Does Mari Need HD?

I’ve had a DVR for five years now, but I still haven’t picked up an HDTV. Honestly, I have trouble believing I need it and trouble believing it will make that much of a difference in my TV-watching career. Which is why Dave Winer’s recent commentary got my attention: He didn’t offer any great new … Read more

Interesting News Dave Hasn’t Covered

Never enough time… Windows MCE Plugin Edition! WebGuide 4 provides remote MCE management. (jkOnTheRun) Big Screen Headlines RSS reader for MCE. (eHomeUpgrade) MCE Tunes supports iTunes DRM playback. (Chris Lanier)

iPod Celebrates Birthday, Dave Prepares For His

Today the iPod is officially 5 years old. What really broke the seal on the portable MP3 (or is that AAC?) player market was Apple’s intuitive UI and minimalist controls. Despite the initial price premium, they sold a ton and created an industry (iTunes probably also saved the recording industry from itself). I’ve owned a … Read more

Deal of the Day: TiVo With 1yr Service, $125

s2-tivo.jpgI just received a limited time promotion TiVo affiliate email: Now through 10/31 you can pick up a new 80 hour Series2 TiVo including 1 year of service for only $125. This is the lowest I’ve ever seen the 80hr model offered for (and cheaper than the YWCA deal)… wonder if they’re finally closing them out? (In favor of the Series2 dual-tuning model, which is somewhat compliant with next year’s “no NTSC tuner without ATSC tuner” FCC mandate.)

If this had been available a few weeks ago, I could have saved $30 on my mom’s unit. I’m still getting her up to speed… the first lessons have covered VCR controls (pause, ffw, rewind), instant replay, and using the guide. We’ve also gone over the Live TV button as a means to recover if she ever gets lost. Maybe this week we’ll move on to recording!

If you pick up a unit, remember davezatz@yahoo.com referred you. ;)

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World Series: DVD On Demand

I doubt this will shake up the market much, but it’s nice to see continual distribution innovation in the market. For 20 bucks (ouch), you can order and receive a copy of any World Series game on DVD within days of broadcast. For under $20/mo you could grab all the games with a DVR. ;) … Read more

Time Warner Cable Launches Network DVR (Sort Of)

Folks in San Antonio are getting a free TWC upgrade today in the form of “Start Over,” a service that lets you restart a show in progress using an existing digital cable box. It’s not exactly a full fledged DVR, but it’s an interesting spin on the “network DVR” concept for folks who don’t get … Read more

Mari Silbey Joins ZNF

Over a several month period, I collaborated on a project with Mari — I came away impressed with her knowledge and opinions of the industry along with her ability to communicate those thoughts. She couldn’t give me a good reason why she wasn’t blogging, so I convinced her to sign on. The focus of the … Read more

Interesting News Dave Hasn’t Covered

Never enough time… Apple planning satellite radio integration? (Orbitcast) $4k gets you a Blu-ray + HD DVD media center PC. (EngadgetHD) Slingbox Pro receives 4/5 star review. (PC Mag) YouTube faces copyright penalty of $150,000 per clip? (LA Times)