I am a hugeTIVO fan. I purchased my first DVR (digital video recorder) several years ago. Since then I have purchased several as gifts, proselytised the virtues of the TIVO “way of life” to many others who have become converts, and purchased a second unit for use elsewhere in my home. My personal set up uses a home office wireless network to allow communication between the devices. There are other great reasons for adding your TIVO to your network but more on that later.
(Before I forget, shameless plug. If you elect to buy a TIVO DVR as a result of this blog, feel free to add my email address (rwachs at pcmgconsulting.com) as the referral. The company’s TIVO Rewards program is great and it costs you nothing to let them know who got you looking. You enter this referral information when you sign up for the monthly or lifetime service not at the time you purchase your system.) The TIVO Rewards Program actually represents a means by which this company can grow through granular marketing. This is a program worth participating in should you decide this technology benefits you and your family. But I digress.
A few weeks ago, I casually flipped through the “What’s On TIVO” listings to find something to peruse for a few minutes after a long day. As I scanned the listings, which are filled with a diverse array of shows ranging from my daughter’s varied tastes to a variety of shows I find of interest, something on the screen immediately caught my eye. The TIVO screen allows you to quickly determine a show’s status using a number of icons. The system is designed to be intuitive and is amazingly simple to grasp from the very first use which is one of many reasons TIVO continues to be the defacto generic term in our lexicon when it comes to PVRs (Personal Video Recorders).
The circular icons to the left of the show descriptions indicate whether or not the show can be deleted to accommodate new material. TIVOs can capture a lot of (non-HDTV) content depending on your model’s hard disk size and the recording quality you select. Perhaps it is because my eyes have grown somewhat less discerning through years of staring at computer monitors, but I findTIVO’s Medium quality setting adequate to capture all but fast moving sports events and a select few cinematic movies worthy of close scrutiny.
While scrolling through my listings, a red, blinking, flag, immediately caught my eye. It was listed next to a drama series, Lost, which has found its way onto my Season Pass listings. When I clicked to explore the listing, there was a notification that this show could be erased at any time between now and the following evening. In essance , I was informed that I could not in fact “time shift” this show outside of the proscribed window dictated by the show’s controlling authorities! The content management flag also adds some code which makes transfer to VHS, DVD, or other media “impossible.”
.I cannot wait to see the faces of the Hollywood gang when some sixteen year old manages to break this restriction and publishes it on the internet for all to download! When will this group learn that customers are clamoring for TIVOs,Ipod s and other devices to allow greater flexibility in content viewing, not less? The fact that the popular DeCiss software program created by a young Norwegian teenager is being used by countless thousands to make legitimate backups of DVDs should tell the movie makers, “another mousetrap” isn’t the answer to their piracy concerns.
Almost immediately, the TIVO community was abuzz about the new flag. The company issued a statement explaining that the use of this flag on commercial programming (such as ABC’s Lost) was a “mistake.” Publicly, this flag is being positioned for use only with “premium content” such as PPV (pay per view) material. I am skeptical. If we are not vigilent , the day may (very soon) come when Hollywood tries to use technology to mitigate the value of digital video recorders in a way they were unsuccessful in doing decades ago during the birth of the VCR. What may scare you even more is that our current legal rights to “time shift” shows stems from a legal ruling made by jurists.
Don’t think that if this content management flag gains traction, the music industry won’t take note! Imagine purchasing online songs through Apple Itunes Music Store or MusicMatch Jukebox only to discover you aren’t allowed to copy your legally purchased songs to CDs for listening in your car. There are digital rights management tools which place some restrictions on how you can use your downloaded music. There are also numerous services through the reborn Napster Music Service which allow you a vast music library on a per month rental basis. In essence , your music disappears if you miss a payment. The digital content flag could allow a host of new restrictions placed on content you purchase!
Even more recently, Apple has rocked the world of commercial TV distribution by developing a distribution system with ABC (notice how this network keeps coming up in this article!?). Popular shows such as Lost and Desperate Housewives are going to be sold on a per episode basis for viewing on the company’s newest video Ipod . If this catches on, look out! Local television affiliates will lose a key, young demographic audience and finger pointing is sure to emerge between Apple, ABC, and other content providers less willing to give up today’s business distribution model.
I remain convinced with every passing day the complexity of technology and its interactions with our daily lives makes decisions made as to the legal use of these tools increasingly difficult by our court system. Too often, we are asking intelligent, largely reasonable, judges and juries to evaluate technological resources which they have only a passing understanging of in their “everyday” use and application. The next time you see a red blinking flag on your television, pay close attention, you may be the one lost if your show happens to be deleted before you have had an opportunity to click your TIVO remote.
PVRs are just now becoming mainstream. I have pleaded with friends and clients to at least try to understand how these boxes can allow you to control the quality and type of content you view in a way that is radically different for yesterday’s VCR. (TIVO and its ilk make programming far easier than a VCR. How manyVCRs still blink “12:00” to this day because the unit’s owners never mastered the art of programming these boxes?) Microsoft’s excellent Media Center Edition, not to mention Myth TV for the more technologically advanced, promise to bring thePVR “revolution” to a critical mass of consumers over the next couple of years. Let’s hope Hollywood doesn’t kill the golden goose in their zeal to protect their content from the very audience they claim to be trying to hold on to!
As always, I am interested in your thoughts on this issue.....