Signs of the end of TiVo?

As I've blogged before, I absolutely *love* my TiVo . . . .  But I'm afraid that I see signs of the end of its viability as a company.

With my move to Oregon less than a month away now, I've been getting utilities set up.  For water, gas, electricity, and garbage/recycling, there was no choice, but for telephone/Internet/TV, it was basically between Qwest/DirectTV or Comcast.  (VerizonFiOS is available in parts of Portland, but apparently not where we're going to be living.  Boo.)  From doing some research online, it seemed like the choice came down to Qwest's being cheaper but possibly slower online and definitely more frustrating on customer service, compared to Comcast's higher expense.

Anyway, the part relevant to TiVo is that both Comcast and DirectTV apparently scramble their signals, so you need their unscrambling boxes to watch anything.  This is great for them, since they can sell you their DVR service, but it looks to be pretty bad for TiVo, which can't do the nifty "season pass" recording and all the other smart stuff it's known for.

Comments

[Derek]

Well, there's two things....

First, the "standard" TiVo can, out of the box, communicate with a cable descrambler, changing stations at appointed times, etc., allowing it to do all the nifty "Season Pass" stuff it's known for. If you lost your "IR Blaster" which came with the unit, you can probably get a replacement from TiVo.

Second, though, the newer HDTiVo units have CableCard slots in them. So instead of paying your cable company for a $50 box rental you rent the cards (2 of them if you want, since the HDTiVo has two built-in tuners), and put them in the rear of your TiVo. They act as the descrambling gear, allowing the connection from the cable company to come directly into the TiVo.

So, in summary - have no fear, the thing you're talking about isn't going to be a problem for TiVo, and hasn't been one for a long while. They'll still be around :-)