unique content. So, satellite also uses an Internet connection to get the OnDemand content to you. But unlike the cable company (which is also an ISP and has infrastructure to deliver IPTV on it's own system), the sat companies don't have a local Internet infrastructure. You have to provide your own Internet connection, and your download speed will be limited to something less than your max Internet connection speed, which for many people is much slower than is needed to be able to watch a TV show in real-time.

DirecTV designed their system with this limitation in mind, so it's set up for you to Download the content in advance to the DVR, and then watch it off the hard drive. That ensures that you get watchable video even on a slow connection. But it also means that many people won't be able to watch shows in real time, like you could on cable. That's why we refer to it as DoD (Download on Demand) instead of just OnDemand.

It's one of many tradeoffs that you have to make. Here's an opposite example: if you have an RV, and subscribe to cable, you won't get non-OTA TV when you travel, and there's no way cable can "upgrade" to make that happen. But you can easily get sat TV when you travel, because of the difference in the way the systems are designed.

The good news is that every year, the average Internet connection speed in the US goes up. ISPs are upgrading their systems to keep up with increasing demand, as well as their competition, and eventually most folks will be able to download shows fast enough for real-time viewing. People who don't want to wait for that may be able to pay for a faster tier of connection speed from their current ISP, or switch ISPs to one that offers faster connections.


----------



## angelzofmadness (Feb 17, 2009)

I agree with allot of the original posters wants however if you wanna see HORRIBLE check out Dish Networks "on demand" interface. Its a list of shows with NO organization what so ever. So directv's is a blessing in comparison.


----------



## joshjr (Aug 2, 2008)

angelzofmadness said:


> I agree with allot of the original posters wants however if you wanna see HORRIBLE check out Dish Networks "on demand" interface. Its a list of shows with NO organization what so ever. So directv's is a blessing in comparison.


Wow I guess so. I think D* could improve it more but I wont complain to bad except for I would like to see more channels available on it for downloadable content.


----------



## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

The only concern that I've had was the restricted bandwidth on their end. I haven't tried it in a couple of months but I went to get a HD PPV on demand and by the time it finished downloading I had no time to watch it. The only thing I can suggest is that you never try to watch a PPV while downloading with on demand. Always let it download first then buy it. I ended up paying for a movie I never finished watching. I didn't think about the download time so it was my fault but just a heads up.

Otherwise I think the interface is fine and of course more options will always be better but overall the stuff I've wanted from it have been fine.


----------



## davidord (Aug 16, 2006)

I would like to see folders for shows like the DVR, instead of every show being in a list.


----------



## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

I would like to see new shows in HD, instead of wading through the entire listing. 

Another thing that is of major concern, most of the broadband providers are starting to implement caps, and this is going to really squash all the good that can come of On-Demand(unless of course you are using their(the cable cos) on-demand). Anti-competitive.


----------



## rajeshh (Sep 11, 2007)

I am not a power DOD user at all. As some people have mentioned, I use it once in a while to download some shows for the kids etc. So I am fine with the current UI.
While we are on the topic of UI and cable companies though, I had posted a while back on how glad I am that I have DirecTV DVR and its UI compared to cable for doing all other functions though....


----------



## loudo (Mar 24, 2005)

I like the current format, but would like to be able to block the PPV selections from the menu. For the little ones, out of site, out of mind.


----------

