Tivo and Tissue Paper
January 15, 2007
How many times have you called tissue paper, of any brand, Kleenex? For me and most Americans Kleenex, the Kimberly-Clark brand, is a genericized trademark. I had an experience with DirectTV that makes me think TIVO is headed for the same fate.
Two weeks ago my original TIVO unit died and I called DirectTV to order a two-tuner DirectTV TIVO turner. After twenty or thirty minutes I had successfully ordered the unit and waited patiently for the unit to arrive. I talked to the installer and asked how long it would take to install the TIVO and he said it would only take ten minutes or so. This evening I arrived at home to check out the new install only to learn it was a DirectTV branded DVR.
I called DirectTV and learned they no longer sold TIVO DVR units. The customer service reprentative evidently knew this, but as the representative I talked to this evening explained, TIVO is used internally as a genericized term for DVR. I am send the DVR back, I am just too attached to the TIVO interface to let it go. I sure hope TIVO makes it, TV watching just wouldn’t be the same without it…
