Back to Tivo
We were the first people on our block to have a Tivo, and we were instant converts. Even Amy, who thought I was being a gadget fetishist when I originally bought it. Actually, I’d say Amy became even more a believer than I. But those first generation Tivos were prone to breaking– our drive died twice, our remote once.
For over two years we went without a Tivo, and almost got used to the inconvenience of being held hostage to time-based programming. Too many times did we rush Quinn’s bedtime reading to get back downstairs for some show that was about to start. Too many times did we miss a season finale or cliff-hanger resolution.
Along the way we had opportunities to use other systems, including DishTV’s DVR. There is really nothing to drive home the quality of the Tivo user experience than using these other grossly inferior products. Why not copy Tivo more directly? Clearly they have the UI bit down.
We got the Series 2 Tivo last Spring. Alas, it is the DirectTV version, stripped of much of its expanded goodness (I could hack it back into its full glory, but who has the time?). Nonetheless, it keeps our media life under control, and frees us from the shackles of corporate scheduling. This version does have multiple tuners, allowing us to record several shows at once. This alone is a huge improvement over Series 1, but I’d still love to sync the Tivo with my full MP3 library, transfer shows to my laptop, and run slideshows easily from the tv. I could do this with the full-fledged Series 2. Perhaps I’ll make this a New Years day project.