What is Tivo

The Tivo name almost became as common as Kleenex. It was/is unique in that it is a DVR that you could buy, as opposed to rent from your cable provider. But going further back, it allowed recording of over-the-air shows, combined with an excellent user interface and a useful program guide. The original remote was a great piece of industrial engineering - complex but simple for all the basic things needed. And it feels good in the hand.

Many years have passed, and Tivo as a concern has been kicked around to various companies. A long time ago I had a dream that Apple would buy them. Really, what has happened to Tivo is in part indifference, and that the way people watch TV has changed.

The indifference is not responding to the reality that streaming has become much more important. Netflix, Hulu, Disney……..

Tivo never fully committed to streaming. They have streaming apps like Netflix and Prime, and a handful of others on Tivo’s. The apps aren’t very good - functional but sluggish depending on which model you have. They could be better, and have more of them available. There is a reason I have a Roku Ultra.

The Tivo Edge is likely the last model of DVR that Tivo (the company) will make. They dumbly made two different models, one for cable, one for antenna. I guess it saved them a few cents. The cable version needs a cable card, which most cable companies have dropped support for. The Tivo for Antenna is going much more than they did when Tivo still made them. So, Ebay is littered with tons of Tivos for Cable that are worth mainly for spare parts, like hard drives. And the Tivo Edge for Antenna is much harder to get, and fetches premium prices.

I have a Tablo, which is a DVR device that records over the air TV which you play back on a set top box like a Roku or Apple TV. It is very inexpensive. I would definitely pay for something that had the Tivo experience but combined traditional DVR with the ability to play back recorded content on other devices like a Roku. Tivo has their own set top box to do this, but it is yet another box - when the one you already have should be good enough.

I have Tivo DVRs, and still love them. I realize that the writing is on the wall as far as Tivo’s DVR business goes. They have pivoted to being a Smart TV environment. I had their Tivo streaming stick, and didn’t really like it that much. I hope for them the TV is better.

I think the message here is one that we have seen before. Adaptation, speed of innovation, changing tastes. Companies sometimes are blindsided, and never quite catch up after that.