“When Apple uncharacteristically showed an early preview of its tentatively named iTV set top box, analysts of all stripes jumped to share their take on what the box is, what it will be able to do, and how it might change the landscape of TV,” Daniel Eran writes for RoughlyDrafted. “Here’s part one of the more entertaining bits of rampant speculation, which asked: Where’s the DVR?”

“Despite the fact that nothing in Apple’s demonstration or the released specs even hinted at recording TV, all the analysts wanted to know just how Apple planned to shove a DVR into this tiny box. Inconceivable! The DVR mystery was quite a puzzle. For starters, there’s no tuner, no video inputs, and no Firewire on the iTV. Considering that Apple invented Firewire, and that US FCC regulations require cable boxes to supply Firewire, it would seem reasonable that if the iTV were intended for recording TV, the idea of putting a Firewire port on the box would have occurred to Apple,” Eran writes.

“Apple apparently realizes that the DVR market is already well represented, fairly mature, and entirely profitless. Users might love their Tivos, but the company that makes them lost nearly $50 million this year as it struggles to shore up Tivo sales with experimental new popup advertising tests,” Eran writes. “Much like its WMA platform, Microsoft’s stab into the DVR world offers too little integration and too much complexity. It’s also too expensive and demands too much commitment from users. Predictably, it’s also selling about as well as Microsoft’s WMA gear.”

Eran writes, “Of course, Apple doesn’t need to introduce DVR capabilities to the Mac. Elgato Systems already ships a highly regarded DVR software package, and …also already uses the name EyeTV.”

Full article here.

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