The TV-B-Gone may revolutionize television as the world knows it. Similar in appearance to an automobile remote key-chain, this device turns off almost any television with a click of a single button.
Once activated, the device spends over a minute flashing out 209 different codes to turn off televisions.
The mastermind behind this invention is Mitch Altman. His motivation was to improve conversation, as the device frees people from the attention-sapping death grip of television programming. The idea actually came to the inventor when he was at a restaurant with some friends. The group kept paying attention to what was on the restaurant's television rather than each other.
Altman tested his device by shutting off televisions in public places. At one Laundromat and café, a man was sorting clothes and watching a show on television. Altman simply pushed the button and the screen went black. The man did not seem to notice this change.
Another example involves the store Best Buy. When Altman was in the store, no one seemed to notice when he shut one display-television off after another. Occurrences such as these back up Altman's belief that television is so much part of the environment that people don't even notice when it disappears.
A downfall to TV-B-Gone is that it is not 100 percent guaranteed to work. At a pizza restaurant it took a couple of times to turn of a football game playing on a giant television. This may result from the fact that some manufacturers of televisions have added new codes.
Wired October 19, 2004
CORANTE Tech. News October 21, 2004
If you are looking for ways to make a dent in the childhood obesity epidemic you may want to consider ordering a TV-B-Gone, as TV is one of the most destructive influences and I couldn't recommend stopping it more strongly.
Not only does it decrease a child's activity level, but it will also expose them to commercials promoting worthless foods. Food companies are not fools. Their marketers create very effective ads that will unquestionably mold your child's desire to eat their junk food.
This will only make your job that much more difficult to have your child eat properly. Your children may object to the TV restriction now, but they will thank you in the future when they are healthy and their friends are obese and chronically sick.
Preventing childhood obesity is far easier than applying treatment options, although much of the success of prevention depends on parental involvement. Therefore, setting guidelines and educating children on being healthy will put them on the road to making healthy decisions as adults.
TV is one of the most destructive influences, and I couldn't recommend stopping it more strongly. Not only does it decrease a child's activity level, but it will also expose them to commercials promoting worthless foods.
Food companies are not fools. Their marketers create very effective ads that will unquestionably mold your child's desire to eat their junk food.
Aside from decreasing or eliminating television time, some guidelines I suggest every parent to set for their children include:
Dr. Ben Lerner and I will be writing a book on childhood obesity that will come out in spring 2005. This book will offer some very specific practical guidelines that should have a major impact on this epidemic.
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