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April 21, 2006


It's time for Horror TV.

(Thanks to ShadowKatmandu)

UNRELATED UPDATE: Seriously, folks. Please stop sending in stories about the breast-exam guy.



NoooOOoOooOoOooOoooo!!!! I will not be the first to sit though the commercials! God Save The Tivo!

Hey, most of the ads are better than reality TV.

Worst idea since Hillary Clinton.

Fortunately, these guys can't outlaw the brick.

worser than having to watch hardball, or any show with mary matalin and anne coulter!

No, Dave, Horror TV would be one that you couldn't turn OFF.

I guess I'm just a little ahead of the curve. I haven't had a TV for about four years!

Sorry, should have directed my comment to Judi.

"Philips acknowledged, however, that the anti-channel changing technology might not sit well with consumers..."

ya think?

Well if they give me a choice, I know which one I'd pick.

"consumers be allowed to avoid the feature if they paid broadcasters a fee"
...yeah, that's how we got cable...

Scott-You're a brave man. There is nothin' invented that can outsmart the "power off" button.

You know that Phillips will get a royalty from the fee paid to the broadcasters since they own the patent. The consumer has to buy the gizmo from them and then pay to have it turned off. Sweet effing deal for Phillips.

Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness and the Changng of the Channels during Commercials."

This technology would never hold up in court.

Hah...sounds like my "TV from Hell"...has about four on-board computer thingies, none of which I can program yet (I haven't finished reading volume 8 of the owner's manual), and the DVD recorder is in a huff and refuses to speak to the TV computer...

*sigh* Maybe I can borrow someone's 10 year old to get it working...

Actually, I think this part of the technology is much scarier:

"We developed a system where the viewer can choose, at the beginning of a movie, to either watch the movie without ads, or watch the movie with ads," the company stated. "It is up to the viewer to take this decision, and up to the broadcaster to offer the various services."

No one would buy a TV that forced them to watch commercials. But this sounds like they might start manufacturing DVDs with commercials pre-recorded into them, forcing you to buy the TV (and probably a subscription as well) to avoid watching ads.

Sweet deal for Philips, until Homestar Runner manages to get more viewers than NBC, CBS, and ABC put together because they alienate their audience.


Wouldn't be so bad if all the commercials were "Ted Ferguson, Bud Light Daredevil" and Victoria's Secret..

I think we should just design TVs to be indestructable, and play non-stop infomercials, and making lack of TV ownership a felony. It would benefit the economy.

Lisa - My kids alternately praise and pan me for the decision, too.

I'm not worried, until someone patents a device that won't let you get up off the couch, turn your head, or close your eyes and plug your ears while saying la-la-la-la-la).

If that happens, then I'll be worried.

Oh, and what's with the lady in the Perfect Match banner ad? Looks like she's got pink-eye.

I assume the "mute" button will still work?

Don't assume that, mud. What was that old intro to Twilight Zone or Night Gallery where they assume control of your TV set?

Outer Limots ScottMGS - but if you notice on the new OL, they never give control of your tv back to you at the end. That always disturbs me. But they do have one of the best themes on TV in recent times.

"Outer Limits" even

judi, I was one of the good ones who did NOT send in the breast-exam story.

But I did send one in about a man who shot himself in the head with a nail gun 12 times.

Pardon me while I gloat a bit-- I haven't used my TV for anything but DVDs and video games for two years.

On top of getting to skip all the commercials, my wallet is fatter by $50 per month-- or whatever the local cable giant is getting for the right to not watch fourteen different sports channels (two of them for golf!)

"suggested in its patent filing that consumers be allowed to avoid the feature if they paid broadcasters a fee."

I kinda think the technical, Harvard B School, Donald Trump-approved term for this is "protection racket..."

Okay, I have to know about the breast exam man. Only because I heard a story reported on my local radio that claimed a 70 something year old man in the listening area was arrested for giving door to door breast exams and was reported by a woman who found it odd that he was not using gloves.

The whole story was just beyond weird, but I really need to know - did this actually happen in a county close to me, or was it just the station making fun of a more widespread story?

PS: speaking of sending in links, I'm still pouting that my Easter link (which is admittedly probably old) wasn't blogged.

Jacki...I think I'm supposed to exert peer pressure to stop you from pouting over failure to be posted syndrome (FTBPS), but I'm too busy snorking over all those OTHER links on the Peeps site. The surgical separation of the quints is classic; and the scientific experiment on solubility made my sides hurt.

Oh please. I'm going on 18 years not watching television. I wouldn't even have one if a friend hadn't given it to me. It can't even receive broadcast channels. (Probably just needs a good antenna though.)

Betsy re: FTBPS,

And all these years I thought I was just clinically depressed....

Perfect answer!


Olo Baggins--I agree; this technology won't bother me until it prohibits me from getting up to go to the bathroom during the commercials...

When this happens, I will be the first to watch station "KOFF".

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