You think you know me?

Monday, May 12, 2014 Permalink

I have to come clean about a relationship I’ve been in for the last almost-four years.

I talked recently about intimacy and my desire to have someone who knows me inside and out. But, just when I think our relationship is going somewhere, I’m floored by the realisation that we’re nowhere near as in-sync as I thought we were.

Sure, being able to leave instructions and know they’ll be carried out is a good thing, but sometimes we just want more….

e8d8926e22f31dfd7e4281d1b11783ed

Of course I’m not talking about a person. Alas.

Although… it’s a bit like having another householder. In my old place I’d find myself walking past my entertainment unit and the little red recording light would be on. Unexpectedly.

“What are you taping for me now?” I’d ask it.

My TiVo never responded cos… hello it’s an inanimate object, but still…

When I first splurged on my TiVo my only point of reference was a Sex and the City episode in which Miranda essentially becomes emotionally dependent on hers. Thankfully I’ve never quite gotten to that.

I did a heap of research before I bought it, but still managed to NOT realise it had to be constantly connected to the internet to work! D-oh!

Initial unhappiness aside, my TiVo fast became my fave household item. I’m fairly sure my other appliances were insanely jealous. Well, they would have been if they weren’t just things…

Anyhoo, I soon discovered that my TiVo not only recorded stuff, but I could program it to tape shows featuring certain actors or using keywords (Richard Armitage and Agatha Christie are two of my ‘starred’ items in case you were wondering). However, it also comes up with TiVo suggestions. You have the option of giving a thumbs up, or thumbs down to certain stations and shows and ‘somehow’ your TiVo will ‘learn’ (via complicated algorithm I’m sure!) what sorts of shows you like.

tivo_angle

We were a bit hit and miss in the early days and I’d find a stack of kids TV shows or current affairs shows taped for me. I soon set it straight however and I felt we had a pretty good thing going. I’d often find myself pleasantly surprised by the odd old movie or relieved to see something I’d missed recorded, and we settled into a nice pattern. Mostly.

However, something’s happened cos of late it’s like we’re back to square one. Last week I checked my recorded programs (I keep a ridiculously large amount of shows to watch again: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries and Person of Interest, for example!) and discovered that awaiting my viewing pleasure were shows about bloody trucking adventures, car engines and news. News!!!!

What the fuck?

IMG_3300.jpgLike I said, there are the occasional glitches. At some point in the last four years I must have watched a few ‘foreign’ movies on SBS2, so I regularly find some obscure Korean movie awaiting me.

And the move 18mths ago meant I needed to take a picture of the cords to remind myself where the bloody hell they went! But on the whole, I thought we were sorted.

Perhaps it’s like something out of The Terminator and Skynet’s starting to control our machines. #joking*

I suspect it’s just getting old. While I can’t afford a replacement anytime soon I must confess I’m kinda excited about what the next version will be able to do!

Do you have an ‘intelligent’ PVR / DVR etc? Does it offer up suggestions?

* As an aside, does anyone else kinda find it freaky that their ‘i’ devices share stuff behind your back? I mean, I know I set up my iPad and iPhone for iCloud sharing but it’s like two recalcitrant kids conspiring behind my back – sharing photos and music and the like! 

Today I’m joining the Laugh Link crew via Melbourne Mum Kimberley!

 

18 Comments
  • Michaela C
    May 12, 2014

    We do have a PVR but it’s not very bright. I should have bought a TIVO! xxxx

    • Debbish
      May 12, 2014

      I bought one when they cost a fortune, but a year later they were cheaper. Not sure about now and not tempting fate by checking it out!

  • Kimberley
    May 12, 2014

    We’ve had a Tivo for years and it mostly works, but we’ve never used the Tivo suggestions function. I’m a bit scared as to what I might find waiting for me! Kx (and thanks for linking up with #laughlink!)

    • Debbish
      May 12, 2014

      Oh yes, cos it deletes them every so often. I often go in and see what’s there. In my old apartment my TiVo sat next to the stairs between my bedroom level and living level so I was constantly passing it and noticing the little red recording light was on. Hence the constant ‘What are you recording for me?’ one-sided conversation!

  • Bec @ The Plumbette
    May 12, 2014

    We need to get ourselves one of these… but they we don’t watch a lot of tv and end up watching what we want to watch any. But with one tv in the house and an army of munchkins wanting to change the channel to ABC4Kids, we may need to look at getting one very soon.

    • Debbish
      May 12, 2014

      Oh yes. I looked at a heap before deciding on a TiVo. Others have probably come a long way since then but 4 years ago basic DVRs or PVRs just weren’t as stable etc. If you’ve got cable TV I think Foxtel’s IQ etc does similar things!

  • Alison
    May 12, 2014

    I remember back to a time when I was competent enough to do things like program machines on my own, but since I’ve been with my partner, he takes care of ‘machines’ and I take care of, well, life. So I have an app on my phone where I can just type in what i want recorded and it tells the tv and its sorted for later. So well done you for having the foggiest!

    • Debbish
      May 12, 2014

      Ah! I can also log into my TiVo via computer and do stuff, but I’ve never tried that. I should cos I think I can transfer saved stuff so it minimises my storage, but… well, I’d have to read instructions and I never like doing that! 😉

  • Mumabulous
    May 12, 2014

    Dadabs built us a media center from its component parts (of course he did). The downside is that you need a degree in computer science to operate the darn thing.

    • Debbish
      May 12, 2014

      Oh yes, my brother (et al) have one of those too! They may offer great quality, but… #toohard

  • Mark @ fullhalfglass.com
    May 12, 2014

    Our PVR is wonderful. It never argues, talks back or any other stupid stuff.

    But who would have thought that they don’t record sport? At least that’s what my wife says and she wouldn’t lie to me …. would she?

    • Debbish
      May 12, 2014

      Definitely not. I bet they’re predisposed to chick flicks as well! 😉

  • Emily @ Have A Laugh On Me
    May 12, 2014

    My hubby is the tech geek around here, we have 4 TVs, all hooked up to set top boxes that take USB thingees. We also have a Telstra T Box thingee which looks great, but I never use it as it should be – the kids watch YouTube on it though! As in Terminator 2 – I’m scared that will one day happen!!

    • Debbish
      May 12, 2014

      Oh yes, I’m sure machines will get smarter and smarter… god forbid they kill off we humans however! #famouslastwords

  • Vanessa
    May 12, 2014

    A PVR was included in my bundle when I upgraded my internet plan a few months back. I still can’t be bothered to plug it in…

    • Debbish
      May 12, 2014

      Oh no!!! I’m a bit of a TV addict. Bizarrely I’ve grown to love TV more than movies (which wasn’t once the case). I watch a fair bit of TV but like to think I’m pretty selective. So… I record a lot of stuff to watch when I have time. (Although – mostly I record stuff so I can watch it back and fast-forward ads!)

  • Jess
    May 12, 2014

    Oh we have nothing like that! Sounds awesome! I can’t stop thinking about what kind ofpperson would actually tivo news or if anyone really does that!

    • Debbish
      May 13, 2014

      I’m not sure. I actually don’t know how sophisticated it’s programming is, or whether because I ‘once’ taped a TV drama, it thinks I’ll like all TV dramas….?!

I'd love to hear your thoughts