Our ReplayTV Home Is Somewhat Similar

Our ReplayTV Home Is Somewhat Similar.

A Life Where TiVo Has Always Existed

“…My daughter was only 3 months old when it arrived
and we set it up. As far as my daughter knows, TiVo has always been
around. Now that she (and our TiVo) are three years old, and there are
some very interesting things I've been able to observe.

First – she doesn't watch much TV (an allotted hour per day), but
when she does watch it, she gets a choice of a recent episode of any of
her favorite pre-recorded shows (current favorites are Dora the
Explorer and Caillou), and she can watch it at any time of day. We get
to choose what shows we'd like to allow her to watch, set up a Season
Pass, and we're done.

Second – Commercials are an infrequent novelty to her. We always
fast-forward through commercials, or watch non-commercial shows. When
she does occasionally see a full commercial, she's fascinated, and will
often ask us to stop so she can see what's going on. How can we
demonstrate to her the evils of commercial interruption, when she has
never had to experience it?

Third – Ignorance of Schedules/Programming – she has no idea when
her favorite shows are on, never has. 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 she
seems to accept, and will wait until we get home to watch our 'fixed'
TV.

Fourth – pausing taken for granted. She is now the master of paused
TV – saying 'Can you please stop this for a minute – I have to use the
Potty'….

I compare all of these observations to my TV-watching experience as
a child – always excited about Saturday Morning, because that's when
cartoons were on – swapping stories about the latest Evel Knievel
motorcycle I saw on a commercial with the other kids, knowing they had
all seen the same commercials as well. Feeling disappointed when my
parents would switch off a show mid-way through because they decided it
wasn't appropriate. The pain of commercial interruption, the
disappointment of 'nothing's on', or the missed shows that were
probably gone for good. (On a side note, anyone else remember the days
where if you missed a movie in the theater, you'd never get a chance to
see it again?)

There are a lot of other home entertainment developments that have
changed since I was a kid, but none so radically as the TiVo
experience. I never cease to be amazed when I'm zooming past a
commercial with a woman dancing with a 'swiffer', and I hear my
daughters small voice say: 'Wait Papa, I wanna see that'.” [Eintagsfliegen]

Kids growing up like this view their entertainment and multimedia very
differently than the rest of us. Heck, as an adult I'm completely
spoiled by this revolution, and the desire for this functionality
spills over into other mediums (why can't I press a button to go back 7
seconds and hear what I just missed on the radio or pause it?).

It's an interactive world for them, and they shift everything. [The Shifted Librarian]

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