Yeah and that's what a $70 Roku or even cheaper Fire TV stick is for, assuming you want something Tivo doesn't provide.
Doesn't change the fact that channel-based delivery and DVR functionality is not going away any time soon, nor that having a DVR and being able to watch what you want (with commercial skip) when you want has a lot of value.
If you go streaming only be prepared to watch a lot of commercials and have stuff come and go whenever they feel like doing it. To me it's just a nice bennie to have as an option, but there's no way I'm giving up the control that a DVR provides over how I watch content.
What some of us want is one box that does it all ... allows us to subscribe to streaming services such as Netflix, play media (video and slide shows of our images) from our network, and play OTA TV. The DVR+ has a great interface so far, with the streaming services they support as "channels" in the guide. Add more, and include local network streaming, and the mass appeal of the device soars.
Switching inputs is a major barrier in my house (that has killed the HTPC and Roku type devices). You turn the system on and its all there.
Someone will do it, either Tivo, CM, some subsidiary of E*, or one of the current players in the field. The new device will make the 1980's technology of switching inputs a thing of the past. In another thread someone mentioned that Tivo does have an app that lets you stream content from your network and they have added Amazon Prime. I don't know if you can get that from an older Tivo unit or if it's only from the Roamio series. If they didn't include it for the older boxes with "lifetime subscriptions" you have to spend another $500 to $600 to get it. That's the type of built-in obsolescence that all hardware can face, and why the "lifetime" option doesn't appeal to me. Sure, it will still be usable, but not for everything I might want to do. I can record and fast forward through my VCR too, but I want the new options.
We don't know what will come in the three years. I don't want to have to think too much about buying the next box. So for me, the CM DVR+ fits the bill right now; the WAF is really high with it, it looks like it will give me a few years of service, and the payback time is short enough.