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February 9, 2006
How TV Should be Watched (TiVo)
Don't people understand how TV should be watched? Recorded, and watched at your convenience. That's the simple answer to this. Just because a show comes on at 7 shouldn't mean that you have to reorder your life to watch it at 7, or even 8. I shouldn't even have to watch it that day. I might choose to watch it the next day when I have a free moment at 3 in the afternoon. So, for all those people who's schedules are dictated by the TV line-up, do the rest of us a favor - don't talk about TV.
TiVo is a wonderful thing. Sure the romote feels nice in your hand. Yes, the little noises it makes can get stuck in your head. The real beauty of TiVo is that you take your life back. Just because American Idol (which we all enjoy) was on TV last night doesn't mean you have to talk about it today. It's not even time for audience participation… so shut up about it already!
When you take your life back with TiVo, you feel wonderful. You know that you're in good hands. It records your favorite shows without you even thinking about it. This evening, when I'm not home, it'll record 3 shows for me to watch later. I probably won't watch them later tonight. Instead, I'll probably watch the SportsCenter that I recorded at 4 o'clock this morning. TiVo is TV on my terms. Get with it people. Not only will I be able to watch it when I want to watch it, but I'll skip all the commercials too!
Despite the fact that my positive words about TiVo aren't endorsed or being paid for by TiVo, I still think it's a beautiful system. I've owned my box for a little over 3 years now. Looking back, I'm not sure how I got along without one. You should buy one. They're selling 80 hour TiVo's for $70 right now. Since I bought mine for 3x that price, I'm a bit jealous of the price.
The real point of my discussion here is this: if you've watched a show, and you want to talk about it, do us all a favor and just ask, "Did you guys see __________?" I'll be happy to let you know that I'd rather not talk about it right now, but I'd be more than willing to talk about it in a day or so.
P.S. Who's pumped for the 2 hour season finale of Arrested Development?
»See my post about Arrested Development.
Is TiVo just a recording machine, or is it a service you pay to have? I've heard all kinds of TiVo talk, and I've even seen it work, but I don't know much about it.
So you don't want to hear about the crying cowboy?
Clifton - It's both. You buy the machine, then pay for a subscription. Although there is the option of paying on a per-month deal, you can also pay a one-time fee, and then you have it forever. It ends up paying for itself in about 2 years. Sure, you could go with some open source option see Myth TV for that sort of thing (or the godzilla PVR in Longbored Links).
Jen - no I don't want to hear about the crying cowboy. But thanks to certain people with a slightly disproportional mouth-to-height ratio, I now know about him.
I hope you haven't lost respect for me since I don't know a ton about TiVo. I'm not really in to TV much these days. Too much else to do.