TiVo: Love it, Hate it

Posted on September 30, 2004 by Gene

TiVo has totally changed the way I watch television. That’s something that most TiVo owners will tell you — and sometimes they just won’t stop talking about it.
Yeah, I no longer really watch commercials. I start watching programs after they’ve been on for 20 minutes and catch up at the end. It’s amazing having a constant buffer so that I can stop the show to go do something else. And it’s wonderful to be able to find hidden gems that I might otherwise miss because they’re on in the middle of the night or at times I wouldn’t normally be watching. Treating TV as a searchable database of content is a great concept, and I don’t know why no one did it before.
But there is a major downside to TiVo.
Even though I live alone, TV used to be somewhat of a communal activity. The old water-cooler has been banished forever due to TiVo.
There were times when I’d be watching something on TV at the same time as a friend, chattering on the phone while it was on. Or I’d call a friend after a show to discuss plot points.
No more.
Three of my friends now have DVRs, and no one watches the same thing at anything resembling the same time anymore. I call up: “Did you watch West Wing?” The answer is usually: “It’s on the TiVo, I haven’t watched it yet.”
So, I have no one to discuss the latest with. Like the revelations about Rube on “Dead Like Me.” The twists on “Lost.” Or the return of Vincent (woof) on “Judging Amy.”
I was thinking: maybe I should start a category here on the blog for these shows I watch, to see if anyone wants to gossip about them? What do you think?