VOD Growing, But Lags Behind DVR Use

VOD has incredible potential to outshine the DVR because it is a reactive device, not a proactive one. There is no advance decision to record a program so as to not miss it. The show or movie is simply available. The challenge, and the reason that VOD has not grown faster, is that the functionality and user friendly buttons are arcane. The tree and branch approach to access programming, the latency for buttons to activate, the occasional drop off, forcing the viewer to restart the search, all hurt its acceptance and appeal. "There are far too many buttons to push, and if you’re chugging through season 4 of Entourage, you have to navigate back and forth between menus in an irritating fashion." Until controls, speed, and userability improves, VOD will continue to lag behind Tivo and the DVR.