On the off chance that anyone from TiVo is tuning in, we have a question. It's now been two whole days since you released the first incarnation of your highly-anticipated TiVoToGo feature, which allows the transfer of recorded TV shows and movies from a TiVo box across a wired or wireless network to an authorized personal computer (allowing subscribers to catch up on the last four episodes of Veronica Mars while on the road with a laptop, for instance); so, uh, is the Mac version ready yet?

We swear that we're not making this up: we honestly and truly did remark to one another during last week's trek through the Midwest that it was too bad that TiVoToGo wasn't out yet, because if we could have loaded up one of our PowerBooks with several episodes of LazyTown, Max and Ruby, and Teletubbies, the trip may have been a lot less stressful for our toddler-in-tow. Now, though, we're actually glad that the feature was released two days after we got back, because we wouldn't have been able to use it anyway, since the current version isn't Mac-compatible, so we would've been even more annoyed. Boo, hiss, catcall, etc.

Don't get us wrong, folks; we're still huge TiVo fans, and quite frankly, if you forced us at gunpoint to give up either our Macs or our TiVos, we'd just tell you to go ahead and shoot, because now that we've tasted the glory of both technologies, life without either would be like spending the next half-century with red-hot needles under every fingernail. Or a mouth full of angry hornets. Or, dare we say it, Windows. We still unhesitatingly recommend TiVo to anyone who watches TV. We're just a little disappointed in how far the company has slipped in its Mac support, that's all.

See, way back when TiVo released its Home Media Option, which allows a TiVo unit to stream photos and music from any personal computer on the same local network, Mac support was built-in from Day 1. In fact, in many ways, HMO worked even better with Macs then it did with Wintels, since the Mac version was tightly integrated with iTunes and iPhoto (transparently supporting playlists and albums with zero effort for the user), whereas the Windows version just shared images and songs in designated folders. Oh, and it supported Rendezvous, too, so Macs running the HMO server ("TiVo Desktop," an elegant little System Preferences pane) just automagically showed up on TiVo's "Music and Photos" screen-- no messy IP addresses to enter with the remote control.

Over time, though, the Mac version of TiVo Desktop just stagnated. HMO never gained the ability to play AAC files, even after AAC became the default encoding format in iTunes; it was MP3 or nothing, and totally forget about playing iTunes Music Store purchases (at least, without burning them to CD-RW and re-encoding them as MP3, as we routinely do). And then faithful viewer David in San Diego broke the news to us that TiVo Desktop 2.0, required for TiVoToGo, is "Windows 2000, XP only," meaning that there's still no simple 'n' legit way to transfer TiVo-recorded content to a PowerBook for off-the-couch viewing.

According to the posted FAQ, "at this time TiVoToGo transfers are not available for Apple Macintosh computers. TiVo is working hard to enable TiVoToGo features available on TiVo Desktop for Mac. We are currently working on ways to enable playback on Apple Macintosh computers." We're trying not to get too excited, though, because "working on ways to enable playback" makes it sound like they're still at the kicking-around-ideas phase, so it could be ages before a Mac version is available. After all, they said they were "working with Apple on a solution to support the AAC file format" in HMO way back in May-- of 2003. And we've still got zilch on that front.

It's a pity, too, because TiVo really is the Mac of living-room-based personal video recording; compare it to most DVRs available through cable companies and you'll see a difference startlingly similar to that between Mac OS X and Windows... 1.0. The overlap between Mac fanatics and TiVo enthusiasts seems high, although that shouldn't be a surprise, since Mac users tend to appreciate an elegant interface, ease of use, trouble-free operation, and gobs of saved time. We've personally turned at least three dozen Mac fans into TiVoholics as well-- and we don't regret that in the slightest, because in our estimation, it's still the only sane way to watch TV. But given how much support TiVo gets from the Mac community, it rankles us a bit to see a great new feature debut only for Windows, especially since we're now paying the same monthly fee as Wintel users for less functionality. And sure, as Mac users, we're used to that kind of treatment-- just not from TiVo.

So here's hoping that the company remembers that its whole existence is predicated on rabid evangelism by its existing user base, and that we Mac users evangelize better than anyone else on the planet... provided that we're happy, of course. And what makes us happy? Price and feature parity in our goods and services. So c'mon, TiVo: don't forget the Mac geeks, okay?