This week TiVo announced a new feature where viewers can choose to send advertisers contact information, making commercials interactive. That's fine by me, but, again, this idea is a bit off -- like the time TiVo & Comcast announced a plan to insert updated, targeted ads in programs you've recorded. At that time, I wrote:
Let's try an analogy. I used to drive by the same billboard every day. But I recently found a short cut that eliminates that part of my commute. The billboard company's response? Make sure the message on that billboard - the billboard I no longer drive by - is updated more frequently and better targeted at me.
So, Big Ideas for TiVo: A Running List is our free advice to the powers that be, who clearly could use it. None of these ideas, on their own, will make the company profitable or alleviate the concern that TV advertising is headed for obsolescence. Just some nice add-ons to improve a great product, updated sporadically.
Ready?
1. TiVo should function more like iTunes. When I buy, say, Season 1 of Roseanne on DVD, I should be able to load that onto my TiVo hard drive and pull up the episodes whenever. The same way an imported CD lives in iTunes. Sure, the hard drive would need to be huge. These are pie-in-the-sky ideas, remember?
So, I guess all TiVos would need internal DVD players, too. Unless we had a TiVo Store (like the iTunes Store), where you could purchase digital versions of shows. How great would that be?
2. Make a deal with AOL Instant Messenger. You know those ads on top of your Buddy List? (iChat users, think back.) "Lose 15 pounds this weekend. Click here!" TiVo will buy that ad space on everybody's desktop, and promote shows. Here's the cool part -- all you have to do is click on the ad, and that will send a message to your TiVo to record that program. See an ad for Mindfreak in the morning, click it, and when you come home, the show will be waiting for you. TV networks must be willing to pay more for that space than Fat-Be-Gone, Inc., so AOL wins.
That's all for right now. Anyone with Big Ideas for TiVo, keep the list running.
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I like the iTunes idea. Anything that keeps me on the couch longer is a no-brainer.
It would be nice if, when you subscribe to a show mid-season, you have access to the past episodes you missed (a la HBO On Demand). There definitely should be more On Demand like functionality but that's less of a TIVO thing and more of a network thing.
I don't have a Tivo myself so I don't know for sure but can you access it remotely? I wish my Time Warner DVR let me do that.
This is probably where I should pimp my friend's book that's available on Amazon, "Hacking Tivo" by Jeff Keegan. It's for technically minded Tivo users that want to supe up their device to do more than what it comes with.