Both methods will scare people away because they don't understand how good a TiVo really is.

TiVo is better than any amount of description or explanation could ever convey.

The UI is extremely powerful, and yet so intuitive that a novice could learn to do 80% of everything TiVo can do just by playing with the menus for half an hour. However, no amount of proselytizing on my part will convince anyone that doesn't already know about it.

If TiVo wants to gain market share, they should offer free 30-day trial of both the TiVo box and the service. The percentage of people who bought TiVo after the 30 days would be very high. I don't know anyone who ever tried TiVo and wasn't completely blown away by it after the first week.

tanstaafl.