I'm not afraid of Sky, I just really don't like them very much.
Ashleigh brought to my attention an article on The Register called Don't be scared of Sky. It's an interesting read, and contains these gems:
"Churn (cancellation) levels are higher than ever, and the cynical majority in the industry reportedly believe the new portfolio of services is a cunning ruse to improve its subscriber statistics as it seems to have reached a difficult commercial plateau in customer acquisition. When you phone Sky to announce your intention to leave, the company's desperate customer support staff will do virtually anything to keep you (word to the wise: if you want a few months subscription free, or to bump up your package, call them up and tell them you're getting Freeview or NTL instead). The UK isn't quite the same dynamic as the US, with its hundreds of millions of households. The reasons for the slow down are simple – it costs too much, the content is getting worse by the day, and you can get better elsewhere."
"What do I want to watch? Probably less than 10 per cent of what Sky's dismal, failing waste of a platform has to offer."
It would appear that I'm really not the only one getting rid of Sky, as I suspected (and hoped, to be honest). I've heard tales of digital aerial installers being busier than ever as more and more people decide that chucking £45 away on a raft of channels you're never going to watch is pretty dumb. The one thing Sky have got that makes their position particularly potent at the present time is Sky+; It's just so damned convenient. "Punters" love it. It's really, really easy to use (even my 9 month old son has inadvertently recorded TV programs before), and you don't even need video cassettes!!!
However, the problem with Sky+ is that it's an antiquated, badly implemented, featureless slab of dung, that is prone to temperamental bouts of sulkily not recording your favourite programs, a sluggish program guide, and buggy software updates. And the customer is expected to pay for the privilege! I loved my Tivo box in a way that was probably not appropriate for a piece of hardware, but with good reason. It was elegant, reliable, and an absolute joy to use. Why did I get rid of it? It didn't integrate very well, and Tivo's presence in the UK is non-existent. I feared that they close down their EPG service, and I'd be left with a box that did very little, and was worth even less. Microsoft Media Center is probably the next best thing (if not just as good – time will tell), but it's just not ready to stick in front of the average "punter" yet. I really hope that one day it is; it's a fantastic product, and if Microsoft could essentially "bottle" it and provide customers with an affordable, reliable out-of-the-box solution it would be a real winner.
I leave you with this thought from The Register, and it's one that I'd like you all to take notice of:
"Now isn't the time to be scared of Sky, it's the time to attack while it's vulnerable."
