Link directly to story:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030110/ap_on_hi_te/fcc_loves_tivo_1

Link to slashdot discussion:
http://slashdot.org/articles/03/01/11/1513223.shtml?tid=129

Now, if only he had bought a ReplayTV... Anyway, this is incredibly good news for the PVR market.

-Biscuits

Yeah, but it looks like the Tvio 2 is not going to allow copying of shows from one machine to another, unless they are in the same house. This is a step in the wrong direction, I was hoping they would become more open, not more closed. The more I hear about the new Tivo, the more inclined I am to get a Replay TV or some PC based PVR.

Well, it IS more open than other TiVo's. Personally, I would use show-sharing to share between units in my house, but sending them over the internet just takes too long.

ReplayTV beats TiVo in almost every area (video quality, commercial skip, networking). The scheduling is currently a bit weaker and it has to reboot every now and again. However, a new software version is coming out in a month or so that should greatly improve the unit. Plus, you can't beat the price: $200 (or $152 if you don't mind pretending a yahoo employee referred you).

-Biscuits

That's pretty subjective. Many people would ague with you that Tivo's UI is far superior. But that's been debated in about 3 threads so far, so we won't start that up again.

Also, I'm told the commercial skip isn't always accurate. That would be far more annoying to me than not having it at all, IMO.

I have both Tivo and ReplayTV right now, and yes, commercial skip can be annoying on certain shows. It skips scenes occasionally on Law and Order (trademark fade to black throws it off) and I missed the climax on The Lost World (until I disabled it and rewound). On most shows on most channels, it gets 90+% with no errors, but there are a few that it cannot handle.

I'll admit that I am somewhat subjective. I think consensus is generally that TiVo is ahead on scheduling; ReplayTV cannot distinguish First-Run shows, has no To-Do list, seemingly random priorities, etc, but all of these limitations can be worked around with the advanced features for an even better result than the TiVo if you want to put enough work into it (I don't). As far as networking, it would be hard to argue that TiVo is ahead. TiVo is generally acknowledged as having better audio quality on lowest quality, while ReplayTV has better video quality on comparable settings.

I'd say that both products are comparable, as far as price right now, ReplayTV is much more bang for your buck. I think most people would be happy with either, but if Sonicblue delivers on their next software release, the ReplayTV may pull ahead.

-Biscuits

I guess it depends how they do it, subscriber database or network. My parents' machine is in my name. If I set up a VPN between their house and mine... what happens?

I'm pretty sure when TiVo talks about show sharing, they mean streaming video. That would require a lot of bandwidth, so sharing over the internet would automatically be ruled out. That is not to say, of course, that third-party hacks won't make it possible.

Sadly I don't quite have line of sight to my parents' house.

I think the important thing here though is that Micheal Powell has a lot of regulatory power affecting PVRs as head of the FCC and a lot of influence on the hill. Having him endorse these controversial products, and in such a way, is very very very good for the PVR market as a whole.

-Biscuits

Agreed. It's nice when someone who controls the fate of such things sees the light.

Hehe, sorry Biscuitsjam, I didn't mean to "off-topic" your thread so fast. I saw that post on Slashdot too, and the Tivo 2 part of that post annoyed me.

So getting back on topic, it is great he likes his PVR, but I don't see how much real power he has. This is being fought in the courts right now, if they decide it is legal or illegal, it won't matter much what he wants or not.

The courts may decide whether certain features like show sharing and commercial skip follow current laws, but I doubt they will ban them outright.

The FCC has a lot of regulatory power and so has been pressured by the media companies to regulate the PVR market. It looks like Powell's christmas present just foiled this plan.

Finally, laws can always be changed. Most of the wrangling will likely be on congress, where Powell has some pull and some power in implementation.

As far as real power, I think he has a lot of power to do harm, but only limited power to do good. What this means is merely that there is one less person to worry about going on a crusade against time-shifting and one more voice lending credibility.

-Biscuits