TiVo

The TiVo is the first device since the TV itself to radically alter the nature of home entertainment. No longer are we subject to the whims of network executives. We program the shows we like to watch, others we might want to watch, and some we probably don't want to watch but why not, and it records them.

No tapes. No forgetting to turn off the VCR or accidentally recording over last week’s ER before watching it. Finally there is a reliable, convenient way to watch TV without commercials at a higher quality than VHS. When we want to watch, what we want to watch.

The VCR can't complete with the power and convenience of TiVo. You can easily browse through lists of all the shows currently stored on the TiVo's hard drive and see metadata about that recording (show description, original air date, channel and time recorded, length, rating) and begin viewing instantly.

How it works

The TiVo is a Linux computer in a black VCR-sized enclosure. It contains many of the same components as a normal personal computer: hard drive, CPU, video card, modem, USB ports, motherboard and fans. It hooks up to your cable or satellite signal (with or without a cable box), VCR, and TV. The TiVo Service is required to use most of the scheduling features that make TiVo better than an ordinary VCR — you can pay a $13 monthly fee or buy a lifetime subscription for $300. The service provides an onscreen program guide similar to the one on the preview channel and on digital cable and satellite services. The guide allows you to search by program name, actor, director, genre, channel, or keywords. When you find a show you want to record you are given the option to record that show, other upcoming episodes or re-airings, or get a Season Pass. A Season Pass will record all airings of a show regardless of time changes. You also have the option to record only first-runs and ignore reruns. The Season Pass records all airings but it will automatically ignore reruns in the same month unless you request the All (with duplicates) option.

Why TiVo will has changed television

TV network executives are beginning to understand the importance of TiVo as an industry shaping force. People are skipping commercials, speeding through boring parts of shows — all that lame repetition in TLC and HGTV shows like Trading Spaces — and quickly giving up on shows that we would have watched if there wasn't a box full of other shows available to instantly switch to. Advertising revenue will increasingly come from the content of the show in the form of product placement. I’m not sure if the quality of content will improve or worsen. Giving the mobocracy what they want is usually a bad idea. Reality TV shows seem to be very popular at the moment but I find them repugnant.

The current season of 24 seems to be an example of one network, Fox, embracing TiVo owners. They placed an ad on the TiVo Central screen with a preview of the upcoming season premier. You could press the Thumbs Up buttom on the remote anytime during the preview to create a Season Pass. The first episode was presented "Commercial Free", which means Ford paid for a ten minute at the beginning and another at the end of the show.

TiVo 4.0

The recent 4.0 software upgrade was a fantastic improvement from the 3.X series. Home network options, both wired and wireless (802.11b) eliminated the need for a POTS line running to the living room and vastly reduced the daily download time.

The now playing screen added Groups to eliminate the clutter created by having ten episodes of Seinfeld, five STNG and three Cosby shows recorded throughout the week. Now all the shows of the same series are grouped together with a folder icon indicating the number of recordings of each available. You can sort those groupings by date (most recent listed first) or alphabetically. Turning grouping on or off is a simple as pressing “1” on the remote and “2” to change the sorting options.

Upgrading a TiVo

I haven't done it yet but there are many websites with information about replacing the stock TiVo hard drive with a larger one or adding second drive. You can get customized directions for the type of upgrade you want to do at WeaKnees.com.

Hacks

The TiVo Series 2 doesn’t include a 30-second skip feature by default. I’m not sure if it’s a contractual agreement with the networks or advertisers but the TiVo hacking community has published extensive information about unlocking functionality already included in TiVo’s software. The only hack I’ve had reason to use is the 30-second skip. On the remote press Select Play Select 3 0 Select and listen for a chime confirmation. Clicking the Advance button will now skip 30 seconds instead of advancing to the end of the show. Use the same sequence to switch back to the advance to end mode.

There are also several hacks to extract the raw MPEG2 files over a network connection but all of them I've seen require installing a special network card, thus voiding the warranty by opening the case.

I saw an episode of the Screen Savers that showed how to hack the TiVo to display Caller ID data on the TV screen. It sounded interesting but a little more work than I feel like doing, besides the fact we don’t have Caller ID on our POTS line.

TCP/IP Ports

These ports are open on a TiVo running 4.X software. If you know the function of any of these ports, let me know and I'll update this list.

21
389
1002
1720
2190: Autodiscovery for Home Media Option
2191

Wish List for TiVo 5.0

Support for multiple users profiles. Each user could a personalized own Now Playing, Wish Lists and Season Passes. Perhaps each user could have a priority associated with their profile so parents' shows would record before shows requested by children.
Extend the Home Media Option to stream movies off networked computers. I could screen my iMovie creations on the TV before burning a DVD.