Integrating that into all boxes forces the cost up. Then you'd have higher subsidies and suddenly the same people pining away for more features (and getting them) would be complaining about the poor finances and SAC. You don't get, one without the other. If you provide options then the consumer or MSO can set their price points to the features. If consumers move decidedly in that direction then TiVo is ready to respond by putting such features into more boxes.

It's a lot like the tuner thing. For years people complained but it would cost more to use a much more powerful chip. TiVo had to go on the cheaper end to compete with mso cost.