Inevitability of PVRs (Again)

You may use this content (better still, argue with me!), but please cite my ideas as © 2005, Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein.

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From http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2005/nov/1205961.htm dated 16 Nov. 2005:

Supporting advanced services, this two-way interactive digital set-top box with built-in 160 Gigabyte hard disk to store TV and video content incorporates OpenTV's next-generation middleware, OpenTV Core and PVR 2.0, and Irdeto Access technology for conditional access.

For my linear readers, this is just another of a running list of why we all will have PVRs sooner than most commercial forecasters predict. As set-top boxes are replaced, they will include PVRs for all companies with any foresight whatsoever. Whether they are used immediately or not, they create tremendous functionality at the receiver's end and, ironically, will allow providers to return to the "push" technology days of the web by allowing the recording of infomercials, perhaps at 3 AM.

This brokers a deal Americans are used to: trading exposure to commercial messages for access to programming (for example, whatever is recorded on the PVR). I continue to maintain this is inevitable and will surprise observers with the rapidity that these new set-top boxes are rolled out. Ironically, the Christmas shopping season is a great time to market these boxes, and TV viewing rises in the winter months.