TiVo Will Go The Way of the Frigidaire

TiVo is cracking down on media usage of the word "TiVo" as both a verb and a noun in order to "protect our trademark."

I have a DVR from my cable company - not a TiVo. But I've occasionally said "Should we TiVo The Daily Show tonight?" It sounds better than the anachronistic "Should we tape The Daily Show tonight?" "TiVo" is a nice, new word to describe the nice, new way that I can get television (vast cultural wasteland that it is).

But "DVR" also sounds fine as both a noun and a verb, just not quite as catchy as "TiVo." So if it makes them happy, I'm personally willing to oblige the TiVo brand police, and completely dislodge "TiVo" from both my vocabulary and my consciousness.

As Surfergirl points out in Slate:

The fact that TiVo technology has changed the very way we talk about television is a testament to its impact, but as Steve Jobs can attest, innovation alone doesn't necessarily translate into market share.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to Netflix a movie.