Longing for TiVo... in Canada...

"I love my TiVo! In fact, my VCR is now in the closet with my Commodore 64 and my Atari."
~ Jay Leno


I want to be one of the lazy... well, more lazy...

I want to be one of those people who never really watches live tv...

I want to be able to pause the game while I answer the door/phone/call of nature...

I want to be able to set up a machine to tape all the episodes of "The Office" or "Mythbusters" automatically...

In short... I want a TiVo...

In this day of ultra convenience, I want to have my most convenient appliance made more convenient... just for the sake of conveniency... (is that even a word? if it isnt, it should be)

Here in my neck of the woods (otherwise known as Canada), you cannot get TiVo's. Sure, you can purchase one from a US vendor and have it shipped here on your own dime (or dimes). Sure, you can activate it and even have the service here in Canada. But you cannot buy them here. Odd isnt it? In fact, here is a direct quote from TiVo's website...

"Is the TiVo service available in Canada? "
"The TiVo Service is now available in Canada. Canadian residents will be given special instruction to follow when activating service. Please look for the link "Instructions for Canadian residents," under step 1 during the activation process.

TiVo does not sell boxes in Canada, so Canadian residents must purchase boxes in the US and import them. If the DVR becomes defective, TiVo will not ship a warranty replacement box into Canada, and will only ship to a US address. "

Wow... sounds complicated... But even that idiotic set-up wont deter me from getting a TiVo.

I have friends that have TiVo's. Bought them off eBay. They are using their technical wizardry to get the TiVo to work here in Canada at a much lower price than TiVo can offer. Free.

Now I want in.

Bad.

So I am going to do my best to get my hands on one and get it working, umm, creatively... to suit my televsion needs.

The only question I have is... why hasnt some Canadian television provider formed a partnership with TiVo to give them tv and the ability to watch what they want, when they want?

I mean, if I were in charge of a Canadian cable company or tv provider, I would have approached TiVo a long time ago to partner the TiVo service with my television service.

It would be a friggin goldmine.

"Sign up with us and we'll give you a TiVo, and we'll include your TiVo service subscription with your television subscription!"

Hell, they wouldnt even have to give the TiVo's away, they could rent them out.. finance them... whatever... just get them in people's homes!

Does this not make sense to everyone? Jeezus, the guy who makes it happen will be swimming in money... Scrooge McDuck-style.

Who knows, maybe someone's already thought of this and had the evil CRTC shoot them down. And now with the emergence of DVR's and PVR's I am sure people will be able to get the same functionality as TiVo, but it wont be TiVo.

Besides, TiVo is way more fun to say that PVR.

When I get my TiVo and get it running, I will post a follow up to this senseless rambling to let people know how it went and how it works in the Great White North.