As seen on Scripting News.
“Not that I don’t want one. I want it badly. But I can’t bring
myself to buy it. TiVo is close. So close. Close enough to make my
mouth water and my eyes tear up. But it’s not…quite…there.”
“TiVo is a Linux box without a network card. And there is no
provision to add one, unless you’re real handy with a soldering
iron. The only two-way communications facility TiVo features is an
analog modem that dials up a server. Every night a TiVo server
feeds TV program listings down and sucks your TV viewing history
up. But like E.T., TiVo only wants to phone home–it will not pull
content from third-party sites….”
“Now that people’s appetites are whetted to the potential of
computer-augmented television, I’m betting that this limitation
will drive TiVo Inc. into a world of dissatisfaction, competition,
co-option, and if they’re not careful, marginalization. I’m not
buying TiVo, because TiVo pisses me off. TiVo Inc. put an open
system in a closed box.”