In days of old (actually not that long ago), everybody who had TiVO loved to tell anybody who didn’t have TiVO how great the system was – record TV show, watch them when you want (and skip the commercials!). Ah, those were the days ...

Now, as TiVO faces increasing competition on simultaneous front – cable TV companies, satellite TV companies and consumer electronics manufacturers with their own digital video recorder offerings – TiVO is contemplating the ultimate four-letter word in CE (and any other market, too): free.

Yes, in another version of the “give away the razor, sell the blades,” TiVO is considering pricing options that would include free set-top boxes (with the trade-off being long plans or some such catch.

Will existing customers (some 4 million) get a break?

Never a dull moment ….