There's solid logic behind this apparent schizophrenia. Nobody knows how consumers will use the new services. That's just the beginning. About 40 million homes will have DVR capabilities by 2008, Paul Kagan Associates says. Consumers will become excited because DVRs enable them to easily pick shows they want to record and jump among selections without the hassle, guesswork and delay that goes with videotape.
Consumers use the remote to select upcoming shows from an on-screen menu.
Replay and TiVo will feed that information to the box via a phone connection. Prices are expected to fall within a year. DVRs also can automatically record shows based on your criteria, such as episodes of a favorite series or anything with a favorite actor. You don't have to decide everything in advance. While the picture is frozen, the machine will keep recording the program.