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TiVo Introduces Series2

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the stuff-to-lust-after dept.

KMFMS writes "Yesterday, TiVo introduced their Series2 line of TiVo DVRs. The TiVo web page for the Series2 states that it will have "2 USB expansion ports to connect to peripheral devices like... network adaptors..." " Presumably this will mean Tivo will have Broadband support to compete with the new ReplayTV 4000's. It also claims to support music and stuff too.

3 of 351 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Network adapters... by NMerriam · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They're not selling the data. They're selling the format and convenience of the data.

    You can buy a sunday paper and get the TV listings. Somehow TV Guide stays in business selling the same "data" to people, but usually in a better format.

    Not that i wouldn't love to be able to get all the stuff for free, but the key to tivo staying in business and making cool boxes is for them to make money somehow. If it would just go over my DSL IP connection I'd be happier than the whole dialing-in thing.

    --
    Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
  2. Re:Network adapters... by SethJohnson · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Or you could buy the lifetime package and be done with it.

    Do you boycott all products / services that package something freely available in a more useful form? Sure, I don't buy bottled water, but what about the newspaper? What about linux distros? Why go to the movies at the theater when they'll eventually be shown on broadcast tv stations like NBC or FOX?

    I find myself buying the newspaper rather than looking at the online version because I enjoy the portability and bathroom-readability of it. I purchase SuSE cdroms to support the improvement of the product without having to get my hands dirty writing code. I pay $7.50 to see movies in the theater because I want to see them on a big screen with a great sound system and share the experience with a few hundred other people.

    There often is a value-add in a company taking something that's freely available and selling it. If there wasn't, then there would be legions more people who share your perspective, and these companies wouldn't be able to stay afloat. In the case of TiVO, they have significant value-add with using the tv listings. It's not a box that simply displays the channel guide (channel 7 here in Austin, TX). Consider Tivo to be your TV administrator. It watches those listings like a damn hawk, swooping down and snatching up the programs you wouldn't have noticed were on. Unless, of course, you want to spend more than $10.00 of your time and energy each month monitoring those tv listings yourself. It has such value add as providing a hot-list of celebrities to watch for, so it'll record Conan Obrien whenever some hot chick you saw in Maxim is on there (or any other show she appears on).

    Look, I'm not trying to sell people a tivo. It's just my experience that some freely-available stuff can be improved and worth purchasing.
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    $5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
  3. Re:Thanks but ill pass on TIvo...why ? by TwoStep · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you are so concerned, TiVo allows you to opt out of the data collection.

    Personally, I like that they collect what I watch. Maybe that will mean that the shows I watch don't get cancelled...

    Twostep

    --
    There are 10 different types of people in this world... those who understand binary, and those who don't.