DISQUS

Dan Rayburn · 1 year ago

Correct, I did not say how long each device has been on the market and it varies. Series 3 TiVo's have been out about 2 years. XBOX 360 longer than that. On average the devices I mention are new or have been around for up to 3 years.

And I agree that only time will tell how well these devices sell. But the purpose of the article was to show people out of all the devices sold, what some real numbers are, as opposed to using these grand numbers people like to quote. I think we need to be realistic and set those expectations properly.

At the same time, I don't see how they can be compared to the telephone or the fax. Those devices are stand alone units that can be used by themselves. The phone, fax and cell phone don't need to rely on another device purchased by the consumer, the TV, in order to use them. All of the devices I mention can't be used by themselves, so I don't see the comparison. They all require consumers to have to purchase or have multiple devices just to use them, let alone sign up or purchase access to the content as well.

Side note: In 1970, there were about 30,000 fax machines in the U.S., which is small, but the technology and price back then were the limiting factors. Almost 40 years later, from data I see on the web, about 6 million new fax machines are sold each year.