TiVo has Brain Wave, Smacks Forehead

I've written about this before in my blog, as well as about how wondrous and sticky TiVo is. Now they're finally figuring out what one of the big issues is (from TechDirt):

Davis Freeberg writes 'In a candid interview with Bloomberg news, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers...offered a lot of great information, but the most interesting piece is that TiVo is considering offering a subscription only model for their subscribers. Once someone uses a TiVo it will be difficult to go back to the generic PVR. By giving new consumers the opportunity to try TiVo without making a $300 investment, the company can expand their appeal beyond just the early adopter crowd'...That's funny... it's been almost three years since we suggested TiVo should do exactly that and people thought we were crazy.

I've also suggested something along those lines. Once the novelty of recordable TV wears off, there has to be some other differentiator.

For TiVo, that's going to be their user interface and programming functionality. They need to go this route in order to stick around... because I need them.