TiVo isn’t TiVo anymore

As of Oct 1, TiVo no longer sells hardware. You cannot buy a TiVo box, except maybe on eBay.

According to this article, they are no longer producing hardware in favor of licensing the TiVo OS to smart TV manufacturers, which means you have to buy a new TV (equipped) to get it.

As the article details, it’s never been a real success, nor has RePlay TV, its chief competitor (unless you count the cable companies and their unbranded/subscription offerings, which yeah, is what killed them).

Meanwhile, all of that is going away in favor of streaming. I happen to love my TiVo, especially the “commercial skip” feature, which put them on the outs with the networks and producers, but “in” with me. (It only works on about half the shows I tape, but it’s just too delicious not to appreciate, even in limited doses.)

Anyway: the broadcast industry collapses, the cable companies turn from content distributors to common carriers, and the hardware companies go under. Yeah, macroeconomic:

For the same reason I love my Tivo as well. Back in February my unit was randomly glitching and reset every couple of weeks. They sold me a new one for a discount so hopefully this one lasts a long time.

I also have a Roku, but the UI is terrible in comparison. And then the commercials can’t be skipped. Less than a year old the (rarely used) remote just failed

Mike

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