My Not-So-Secret Love Affair

I have cried 2 or 3 times in my life. Yesterday, I added to that count…we now have TIVO.

As a family Christmas gift, we decided to get TIVO this year, but due to an excellent employee discount offer that I received, we had to get it before the end of November. So, it's definitely an early Christmas present, and we'll have to keep the box to have something to unwrap...Oh darn.

I’ve been exposed to Digital Video Recording (where you can record shows digitally, without a tape) before at my sister’s and parents’ houses, and yes I immediately fell in love with it. Yes, I agree with everyone else that the technology has changed television, is the greatest media invention since the DVD player, and is one of those blessings from heaven for paying tithing (okay maybe that one’s just me). If you think about it, it’s probably the closest thing we’ll get to time travel anytime soon.

But unlike most Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) that Satellite or Cable companies will “rent” out to its customers, I have found out that TIVO is so much more. To quote Ferris Bueller, “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”

Ahem, herein begins my commercial for TIVO

What’s so great about TIVO you ask? What can it do that most PVRs can’t? Well, I'll tell you my friend....

• On a trip, or away from the house you can schedule recordings online
• It has a search engine to find and record shows, not only by title or actor, but by interests (i.e. all the “Christmas” specials or any upcoming AFI top 100 movies)
• With the Season Pass feature, you can pick a show, let’s say “The Office”, and it will record new episodes automatically--even if the time slot or day changes. I never have to worry about setting it up on a weekly basis or checking to make sure it didn’t move to a different time slot. TIVO finds it for me!
• We can view photos/music/videos from home computer on TV via TIVO & wireless internet
• We can rent movies online from Amazon Unbox, and instantly watch them on TIVO (Basically video on demand)
• The dual tuner function lets you record one show while watching another channel (or you can record two shows at once, so you don’t have to go through a “Sophie’s Choice” moment)
• I can tell TIVO what shows I like/dislike and it will automatically give me suggested content.
• Away from home I can watch anything from my TIVO on my laptop via the Internet. (great for trips!)
• With a second TIVO set I can wirelessly send programs back and forth between the two boxes (in case someone is using the TV hooked up to the TIVO that recorded the show)
• Other little things, like stream internet radio, buy movie tickets, check weather, get traffic reports, podcats..etc.
  
  Will we use all these features? Probably not. But all these features bundled together with TIVO’s strive for continual improvement illustrates its strategy of differentiating itself from regular PVRs. Plus, our entire TIVO buying experience, from the quick shipping, easy setup, and welcoming customer service has exceeded my expectations.
  
  But won’t this make us just watch more TV? Not so fast…Buckaroo. We can skip out commercials (avg 12-15 min. savings per hour). Football games? I can watch an entire game in under an hour by skipping commercials and “huddle time”. Plus, instead of just sitting there surfing channels to no avail, we can now sit down, watch a show efficiently and then move on to another task…get in, get out. In fact I hardly ever watch “live” TV anymore because that’s when you can’t skip commercials. At least for me, I bet my overall TV watching time will stay unchanged or may even drop a little (If I’m wrong and TIVO zombifies me into a permanent couch potato, I’ll give an update)
  
  In any case, if you’re thinking about a family gift or a present for someone, or if you don’t already have a PVR, I highly recommend it!