jr conlin's ink stained banana

For once, i'm glad i'm stuck with the older Tivo software.

Being a DirecTV person, i'm stuck a few rev's back. This had been slightly annoying since it meant i still needed a telephone connection instead of a USB connected internet line, but that was a minor detail. This also meant that some of the newer Tivo features weren't available to me, but since i didn't really know what those new features were, i wasn't bothered by them quite as much.

i know what one of the new features is now, and i'm glad i don't have it.

Thing is, i can't fault Tivo for trying this out. i along with every other subscriber, am addicted to the Fast Foward button. (i don't like to use the skip feature partly because there are times when a commercial actually does get my interest.

Thing is, while i understand that Tivo needs the money, i can't help but wonder if this is a fantastically bad idea for them. In effect, they've Gatored themselves. (Gator, you'll remember, had created a plugin proxy that replaced ads that were on a page with new ads that they hosted themselves, in effect, hijacking the pages.) Needless to say, the content providers went nuts, and rightly so. Their bandwidth was being used without any chance for them to get compensated by the advertisers that they had signed up with, meanwhile Gator's advertisers were getting increased exposure on popular websites for (basically) free.

Just so we're clear, big web sites can charge millions of dollars for ads, so ponying up a few lawyers is not really a problem for them. Now think about what network channels charge per 30 second spot on big shows like series finales and sporting events. They're already peeved that VCRs and PVRs even have fast-forward buttons (and that couches have the audacity not to have manacles that latch onto people when the commericals come on, but that's beside the point), now imagine them realizing that the premium slot is not only being skipped, but someone is seeing an ad for "Joey's Viagra Hut" or even worse, the competitor for the guy that bought the preimum slot, and he got that position for a fraction of what you sold it for. You'll have one seriously pissed advertiser who will probably use this new system instead leaving you to find some other way to pay the over-inflated salaries your "talent" demand.

Yep. This just looks like one really big "bad move" from Tivo.

i wonder how hard it is to convert old, shut-down Tivo boxes to MythTV systems?