It's a good while since Onlineblog reported on reported on telly turn-off gadget TV-B-Gone, but today the Guardian is running a piece on anti-television guerrillas who are advocating TV-Turnoff week. My job was to have a chat with the inventor of TV-B-Gone, Mitch Altman, and find out a little more about his motivations.
This man's about as typical a Silicon Valley veteran as you can get: heading for 50, coloured hair, worked at a whole bunch of Valley companies and started a few himself. And there was the distinct sense of MANA (middle aged new ager) about him.
"I haven't had a TV since 1980," he told me from his home in San Francisco. "And in that time, my life's improved immeasurably. I've got way more time and energy and I'm free to do what I truly love."
He says ditching TV, and using TV-B-Gone, helps people broaden their minds and think for themselves.
"I don't believe we're a world of idiots, which is what I used to think."
Interestingly, he told me he'd never had a bad experience using TV-B-Gone - mainly because he'd never turned off a television that somebody was actually watching.
"The only guys who do that are the reporters," he said. "I'd never been into a sports bar until reporters started wanting to see TV-B-Gone. Then they'd turn off the screens and write that I'd done it."
Talking to Mitch made me wonder whether I could live without a TV set. I still haven't made my mind up.
