If Cablevision's DVR in the cloud can withstand legal scrutiny and be at least as reliable as current video-on-demand services, it would not only mean increased pressure for TiVo and the other retail DVR also-rans, but a threat to Media Center, which has much of its value riding on digital video recording. Neither platform has introduced anything more compelling than its DVR capabilities and there are plenty of other solutions for getting media from Computer A to Television B.

By delivering video directly from its servers, Cablevision and its fellow oligopolists could cheaply provide the equivalent of that holy grail of multi-room DVR without having to deal with the thorny technology and expense of high-speed home networking. Most DVR users with flat screens would probably give their fast-forward buttons to lose the bulky boxes in their living rooms, although removing the hard drive would make it more difficult to enable portable device sideloading like DirecTV2Go.