TiVo - Circling the Drain?

[John B.]

I've got two DirecTiVos under the old grandfathered lifetime plan from DirecTV (and back in the day, a dual-tuner DVR was cutting edge). But, like many threads here indicate, I'm looking to reduce my television cost through high speed internet streaming or the next AppleTV or whatever. TiVo's claim to fame of late seems to have been "we're better, so we're worth more" at a time when people are trying to reduce what they pay to the cable/satellite providers, not increase it. Thus, the "good enough" DVRs are winning out. Somebody will end up buying TiVo for their patents and technology and turn it into an Internet-connected content receiver (maybe).