Re:The technology already exists... (Score 0)

No I don't, actually. I've had a TiVo since their first models came out and I don't recall any of them having a 30-second skip.

It's an Easter Egg feature. Rumors do abound that it had been disabled a while back. Hmmm.

Haven't used it in a while, but just tried it 5 minutes ago on my series 2 (ver 7.2.2*), and works without a hitch. The reason IIRC I gave it up before was that the 30-second skip was a little too precise - 30 sec skip, watch 1 sec, 30 sec skip, repeat n times, and you're 5 seconds or so into the program and have to back up anyway. I also tried the above hack with "29" instead of "30" and no dice ;-)

More on your topic: I'm on a fence with my TiVo. I'm worried about the whole DRM thing. It hasn't affected me yet, but the instant it does, TiVO will lose a household with three TiVOs in it immediately.

And TiVo won't care, unless you're one of those who continues to pay monthly fees for their service.