An Oral History of TiVo


This is a nice deep dive on the history of TiVo for its 20th birthday.

It’s hard to believe, but a scant 20 years have passed since viewers were unshackled from their televisions. For decades, NBC told us Thursday nights were "Must See TV" and ABC insisted it was "TGIF" Friday, so we did as we were told and stayed home to watch Friends, Seinfeld, and Full House.

Then, in 1999, two former employees of Hewlett-Packard and Silicon Graphics (SGI), Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay, introduced a revolutionary new product: a digital video recorder, or DVR. The product, named TiVo, seamlessly recorded shows, paused live television, and allowed users to fast-forward through the commercials.

My roommate and I bought our first TiVo I think in 2000. It was a Sony 2000 and I was a subscriber until a couple of years ago when we cut the cord. I was a big fan. We still have the TiVo box, but I don't see us power it up again anytime soon.