TiVo doesn't provide content nor wire service like a cable company or phone company. Consumers see that they're already paying (high prices) for their TV content. They don't want to pay someone else a monthly fee to duplicate guide listings only to allow them to schedule recordings. That's where the big difference is. I suppose some people may read this as speculation. but you only have to look as far as TiVo's subsciber numbers to see the facts. Miniscule.

Cable Co's don't and will not make their own boxes. They also go with smaller companies, but price is usually the bottom line. As long as a certain fitness of function is present. Motorola and Scientific Atlanta have this market sewn up right now.

TiVo needs to integrate their "fees" with those of an existing subscription plan. An additional $2-5 on a cable bill will likely be acceptable. Again, for accounting purposes, this must go through the cable co or people will likely not accept it. Similar to how DTV operates its TiVo boxes.

I don't want to speculate on commercial skipping features because that's a very tangled web. Broadcast TV (free) with commercial versus CableTV (pay) with commercials and all those types of comparisons. AFAIK, there isn't a DVR out there that prevents you from at least fast-forwarding past commercials.

TiVo's new ad-overlay feature though seemingly unobtrusive is a big slap in the face to all subscribers. Perhaps the slippery slope however will lead to free TiVo service. A TiVo box is easily worth $400. Try putting together any crappy PC to do the same. You'll be over $400 in the hole and have $10000 worth in headaches only to be stuck with something that's a pale shadow of a TiVo (regardless of what platform and free or commercial software you use). The $99 or FREE TiVo hardware was a big mistake in my opinion.

Bruno