Update: Justin Hall has updated his original thoughts regarding TiVoToGo with the following:
” i was corrected on some stuff i’d posted about the tivo2go:
– you can play the .tivo files in other media players besides WMP. go figure – i assume that it’s the only one because i haven’t tried. VideoLan Client can do it – i’ve never tried the windows version, only the linux one, and i wasn’t super thrilled, but it’s an option.
– there is a way to burn them to DVD. which may be what pushes me to buy an IDE DVDR drive.
– you can use Dr. DIVX to decode the files as well – however, it costs $30. but i’m sure more free options will be available soon.
i guess i’m just disappointed that a company that champions the ease-of-use of their product would make something that you can do so little with – that just seems so limiting.”
neurological dryer lint: news is good food for your mind Justin Hall points out the good, “you can watch recorded content from your Windows PC” and “it’s free,” but like most other people he has a laundry list of bad things about the new TiVoToGo service.
“- you can’t watch them in any other app besides Windows Media Player
– their proprietary .Tivo MPEG format is huge
– you have to enter a password every time you open a video
– you can’t do things like change the brightness on the video (still can’t believe that one)
– you can’t burn them to DVD from your PC
and why is this, kids? that’s right, DRM. frightened by pressure from the handful of large media companies that control the entertainment industry, Tivo locked down the video format. instead of making it a standards-compliant format, there’s one app and one OS you can watch it on. rather than allow the consumer who has paid for the device and the Tivo service to do what they want, they maintain control and set the rules. legally, can they do it? yes. is it better than nothing? yes. is it right? is it beneficial to their business? n*&@#*a please.”