TiVo Faces Threat As Options Multiply

I would never trade my TiVo for a crappy knock-off DVR. This article fails to mention that TiVo is less than 5 bucks a month if you're using it with DirecTV service (another thing I would trade for crappy digital cable).

Yahoo! News - TiVo Faces Threat As Options Multiply: "TiVo (news - web sites) has been synonymous with digital video recording since it pioneered the industry five years ago, controlling an estimated one-third of the market in 2004. That lofty perch is now beginning to crumble.

Competition in the growing and lucrative industry is intensifying as cable providers, satellite operators and consumer electronics companies push ahead with models of their own, giving consumers more choices while threatening to significantly blunt TiVo Inc.'s edge.

'They're facing a very, very difficult year this year. It'll be increasingly difficult for them to sign up new subscribers,' said Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research. 'Why do you need a TiVo when there's a cable DVR (digital video recorder) for free?'

Many agree that TiVo's service remains the best of breed, with its easy navigational controls and advanced search and record functions.

Its subscribers, who tend to be an evangelistic bunch, account for one in three of the estimated 6.5 million U.S. households with digital video recorders. [more]"