The Stupidest Idea. Ever.

I've always been suspicious of Tivo -- set-up was too difficult for my technophobic, incompetent self and I hated the idea of having to run a phone line to the TV -- not to mention the fact that Big Brother would be tracking every TV show I watch. However, Tivo pioneered a terrific device and I certainly understand the strong feelings of those who signed on early when Tivo was the only game in town and naturally love it. But since every cable company now offers a DVR to customers -- ending the need for Tivo completely -- Tivo has been desperately trying to find new ways to make itself appealing. Unfortunately, it's been focused on making itself appealing to ADVERTISERS rather than its customers with all sorts of idiotic moves. Here's the latest: The Hollywood Reporter just announced Tivo's new approach -- when you go to delete a program, Tivo will ask you if you want to watch an ad. Genius! Not just any ad, but an ad carefully chosen to appeal to the person who is deleting the show. So if you are deleting a holiday special, Tivo might ask if you want to see a holiday gift ad from Wal-Mart. Of course, the entire appeal of Tivo is time-shifting and skipping over the ads. But that doesn't seem to have occurred to them. But it gets better: the ads are going to be really, really long. "...most ads so far run about two minutes in length, but Kent expects that some future ones will run as long as 12 minutes." Genius again! Really long ads. Sell your Tivo stock. Trust me; this company is dead.