A TiVo Moment
I had a TiVo Moment tonight. This is defined as a moment when I really really wish I had a TiVo. I was watching the West Wing, which is fantastic this season. Tonight's episode was particularly excellent. Well, I really get into it -- "Bill of Rights" this and "enriched uranium" that -- when I get a phone call.
"Hello?"
"This is Napoli Pizza," she says. "Your pizza will be there in three minutes. I'm just calling to ask that you be downstairs in three minutes."
"I will be downstairs. In three minutes."
"Thank you." She hangs up.
I wait two minutes, and then leave Josh and Donna as they are urgently discussing something important and secretive. I go downstairs, all set to greet the Pizza Man and give him too much money for an unknown commodity.
He is not there. I wait. One minute, two minutes, five minutes... all the while cursing the damn pizzaguy who made ME stand outside and wait for HIM. And while I was waiting, I realized that if I had a TiVo, I could have pressed "Pause" when the pizza place called, waited for 10-15 minutes, and not been miffed at all because I could simply UNpause when I returned! Just one of the many benefits of TiVo that I currently lack because I would rather waste $100 gambling on the Internet than go out and get a TiVo box.
Hmmmm.
Then there is the part of me that thinks, Matt, if you get TiVo, you will spend all your leisure time watching TV and none of it reading. This would be a valid concern, but I don't spend much leisure time reading as it is. Yet there's always the part of me that wants to improve myself, and reading more would count as improving myself -- and TiVo would pre-empt that improvement.
10 Comments:
Manual trackback to http://richi.co.uk/blog/2004/12/tivopvrs-make-you-watch-more-tv-or.html
That's not been my experience. I figure that I'm just more selective about what I watch. Before I had a PVR...
By Richi, at 4:56 AM
... or you could stop being so attached to tv!
But that's just my opinion.
Di
By Anonymous, at 10:13 AM
Richi from England, you have convinced me. I shall get a TiVo, either in the upcoming semester, or next year.
Di from DC, get real. Television is crucial. :-)
By Matt, at 5:17 PM
The West Wing has not been worth watching since Aaron Sorkin left. The fact that unapologetic conservatives are now enjoying the show can only support my point.
Matt, you have two more wishes.
--Your Secret Admirer
By Anonymous, at 11:09 PM
Or you could download the episode for free and not have to pay for a TiVo or worry about the future restrictions TiVo is looking at implementing. (Like when you fastforward through the commercials, a banner ad will pop up on the screen. Also, you can only store certain content for a limited period of time. For example, that West Wing episode can stay on the TiVo for a week, then it goes bye bye.)
http://www.btefnet.net/torrents/the.west.wing.608.hdtv-lol.%5BBT%5D.torrent
I'm pretty sure that's a link to the episode you were watching. (It links to "The West Wing 6x08 - In the Room").
I'm not entirely sure of the legality of downloading TV shows. I think it's in a grey area. Or maybe it's one of those things that should be legal, but isn't. Anyways, they aren't going to sue you for it, so who cares if its legal or not? ;)
By Anthiypatus, at 2:04 AM
Anthi --
The legality of bittorrent is an interesting question. The Copyright Act allows personal copying for private use, but frowns upon mass-distribution. Still, the mass-distribution is not for profit, so it might be okay. On the other hand, while the individual people who record and put the shows online aren't making a profit, the directory owners like suprnova.org are probably making a profit in ad money. So the television industry could probably go after them (and likely will). As it is, it is worth watching Hollywood's lawsuits against the servers to see what will happen. BitTorrent now makes up 35% of all Internet traffic. Currently it's mostly songs, but also movies and pirated material. Television has been the next "big thing" on BT. It might also be interesting to see if the TV advertisers do anything. After all, they are paying good money for prime-time ads, and everyone on BT gets to see the show WITHOUT those ads.
Lots of nifty legal issues here. Maybe I'll write some papers on them someday. :-)
M@
By Matt, at 2:55 PM
Another thing Anthi --
You said: that west wing episode can only be stored for a week due to copy protections that will be implemented
Reality (from news sources:)
TiVo officials say the new restrictions will apply only to pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs. If Macrovision expands the feature to any other content, the deal is off, said Brodie Keast, executive vice president of service business at TiVo.Yep. With rebates, a 40-hour TiVo is now on sale at Amazon for 70 bucks! Only if I buy before Jan 1 though. Which I will. :-)
By Matt, at 2:06 AM
I get about 60 hours on my Pace box (http://richi.co.uk/blog/2004/12/tivopvrs-make-you-watch-more-tv-or.html remember?) When I bought it, it came with a lame 20 hours. So I bought a bigger disk ;-)
These things don't give you a choice of quality levels, 'cos it's recording the original digital bitstream.
r.
By Richi, at 7:30 PM
Psh, you are in law school. You should be writing papers on Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education and Marbury v. Madison and McCullock v.
Maryland and shit like that.
"The power to tax is the power to DESTROY." That has gotta be the coolest thing any supreme court judge has ever said. I can just imagine some old man in his judge costume with a deep, booming voice saying that.
PS- Suprnova.org got shut down. I nearly cried. I'm looking forward to telling my grandkids all the nostalgic stories about the good old days with Napster and Sharereactor and Suprnova.
Oh yes and the news about TiVo, that is very good. It makes me reconsider purchasing a TiVo. Still, I only watch the Daily Show so I guess it's easier to just download it every day. If I watched a bunch of shows and had cable and a TV, I would probably invest in a TiVo. I hope they don't expand those restrictions.
By Anthiypatus, at 10:09 PM
I knew the restriction didn't apply to all shows but I didn't know where they drew the line. "Pay-per-view and video-on-demand programs" is an acceptable line I guess. I would prefer no line at all, but I don't expect any business to be willing to stand up to the movie or music industry.
By Anthiypatus, at 10:12 PM
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