The Trouble With TiVo

BobCratchit writes "Multichannel News has an interesting take on TiVo: The DVR company has incredible mindshare but is totally dependent on cable providers to survive. Cable does not have many good reasons to let TiVo thrive. As a result, TiVo is destined to fade away unless it can carve out a niche as the cool kids' DVR (a la Macintosh) with products like the $299 HD DVR it just announced. From the article: 'TiVo has long been a darling of consumer-tech reviewers -- check out, for example, these happy hosannas from BusinessWeek, New York Times and Wall Street Journal. These guys are constantly befuddled that TiVo hasn't been more successful. Yes, TiVos make cute little popping noises when you click the remote. And they definitely provide cool features, like suggesting shows you might be interested in. But the cognoscenti enamored with TiVo's whizziness ignore a certain reality. It's easier to get a DVR from your cable company. And most people prefer to rent, not own, a set-top.'"

VCR

[atanamar]

I still enjoy my VCR, thank you very much...

Re:VCR

[spun]

You kids and your newfangled electronics. I point my Kodak Super-8 at the TV and develop the film in my own darkroom.

Re:VCR

[atanamar]

I wait for the commercials, walk away, and then come back, and magically the show picks up at the same point where I left.

Easy Solution

[Paulrothrock]

Just be so broke you can't afford a cable box or a TiVo. Then you don't have to worry about it.

Re:VCR

[AndersOSU]

Pfft, my entertainment comes entirely from the sock-puppet theater I write direct and produce.

Sorry, I've got to go clean my gun...

Re:VCR

[drooling-dog]

You kids and your newfangled electronics. I point my Kodak Super-8 at the TV and develop the film in my own darkroom.

You whippersnappers with your Super-8s! In my day, we sketched stuff on pads of paper and flipped through it whenever we wanted to watch something. But of course that takes too much talent and effort for you techno-weenies...