I have seen many inventions in my life. From the Compact Disc, to the Walkman, to the IPod – to the Personal Computer. But in my opinion, no invention is history is cooler than TiVo.

TiVo is a device that allows you to literally “pause” live television and record your favorite programs onto a hard drive to watch later. TiVo was incorporated on August 4, 1997 as “Teleworld, Inc.” by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay, veterans of Silicon Graphics and Time Warner’s Full Service Network digital video system. Originally intending to create a home network device, they later developed the idea to record digitized video on a hard disk. Teleworld began the first public trials of the TiVo device and service in late 1998 in the San Francisco Bay Area. After exhibiting at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 1999, Mike Ramsay announced to the company that the first version of the TiVo digital video recorder would ship on March 31, 1999, despite an estimated four to five months of work remaining to complete the device. Because March 31, 1999 was a blue moon – the engineering staff code-named this first version of the TiVo Digital Video Recorder, “Blue Moon.”

Teleworld, Inc. renamed itself TiVo, Inc. on July 21, 1999. TiVo, Inc. made its Initial Public Offering on September 30, 1999. Its first profitable quarter was the second quarter of 2005. The original TiVo DVR digitized and compressed analog video from any source (antenna, cable or direct broadcast satellite). In late 2000, Philips Electronics introduced the DSR6000, the first DirectTV receiver with an integrated TiVo DVR. This new device, nicknamed the “DirecTiVo,” stored digital signals sent from DirectTV directly onto a hard disk. In early 2000, TiVo partnered with electronics manufacturer Thomson Multimedia and broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting to deliver the TiVo service in the United Kingdom. This partnership resulted in the Thomson PVR10UK, a stand-alone receiver released in October, 2000 that was based on the original reference design used in the United States by both Philips and Sony. TiVo ended UK sales in January, 2003, though it continues to supply guide data to existing subscribed units. TiVo also integrates its DVR service into the set-top boxes of satellite and cable providers. TiVo is also providing marketing solutions for the television industry, including a platform for advertisers and audience research measurement. According to Wikipedia, the most watched video on TiVo – is the Janet Jackson Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction.”

At my company’s Christmas party in 2008, I actually won a TiVo with a year’s subscription – and I was in Heaven. And in addition to the actual TiVo – I have Comcast DVR service. I can’t tell you how many times I have either been away on travel, too busy to watch a program I have been dying to see – or simply asleep – and had TiVo record it for me so I can watch it whenever I have the chance. I wish this invention was around when I was a kid.

I would personally like to thank Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay for creating something that, in my opinion, has changed the face of broadcast television. Without their device, I would have missed so many programs that I have been dying to watch…

…and would have had to endure so many more commercials.

Thanks guys.