When the first recorders hit the market a couple of years ago, industry observers predicted the device's ability to skip commercials, pause live television, and record as many as 60 hours of programs on a hard drive would catch on faster than Pokemon at a preschool. It didn't happen. Consumers, it seemed, just didn't get what the machines could do. It didn't help that the recorders carried a four-figure price tag and monthly fees. Advertisement Two years later, the prices have dropped, but the expected sales burst hasn't taken place.
Critical mass is still over the horizon.
Microsoft Moves Forward Manufacturers think that could finally change. Early players TiVo and EchoStar Communications' Dish Network are pushing ahead with new ad campaigns for their own devices. And competitor ReplayTV is back from oblivion with a new backer and a revamped business strategy. It all adds up to a renewed battle in the personal video-recorder business. But it may be the combined surge of the onslaught that pushes the personal video recorder into ubiquity, along with the CD, the TV, and the Walkman.