TV-B-Gone is a small, portable device that allows you to remotely turn off televisions, and consequently it’s easily one of the most irritating, selfish and pretentious gadgets on Earth. Now it looks like an iPod.
I’ve always hated the philosophy behind this particular gizmo: it’s made for people who think that they — as the self-appointed protectors of media and culture —have every right to walk into a bar filled with people watching a sports game or relaxing with a beer while they watch the evening news and turn off the bar television so they can sip their creme de menthe and squint at a volume of Sartre in peace and quiet. As opposed to, you know, going somewhere without a television.
Hating television is fine, of course, as is wanting to have a drink in peace and quiet, but I’ve always felt that there is absolutely zero difference between using a TV-B-Gone to shut off a television someone is watching in a bar and someone walking up to you reading at a table and smacking the book out of your hands, or someone interrupting a conversation you are having with a friend at a cafe and incessantly blasting a vuvuzela in your face. Either way, you’re selfishly ruining a complete stranger’s attempt to relax and have a good time by imposing your arbitrary definitions of acceptable public ambience upon them.
Given the preceding rant, it should be pretty obvious that my hate for this gadget runs pretty deep already, but now I have a reason to hate it even more: its latest iteration makes it look almost exactly like a third generation iPod Nano, which is still my favorite Nano. Great. So now TV-B-Gone is trying to conflate being an iPod owner with being a total dick.
Otherwise, you’re getting the usual TV-B-Gone functionality: namely the ability to turn on and off almost every television model out there. It costs $50, even though acting like a complete jerk isn’t really something that requires a down payment.
