News on TiVo, "God's Machine"

Brace for incoming TiVo news! rtphokie pointed out that FCC chair Michael Powell got a TiVo for Christmas and calls it "God's machine." Powell also said he wanted to share TV shows with his sister -- but he might have to violate the DMCA to do it: TiVo wants to join the home network (thanks Insomniac), but parr pointed us to TiVo's Thursday press release in which they assure us that "every TiVo Series2 DVR contains a unique public/private key pair," so only "designated" units within your home can share programs, you "cannot send content outside the home," and transfers over your home network will be encrypted (no sniffing!). Meanwhile, on the WB (part of AOL-TW), everything old is new again, as producers and advertisers work to create a live variety show with built-in commercials (free reg. req.) (thanks eternal_software). And if you missed our earlier TiVoesque stories, check 'em out: TiVo-radio wanted, HDTV TiVo, and TiVo Rendezvous. Whew!

Comments

Re:You have to wonder...

[Twirlip of the Mists]

Less useful than what? Than what you bought? Seems like TiVo has never offered any kind of video sharing feature at all, so a new feature couldn't possibly be less useful than the absence of that feature.

Oh, you must mean, "Less useful than what I, with my self-righteous sense of entitlement, feel that I deserve." Well, that's a whole different kettle of fish, isn't it?

Re:Why buy a Tivo at all?

[Twirlip of the Mists]

For less than $300 I just built a PVR using PowerVCR II software, a modest cpu based system and an 80 gig drive.

For about the same or a few dollars more, I have a TiVo that I didn't have to build myself. Not to mention the fact that my TiVo has more features, is more user-friendly, and works more reliably than your homebrew FrankenPVR ever could.