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Tivo HD Released Into the Wild
B.Gud writes "Tivo has launched the new 'Tivo HD' DVR, validating what was learned from retailer leaks last week. The new unit is available for orders and will ship in early August, but the good news is that Tivo is going to activate serial ATA later this year, and that TivoToGo support is coming as well. From the article: 'Suffice it to say that it's the machine we thought it was, loaded with dual tuners, support for two CableCARDs (or one MCard!), a 160GB drive (180 hours recording SD, 20 hours HD), and HDMI. It really makes the Series 3 look weak. Or put another way, it makes the Series 3 into the boutique device it really is.'"
I pay TimeWarner $13/month to rent a HD-DVR box, and it sucks so bad I want to just shoot it. It doesn't record programs that it should, it is always locking up for MINUTES at a time, and the user interface is horrible to find shows, etc.
For $300 fee plus up-front fee, with similar monthly costs is a no brainer for me.
-Unresolved symbol? Byte me!
It's more like, "Why have sex with your regular partner when you can pay for a prostitute?" Some people don't want to pay extra for a "pro."
Tivo gives customers what customers want (with some compromises). Cable Co DVRs give customers what the Cable Co wants.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
If Tivo really gave customers what they wanted, they wouldn't be collecting and selling clickstreams, they wouldn't be pushing ads into the UI, they'd have a 30-second skip (without a hack) and auto commercial skipping.
They offer only a shinier UI. Functionality and privacy-wise, they're every bit as bad as the cablecos.
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.