posted
Yeah, I agree with Megan and Dagonee on this one. I can't actually think of a circumstance in which I've been watching a TV show in public, but if I were to be doing such a thing, I wouldn't appreciate having the signal blocked.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
If I were at a restaurant the only thing I would be watching is some sort of sportss game. If that game were blocked out I would be very, very angry.
Posts: 3446 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
But, see, to me, the rude part cancels out any other benefits it might provide. More and more, I realize that my first judgment of a person comes almost entirely from how polite they are.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Without my TV how will I get my daily dose of liberal media brainwashing?
Sure I can read my NY Times online, but indoctrination is just a lot more fun when there is sound and pretty pictures.
Posts: 1592 | Registered: May 2000
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posted
I think this is a great idea. Not to turn off tvs that people are obviously watching or interested in, but rather to give us the power to choose to eliminate one of the annoying distracting obnoxious things we have around us. Almost all tvs in public places that I see are not being attended to by anyone.
They're out of stock now but I'm buying one as soon as they have more. Also I think they would make very cool gifts for other people I know who dislike tv.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
I wish they would develop a Muzak jamming device too. Muzak is terribly bad, the arrangements are pukey, it's insipid and hackneyed as music, and the intent is totally manipulative (to get you to shop more happily, or work more productively or wait more contentedly) and big brotherish. How lovely it would be if we had the power to eliminate it.
People used to think that caller id on telephones was rude, too, because people should have the right to anonymity. But it seems to me that the person or device who is trying to impose themselves upon others is the one who should be fair game to deny or cut off if the imposition is unwanted. Shouldn't it be like that?
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:that the person or device who is trying to impose themselves upon others
But isn't this EXACTLY what a person who turns off a television in public (that others are watching) is doing?
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
If a TV is on at a commercial establishment, it's cuz the proprieter views the TV program as a net attraction for customers. If you don't like it being on, patronize another establishment.
posted
I like the idea just as a logistical strategy to get out of the house faster in the morning. My kids get to watch a little TV in the morning before school -- it's their reward for a smooth getting-ready-for-school time. It is, however, sometimes difficult to get their attention when it is time to go. I'd love to be able to turn off the TV with my car keys. Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
but the televisions were put there for me. neither I nor anyone else was watching them. so i took it upon myself to turn them off.
Posts: 116 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
You're missing the point. See aspectre's post, above. The owner has the right to have a TV on in their restaurant. You have a right to leave the restaurant. You do NOT have the right to mess with the owner's TV without their permission.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Just remember that it projects signals, which means that you can be pinpointed. In fact, I could easily build a circuit which can resonate TV-B-GONE for tracking purposes, even if you don't use it.
And when you leave, you can wonder why your car has four flat tires.
Posts: 8501 | Registered: Jul 2001
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>><I>Just remember that it projects signals, which means that you can be pinpointed. In fact, I could easily build a circuit which can resonate TV-B-GONE for tracking purposes, even if you don't use it. </i>
posted
See, now, as someone married to someone who once worked at Circuit City (and who now works for the competition), that's what I mean by rude. You're taking glee out of being obnoxious. Quit it.
posted
That's just being a jerk. You're going out of your way to inconvenience people who are seeking to buy products. You defnitely have no need to be there and there are definitely people who have reason to be watching the TV. Don't watch TV if you don't want to, but don't stop others either.
Posts: 3446 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
They will tape over the IR port, but then their remotes won't work. So I bet they untape it again.
It's not rude, either. The owner put the tv there to be available to her customers for their use. If their customers prefer to watch the best program on, the one with silence and a black screen, why is that not a good use?
Tv is a choice, not a necessity. Why don't people understand that choosing to turn it off is also a valid choice?
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
The only way to be sure you aren't being rude is to ask every other person in the establishment if they mind turning the tv off. If they all say no, then I think it would make sense to ask the proprietor if he/she can turn it off.
You know, you can make requests of people, before you go turning off their equipment without their knowledge, or without knowing if you are annoying other patrons.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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They have remote control watches too...I had one for a while, and i used it to confound my Dad. He thought something was wrong with his TV...it was great.
As far as the ethics of using it in public, I liked my watch because i could chnge channels with it, so if no one was watching the TV and the bartender was busy waiting on someone else I could just chnge it. However, I didn't use it to ramdomly turn other peoples stuff off unless I knew them and wanted to drive them crazy...
It isn't my TV, so I don't have a right to mess with it. I did at first, but then I realized that it wasn't cool.
posted
They need to have "Irratating crappy music be gone" is what they should have. Especially when they keep playing CELINE DION in the supermarket I work in. With a few buttons I can switch it to some of the music from my playlist. Which will probably drive everyone out of the store... The more extreme music I like.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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There was a kid in our school who had a watch that did something like that, except he could also mute, play, pause etc.
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Oh man, I would want one of those. It would be so nice to walk out of an elevator in an office building without a headache.
Posts: 2292 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote: If their customers prefer to watch the best program on, the one with silence and a black screen, why is that not a good use?
Unless you are the only customer there, you can't make that decision for everyone. If you are the only one, simply ask the owner/manager to turn it off.
jeni, you can already do that with your TV. You just need this.Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
I quess it's time to invent the anti TV-B-Gone attachement to tv's. Any signal from a TV-B-Gone will call the goon squad, who will scan for any nearby TV-B-Gone's and take all people in possesion of one to a place where they will be delt with.
Posts: 2489 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Which brings me to the question of TV's going in the waiting rooms of car repair shops.
There is one where we take each of our three cars in for oil changes. I imagine the guys turn it on (for the customers) in the morning, but really pay no attention to the fact that it is on, or what it is playing.
So when we get there, many times it is playing the Simpsons (a show my whole family loathes). We either change the channel or turn it off. I mean the oil change guys aren't anywhere near that room -- so that is okay to do, right?
Of course, then you have my extremist son, who changes it EVEN IF SOMEONE ELSE is in the room. Me, I personally choose to wait somewhere OTHER than the room if it is playing something I don't like, but there are people watching it. He will march up and change it in front of them, mumbling something about "trash". No one has challenged him yet, but it embarrasses me sometimes (He's almost 19, so I don't play mother hen with his decisions at this point).
posted
Or have you all come to the conclusion that there are much funnier shows (ie. Family guy, Futurama)
Posts: 2489 | Registered: Jan 2002
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