The TiVolution

Sunday, June 1, 2003

Here's what interesting about TiVo: since I got it, I'm watching less TV.
Weird, isn't it? What I think has happened is that I am now watching TV in a smarter way, and getting a lot more done in the bargain.
Generally speaking, I used to come home and turn on the TV in search of entertainment; but finding none, I'd flip through channels incessantly and waste a huge amount of time surfing. Since TiVo arrived, I no longer surf. TiVo has recorded things I want to see, and I just sit down and watch them, zipping past commercials and concentrating my attention on the show instead of the clutter. On top of that, I can pause anytime to put the clothes in the dryer, cook dinner, sweep the patio, clean the bathroom... TiVo patiently waits for me to do other things with my life that I never did have time for before - because live TV makes such unfair demands on one's time. How did I ever let television run my life? And how ironic that a television accessory seems to have gotten me out of that pattern!
Beyond the fact that I have gotten so much more done around the house, I've also found TiVo's suggestions to be interesting. Granted, it's suggested a lot of crap I would never watch, but it's also recorded a couple of movies which I watched and enjoyed - stuff I never would have taken the time to search out and record by hand. I just watched Woody Allen's "Hollywood Ending" and yesterday I saw "Intimate Relations." Amazing what TiVo finds on in the middle of the night.
My wireless adapter should arrive tomorrow, and TiVo will then have access to my Airport network, meaning faster downloads and sharing of music and pictures from my Mac. And the opening of a whole new world of hacking... this should be fun!

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