There's nothing quite like kicking off a long weekend with a smattering of good news. Longtime viewers are already well aware that the AtAT staff would sooner lick roadkill than give up our TiVo, which has become as indispensable down here at the AtAT compound as running water. More so, even; we can always drink bottled water and sit around simmering in our own filth, if absolutely necessary. But returning to life without TiVo would be the equivalent of giving up our Macs and having to use Windows; three days of that kind of abuse without the comforting ignorance of a better alternative, and we'd be sticking our heads in the oven. (It's electric, but still.)

So how gosh-darn cool is it that Mac Rumors reports that TiVo digital video recorders will soon be sold in select Apple retail stores? Apparently this is less a rumor than an actual, straight-from-the-horse's-gaping-maw fact; A TiVo rep allegedly mentioned the arrangement during the company's quarterly financial conference call yesterday. Why TiVos in Apple's stores, you ask? Well, true, a TiVo isn't exactly a Mac peripheral or anything, but with the advent of the recently-released Home Media Option, TiVos can use Rendezvous to stream photo slideshows from iPhoto and music from iTunes, even wirelessly via AirPort. It's a nice way to extend two of Apple's core iApps to the living room.

We do have to admit, though, we're a little surprised-- not that Apple would recognize TiVo as a kick-butt spoke on the Digital Hub, but rather that El Steve agreed to allow what is almost exclusively a TV-watching aid to grace the shelves of Apple's retail stores. It's no secret that Steve is not a fan of television, and probably blames it for most of the world's problems today, including (but in no way limited to) famine, disease, deforestation, racial cleansing, the destruction of the ozone layer, the rise in world terrorism, tooth decay, and the way that soap gets all slimy and gross if you forget to empty the water out of the bottom of the soap dish. But hey, whatever; we're just glad that an Apple/TiVo partnership appears to be blooming.

So does this lend any weight to recent speculation that Apple should buy TiVo? No idea, but we can say that TiVos in the Apple stores bodes well for an upgrade to the Home Media Option so that it can finally stream music purchased from the iTunes Music Store-- something which it can't yet do. And personally, once we can stream our protected AACs to the living room without first having to burn them and re-encode them as MP3s, we'll have a lot more free time on our hands-- you know, to watch more TiVo and further contribute to the decline and fall of Western civilization. Ah, it all goes according to plan...