Later this year TIVO execs have promised their biggest investors to bring out a lower cost HD box-$300-500. Later this spring Comcast in an agreement with TIVO will offer a inexpensive TIVO service upgrade for 30 million subscribers. And if you have a TIVO account and an Amazon account as many people do, TIVO Central will link the two accounts for you with a couple of clicks. After this onetime step one simply goes to one’s Amazon Media Library page to one-click-buy/rent and a second click –on a popup– to send your movie choice to your rec room, bedroom, or library etc. Tivo box. One can rent and hold for thirty days or play within 24 hours. One can download the rental to two boxes or buy, download, play, delete, and redownload as many times as one wants–a great storage saver.

In short Apple may have the hype and a nice iTunes store but they have a lot of catching up to do and TIVO is quietly moving up fast– just look at its stock value and its business plan at TIVO .com. Its moving much like Apple stock was at the start of iTunes.

Do a little research before you start calling people stupid, ok buddy?

If you do any kind of remote scheduling you DO need a computer with a Tivo.

I shouldn’t have to set up a remote desktop when all I want to do is tell iTunes to download a song to my home system.

It’s a feature that Amazon Unbox and Tivo have, that Apple doesn’t. It’s something I would like to see…and I doubt I’m the only one.

And Apple’s mantra is not now, nor has it EVER been that they’re not about features…just about getting most of what you want easily.

Apple is about keeping things simple.

Setting up a remote desktop to download things from work, at a coffee shop, or on vacation is not “simple”.

And remember the Apple mantra: it’s not the features, stupid. It’s whether you get most of what you want easily.