Tivo lifetime subscription?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I got a TiVo a few months back and I love it. I mean I really, honestly, cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die LOVE my TiVo. I started out with the monthly subscription service, it’s $12.95 a month or something close, at least… The lifetime (of the TiVo) subscription is $249. Effective March 1, they’re bumping it up to $299… Now, I’m fairly certain that I’d still be using my unit two years from now so this seems the time to jump in, but…

I’m wary to just throw $249 at a service that isn’t guaranteed to even be in business six months from now… So I figured I’d ask the Teeming Millions and see what you think. Should I go for it or keep paying the monthly fee? What do other TiVo owners do?

2

We went for it. And the NYT “circuits” correspondent thinks Tivo is going to be around for while. He said the enhancements and stuff that are about to come out are pretty cool (many of which are available to subscribers–they’ll just be sent over the phone like the data is)

3

I’m still paying for my Eight-Track-Tape-A-Month-Club contract.

I don’t have a TiVo (yet) but even if you keep it for two years, $299 sounds like a deal.

However, I believe all the info at the most recent Consumer Electronics convention here in Las Vegas was hinting around to new computer based TiVo-like machines…and some guy named Bill Gates is investing in a version. Don’t know when, and if they will be better, or cheaper, or what.

4

We signed up for the lifetime subscription right off the bat. This time next year, it will have paid itself off.

I don’t see TiVo going away anytime soon. There have been enough people who have tried it and really really like being able to manage their own TV watching that I think it’s going to be around for a while. Even if a competitor comes out with a better deal, I think a lot of people who have already invested in the TiVo hardware would stick with it rather than buy a whole new box for the new system.

5

TiVo spends over $700 to get a subscriber. The CEO has warned shareholders not to expect to break even any time in the foreseeable future. Do the math.

I have talked to execs at another consumer electronics firm. They are absolutely raving mad at how TiVo has messed things up so badly. They can’t enter the market with their version since they can’t sell it at a competitive cost. No one thinks TiVo’s business plan makes any sense whatsoever.

I am amazed they have lasted this long.

6

Sounds like sour grapes to me. So what if they aren’t profitable? That doesn’t mean they’re going to fold anytime soon – most companies aren’t profitable for their first several years. The bottom line is that their sales are gangbusters and growing all the time AND the machine has become a cultural landmark so that it’s becoming something everyone knows about and everyone in the entertainment industry has to have. There’s less danger of TiVo defaulting on its long-term subscriptions in the next two years than there is of AOL doing the same thing.

–Cliffy

7

We did the lifetime subscription. If you have the money, do it! Why have another bill to pay every single month? You’ll save in the long run.

8

The concept of recordable TV is a great one. However, that doesn’t mean that Tivo will be the company to successfully bring it to the masses.

New technologies could emerge. Tivo could just get beaten out by replay TV or another service. shrug

$250 isn’t that much of an investment though.

9

I bought a used Tivo three years ago and had the yearly membership plan at 99 a year. I now regrtet not getting liftime as I have spent more than I would have if I had lifetime. On the other hand TiVo gets more money each year. Too bad they don’t offer yearly any more