"maybe Boxee isn't for you" (turn off online TV sources)

[PhatPhreddy]

This is highly relevant to my setup too..

I have a multi node home media net, which I might move from WMC to Boxee but I live in Thailand where the net is poor, and streaming TV is not viable and secondarily many of the providers of streaming (hulu BBC etc) dont supply to this region.

I want boxee for my local media, I sort of tolerate its social functions, because it has a great system of recognizing and tagging. But ultimately for me to go to 5 boxee boxes and one HTPC storage unit, this need to understand that its local content only with the net connection for cover art etc.

[rycapps]

I would love to see Boxee allow this on a per show basis. I like being able to watch shows that I don't have locally, but I have run into a few problems. I have several cartoons locally for my kids, but there are 2 files for each episode. Boxee shows each local file, then follows it with the Cartoon Network source. This hampers the play next feature and confuses my kids. I usually just bring up the directory under files so that Boxee won't go line.

[twistybox]

You shouldn't have to make any per-show settings to affect this. That's far too time consuming. There's already the "Library" feature which is all about online.

What they could do is add a menu item inside each show's season page to "Search for more episodes online" - so you can expressly select it when you want it, or simply ignore it.

But, IMO, you should be able to turn even that option off, because you never know what's going to be matched and played back. It's simple parental controls, IMO. But Boxee is almost totally lacking in parental controls as well, so....

[haveringcottage]

the problem, which some of you have touched upon, is boxee isn't a not-for-profit enthusiasts project... its a for profit business, and its model (whilst not profit making atm) HAS to be based around providing content from its partners, who then (eventually and presumably) pay boxee a proportion of the advertising revenue they earn for linking to their content.

The devs may well think this is a great idea, but to the accountants in charge, how is that going to help them turn a profit? - it's akin to "switching off" the revenue stream for each user who turns off the online aggregator function.

I love boxee for all the reasons everyone mentions - it's scraping abilities are nothing short of incredible. I'm more than happy to tolerate it suggesting alternative sources for me - even if i cant view them. i just think, "oh a new episode is available to download" then i use my torrent program to get it, add it to my boxee source folder, give boxee a minute or two to refresh and then away we go.

As a feature request goes - ask away, but i'm 99% sure you wont hear back.

Just enjoy what you've got - as the saying goes, nothing in life is free.

[twistybox]

I'm fully confident this feature/fix will never be realized for the same profit-generating reasons mentioned.

However, like many other aspects in Boxee, it's not fully baked. In other words, it's only partially implemented and not done in such a way that should even be considered for a shipping product.

There is no suggestion, the episode list is simply augmented with extraneous entries. Those entries are not identified as being from online sources and they're not identified in any way as different from what you have stored locally.

The profit idea is a sound one, however the implementation details are what will make or break a product. You can have your partner revenue stream without complicating and otherwise screwing up someone's local collection. AppleTV, while somewhat of a lame duck, clearly has the profit parts of the UI and then the local parts. Very easy for the consumer to know what it is they're doing.

I have a feeling that this is going to come back and bite Boxee pretty badly on the retail front. Boxee's current user base is a fraction of what it could be - the big test is with the Box and that's where I want to see things cleaned up the most.

Frankly, I'm only using the downloadable software as a preview/test for the eventual Box release. Dedicating a PC for media playback is an idea best left back in 2004. This is 2010 and it's time for lighter more efficient solutions. I've been running an HTPC for 7 years, but I haven't had a PC connected to a TV for 3.

Oh, lastly... Even if the content was clearly marked as originating online, the end result can still be abysmal. Some of what comes up can't even be described as video - you just get a web page on your TV. Other sites have a perpetual progress bar and mouse-clickable controls displayed which you can't click on or hide. Just a really really bad experience, IMO.

But I'll say it again. Already have the LIBRARY section for online content. Mixing episodes into "MY" sections is a serious design/implementation flaw.

[jerms415]

the problem, which some of you have touched upon, is boxee isn't a not-for-profit enthusiasts project... its a for profit business, and its model (whilst not profit making atm) HAS to be based around providing content from its partners, who then (eventually and presumably) pay boxee a proportion of the advertising revenue they earn for linking to their content.

I doubt that. Considering Hulu has been trying to block Boxee, it seems very unlikely that they are paying them for linking to their content.

See http://mashable.com/2010/02/04/congr...u-block-boxee/

[cmendill]

I don't get it.
Your upset that boxee fills in the missing episodes of tv shows that you like but don't have?
So why don't you just get those episodes?

[twistybox]

I have a PVR, so most of my TV gets recorded. I also collect a number of shows I like a lot, so for those I'll have full seasons.

However, every now and then I may have to download something because a recording was pre-empted, corrupted or otherwise missed/unwatchable. This can happen quite often on Sunday nights with CBS' The Amazing Race. Even with a 30 minute extra recording padding I've added, it can miss the show if Football runs very late.

The other day I had to get an episode of Fringe because some bad weather/tropo effects made my recording unwatchable.

Having only this one episode of Fringe in place caused Boxee to list two or three others. It listed them with services that wouldn't play here first. Then once Canadian services appeared I could check City's stream. However, as mentioned in previous messages, there are issues with the offerings, not the least of which is availability can be random and metadata incorrect for them.

But most important of all is that the LIBRARY feature already exists for online content and the "MY" feature should only be listing my actual content, stuff I have locally (including on my own network).

[80HD]

Your upset that boxee fills in the missing episodes of tv shows that you like but don't have?
So why don't you just get those episodes?

Oh I totally do this - Rss makes it even better. It's the other people that use the htpc that watch old episodes that get griefed by this issue.

I'd even settle for a little icon next to the show listing to differentiate which shows are local or online. A little pc or world (internet) icon would be all I need to avoid going into uninteresting menus.

[Oso Polar]

But most important of all is that the LIBRARY feature already exists for online content and the "MY" feature should only be listing my actual content, stuff I have locally (including on my own network).

I strongly disagree. I watch the majority of shows online and I definitely don't want to browse through hundreds and hundreds of shows each time to get to the dozen my family actually watches. "My Shows" are shows that I'm interested in, library - a place to search for new interesting stuff to add to "My Shows ;-) The same thing as with "My Apps" & "App Library".

That being said, I feel that while displaying the list of episodes Boxee should hint somehow is it local episode or not - i.e. by color or by some icons alongside the episode name. Using icons it'll be possible to not only show is the episode local or not but also what alternative sources for episode are available (i.e. local, Fox, Hulu etc.). I also have some shows where I have some episodes locally and some not, and I'd like to be able to distinguish them (without trying to play each one).