Mark's Notebook


	If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of him. - Thomas Carlyle

Better to Zap One TV Than To Curse the Din

San Francisco Chronicle

Thursday 6 January 2005, 4:42 pm
Keywords: Computer Topics , News Articles

By Marc Fisher

My new toy, called TV-B-Gone, is essentially a universal remote control that does one thing only: It turns off TVs. I love the heck out of it.

I sauntered into Hollywood Video, stepped up to the wall of 12 giant TV screens simultaneously pumping out a Bruce Willis action flick, aimed my trusty new weapon and -- presto -- the screens went dark. We customers could proceed with our browsing without all that hopped-up banging, shooting and thundering assaulting our brains.

My kids and I have a new mission in life. We have a ready response to companies and institutions that try to stun the unwashed public into submission by drugging us with video Valium.

At the food court during the auto show at the Washington Convention Center, four guys were watching CNN Headline News when my kids and I sat down with our sandwiches. We zapped the TVs, and the guys immediately turned their heads from the screen to each other and commenced a conversation. A victory for social discourse!

Last stop: The waiting room at Children's Hospital. Nobody was watching the blaring TV; its incessant yammering had forced waiting parents to the far corners of the room. I tried to point my vigilante device without being noticed. Suddenly, the cacophony ceased. The children grew quieter, the parents relaxed. Mission accomplished.

But I had been caught. A mom slowly turned toward me. She made the connection between the blissful silence and the odd gadget in my hand. Uh-oh, I thought, I have stolen her distraction, her video solace. I'm in for it.

But no: She pointed at my cherished weapon for the enforcement of civilized life and smiled in grateful, silent relief.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51743-2005Jan5.html

Mark says: I sure wish I had this when I had to sit through two episodes of Roseanne while waiting for my x-rays at Regional Medical Center.