TV without TiVo is 'broken'
This piece from November 2003 just got pointed out to me on an internal BBC blog - A life where TiVo has always existed - a brilliant short critique of how a three year old perceives television only experienced via TiVo.
My favourite quote:
She gets quite confused when we are watching a non-TiVo TV, and she asks to watch "a kids show", and we have to explain that this TV won't do what ours at home does. We've sometimes shortened this explanation to "This TV is broken"
...which echoes exactly how I now feel about linear TV - that it is somehow "broken". My parents have just bought a new VHS recorder, and trying to explain to my mother how to set the timer seemed like trying to explain some arcane algebra. With TiVo, I just don't need to know start time, or end time, and check that the cable box is set to the right channel.
And now I'm beginning to get just as frustrated that I can't download and schedule things for myself in advance. The other night I didn't want to wait up until 11:30pm to watch "The Premiership" - and I certainly didn't want to wait until next week for the 2nd episode of the excellent "Nighty Night" - I would have happily sat through back-to-back episodes until I had exhausted the series.
See also: Future Now, Relevant History
My dad has had a Homechoice box installed at home for a few years now, which is an alternative to Tivo (or other PVRs). Rather than timeshifting TV (though this is soon to be added as a feature), Homechoice offers video-on-demand, delivered down the phone line via ADSL (though I'm told it's not the same as consumer ADSL, which isn't fast enough). Unfortunately, the content so far has been limited by what Homechoice have been able to get contracts for, but it has included whole series of Friends, Teachers, Spooks, Walking with Dinosaurs, and many others.
They're not currently seeking new customers (as they're losing money at the moment) but are said to be looking to expand in the future when some deal with BT comes off.
I forgot to add that they also do pay-on-demand films, which works really well. A lot more convenient than walking to video shop.
I've had a similar experience with my daughter, who's almost 5, and has a very clear understanding of how she can watch regular TV, videos, and DVDs differently.