ReplayTVBlog

Cablevision has announced this week that they will begin testing a remote DVR service that will give users similar functionality to a TiVo or DVR box in their home but without any additional hardware needing to be installed. Basically, it will work similar to Video On Demand (VOD) except that users will be able to set specific TV shows to record and then watch them at a later date, similar to any DVR such as TiVo or ReplayTV. The recordings will be stored on Cablevision servers and users will be alotted 80 hours of storage. The recorded shows can be played back at any time and they will be able to fast forward through commercials — although I’m sure this is subject to change at any time.

Is a Remote DVR Service like this a good thing? And can it be a replacement for a real PVR like a TiVo or Cable Company DVR Box? I don’t know but I don’t think I like it. Anytime I think about storing any “data” of mine on somebody else’s storage devices, it makes me a little nervous. Whether it’s a web based email service, online photo storage, or (as in this case) my recorded TV shows, I don’t like the idea of giving somebody else control of my recorded shows — especially a Cable Company. Privacy concerns aside (and there are a ton of them), what will they do with the recordings? If I keep them too long will they automatically delete them? Are they going to load them up with Digital Rights Management (DRM) or Copy Protection so I can’t do anything with them? Will they take away the ability to fast forward through commercials? Who knows?

Right now, I like having control of my recorded TV shows. With my ReplayTV, I can record anything I want, and I can even copy it to my computer and archive it / burn it to DVD / transfer it to my video iPod — whatever I want to do with it! With a remote storage DVR service, I won’t be able to do most of these things and the few that I can do now could be taken away at any time.

I’ll stick with my ReplayTV and TiVo and keep control of my recordings, thank you very much.

Technorati Tags: TiVo, ReplayTV, Cablevision, DVR, PVR, iPod

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