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December 5, 2008 at 9:52am
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Wondering if DVRs are irrelevant

NewTeeVee reported today on a Magna Insights study that “predicts that DVRs will be in 52.3 million, or 44 percent, of TV households by 2014, up from 28.6 million, or 25 percent, at the end of the most recent third quarter.”

Reading this made me wonder when DVRs will become irrelevant. You may be wondering why? Here’s why:

DVR stands for Digital Video Recorder, and the recording is not necessary from a consumer standpoint as the main benefit isn’t in recording (to watch over and over again), but in time shifting (to watch when I want). So why do I need a device to “record” for me if I don’t want to keep the media, just watch whenever I want? The answer is I don’t. And that’s why I think DVRs are ultimately irrelevant.

Streaming video from the Internet to the TV or Video on Demand are much better suited to meet consumer demand, although:

Internet TV is still way too futuristic for most people (plus the content sucks)
And VOD content is not even close to what is needed to satisfy consumer demand (plus the user interface is horrible)

So in the meantime we have DVRs.

Notes

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