Reply #21: First of all, it doesn't DAMAGE the TV. It turns it off. Secondly, it doesn't work that well.

[Ian David]

I bought one of those TV-B-Gone devices.

Why?

First and foremost, because I'm an asshole.

Secondly, because I wanted to turn off televisions playing The Fox Noise channel.

A couple problems with this device:

1) It's not very strong. You have to be about five feet away from the TV.

2) You really have to aim directly at the TV.

3) It often takes a while to cycle through enough codes until it turns off the TV.

4) None of this makes it easy to be inconspicuous about how much of an asshole you are.

5) The device is a keychain, that I would keep in my pocket-- with my keys. The problem is, it would activate accidentally inside my pocket. The only effect that had was to drain the batteries needlessly and quickly.

6) A visit to the television section of the local big-box store quickly revealed that this device failed to work on ANY of the new big-screen plasma and LCD televisions. This makes it next to useless, unless they have created a newer version that performs better.

Now, considering that TV remotes work using infrared signals, I don't see why they can't make a TV-B-Gone that uses something like an infrared emitting flashlight to really blast-out a strong signal.

I'd like to drive down the street with giant infrared floodlights on my car, shining invisibly into people's homes, turning off their televisions in the middle of American Idol, 24, or The O'Reilly Factor, just because I want to be able to be an asshole on a really large scale.

But you know what would also be fun?

A device that can automatically (and simultaneously) flush all the infrared activated toilets, urinals and sinks in the bathrooms. Piss-B-Gone!