Tivo has been the last frontier in terms of versatility in home WiFi networks. Downloading videos from a Tivo proved to be daunting, because there were no programs available that could decode the “.tivo” code. Then there was the Tivo Desktop that wouldn’t allow videos to be uploaded from a PC to a Tivo unless a fee was paid. So despite Tivo’s cutting edge television entertainment technology and its WiFi capabilities, it was not compatible with anything that wasn’t “Tivo.” And all this wasn’t on accident; when Tivo was introduced, it literally had the ability to bypass commercials without so much as a frame being seen by the viewer. However, in subsequent negotiations with television businesses, the capabilities of the Tivo were backed up—now the user would have to manually fast-forward through commercials and then Tivo would back up several frames to show the last commercial. All the while other DVR companies produced more compatible versions of television recording, leaving Tivo users technologically behind, unable to transfer videos to portable devices. Tivo users couldn’t even burn a television show to a disk.
All of that has changed thanks to a little controversial program called Vuze, a bit torrent downloading serviced put under scrutiny for its ease of use. In fact, it is so easy that users can download high quality video content in short periods of time. Thus, the video and music industries are doing what they can to shut down such programs, but that’s beside the point.
Vuze now offers a plug-in that allows users to upload content from a PC to a Tivo. Now all the content available on the Internet is easily available to Tivo users, including, for the first time for free, videos. Finally any and all videos can be viewed on a Tivo user’s television without Tivo’s restrictions getting in the way.
Of course this is only one step in the mass infusion of Internet into people’s daily lives. In the coming years, household appliances will have internet connectivity, allowing users to check the stove to make sure it’s turned off from anywhere in the world. Already in China, consumers are carrying their identities entirely in their cell phones, eliminating the need for a wallet. Consumers simply scan their cell phones like credit cards at the register. There has been some talk of a chip, inserted beneath the skin surgically, that would carry one’s financial information. As the Internet becomes more profitable, such ideas gain popularity. For instance, thanks to Myspace and Facebook, most people now have a personal Internet site. Because every Internet site has the potential to reach anyone in the world, every Internet site has the potential to make money. Of course Paypal would be the medium used to transfer funds on the Internet. Thus anyone can sell a product on the Internet.
As large corporations downsize, unemployed workers become more interested in enterprising on the Internet. Perhaps in the future, “jobs” won’t be measured so much in corporations as in every person’s ability to produce a niche product, because corporations won’t be able to grow if there isn’t anyone who actual wants to work for them. There probably isn’t a person in the world who doesn’t want to work for him or herself.
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