If Books Were Like TV…

Imagine we read books the way we watch TV - imagine you were only allowed to read a book between 8:00 and 9:00 on Wednesday evenings and you couldn't get up to go to the bathroom until you had finished the chapter! Sound absurd? Isn't that how we watch TV? New technology promises to liberate consumers from being slaves to network time tables.
In January 1999, TiVo was launched at the National Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. In September 1999, TiVo's IPO soared 87 per cent on its first day, raising more than $329 million. TiVo is currently only available in the US and UK, serving over 200,000 customers.
TiVo is a digital video recorder (DVR) (a 20-hour box is $199, 30-hour $299, and a 60-hour $599) that connects to your TV and cable box, satellite receiver, or antenna. With it you have to buy a subscription ($9.95/month or $249 for lifetime) and all programming information is transmitted by a brief daily by phone call, usually at night.
TiVo has a number of unique features:
· Season Pass allows users to automatically record every episode of a series, for an entire season. You never have to set a timer. And if your program changes air dates, whether due to a special program or a permanent timeslot shift, Season Pass adjusts accordingly.
· Wishlist automatically records programs that features your favorite actor, team, topic, or hobbies. Every movie starring Tom Cruise, or every World Cup game, can be digitally recorded to view later.
· TiVo's lets users to pause live events for up to 30 minutes and then continue to watch them without missing a beat, while the remainder of the program is recorded. The viewer possesses the same power as the studio director, dictating when to rewind, use slow motion or see it again in instant replay.
· You can also create your own viewing schedule up to two weeks in advance.
· Three speeds of fast-forward and rewind make for easy viewing as you speed through an hour of programming in one minute. Hate commercials? TiVo allows you to skip right through them when watching a recording.

In June 2001, Morgan Guenther, TiVo's senior vice-president of business, admitted that TiVo clients bypass over half the commercials they encounter. What should be even more alarming to advertisers however, is that this figure had more than doubled since January 2001.
In November 2001, AT&T Broadband agreed to offer selected customers an AT&T branded TiVo, at a discounted price. AT&T will later decide whether or not to offer the service to all of its 14 million customers.
TiVo has won widespread recognition, including Business Week's "Best Products of 1999", Popular Science "Best of What's New." TV executives and advertisers are in danger of being blindsided. And while some might think, "well, it's only 200,000 people" - TiVo is like a one way street, once you have tried it you will never go back to the old way of watching TV.