Three new systems are in various stages of beta testing, and some should be in production release soon. It also gives me the option to trim out commercials before watching a movie.ĭuring 2016, macOS choices increased from one-eyeTV 3, now from Geniatech-to four. Since I have a Mac that’s on all the time and has terabytes of available storage, I’d prefer keeping control in my hands, storing recordings locally on my Mac, and choosing how I time and space shift. However, these standalone units record data to internal drives, and rely on apps, streaming, and other controls to give you access. There are a few: Tablo, Tivo, and a couple of more niche brands.
Because digital video recorders (DVRs) shifted a few years ago to being mostly a commodity item offered by a programming provider like Xfinity or Dish, the market for standalone units shrunk.
One thing we’ve faced, however, is a shortage of options to record programs.
OTA has been a surprisingly rich source of enjoyable shows, especially from our local PBS stations and alternative standard-definition channels from network-affiliated broadcasters. My wife and I cut the cord many years ago, and have survived ever since on discs, downloads, streaming media, and over-the-air (OTA) programming. I’d prefer to think I’m ahead of my time instead of a contrarian.
