Sunday, March 23, 2008

TV-B-Gone? A good first step


In this month's Wired Magazine, number 16-04 (I have absolutely no idea what Wired's magazine numbering scheme means) there is an article on the rivalry between gadget blogs Engadget and Gizmodo. In it there's a anecdote about one of the blogger's taking a device called a TV-B-Gone to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and wrecking havoc on the many, many TV's there.

A TV-B-Gone is a small battery operated device invented by Mitch Altman who I met a number of times at various Make Magazine events. Push the button on a TV B Gone and every TV in the area turns off. Kinda cool.

More power to ya, Mitch. There's too much tv and other noise in the world. Why do restaurants, noisy enough anyway, feel they have to pump in extra music, enough to make conversation with more than one other person impossible? Why do supermarkets and Home Depots feel that I can't shop unless there's music constantly playing. There's music, usually bad music cluttering up nearly every lobby, waiting area, and vestibule in existence.

Note to world: I do love music but I do not need to be bathed in it every second of the day or in every public place I go. I don't think it makes the world a more pleasant place. Please, turn it off.

Mitch: Please invent a Music - B - Muted device. I will buy several. Thanks.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

McD's did a rebuild of one of their local joints and added two TV's - one in the 'kids' room, and the other in the main dining area. My son (19yr.) visited it on opening day and said the TV in the kids room was playing Family Guy. I guess the manager thought that all cartoons are meant for kids. I think we're going to invest in a TV-B-Gone or two.

Anonymous said...

Wired's numbering scheme: 04=month published; 16=number of years the magazine has been publishing.