I know I could be considered a complete MS lackey (something about MS paying me has a bit of an influence in that) but I must confess… I really love my TiVo (both of them). I purchased the first TiVo on my wife‘s insistence and never regretted it. It is simple to use and packed with great features. I also have a Windows Media Center and love the features of it as well (check out this post by Ed Bott for an superb comparison of the two devices) but was too cheap to buy a new PC and moved it away from the TV (hmm… keep using my 500MHz Celeron or steal the 3.2 GHz MCE form the living room no one is using?).
My fondness for the TiVo, I’ll admit, is partially an over-inflated wish for fair play. TiVo was the first break the ground for the DVR/PVR market only to see their share of the market slowly be nibbled away by competition and cable/satellite providers offering cheaper (and arguably poorer) solutions. When Engadget started their TiVo deathwatch my heart sank. It’s so funny how we love to root for the underdog.
Thankfully Comcast and TiVo have worked out a partnership deal which will have TiVo writing the software for Comcast’s PVR boxes. This great news will mean I won’t have to worry about replacing my TiVo boxes any time in the immediate future (and the stock market agreed, if only mildly).
Long live TiVo (but please go buy a Windows Media Center PC… it helps put food on my table :)).