Fun thread on the TV-B-Gone

Over two years ago I first came across a little gadget called the TV-B-Gone, which is basically a little remote control that can turn off virtually any TV. The first time I blogged, it was basically a quick post about the device warning digital signage owners to disable the IR ports on their screens. About a year later than that, I came across this video and did another blog post that explored the possibility that using the TV-B-Gone in an out-of-home environment could be considered akin to vandalism (loosely, of course). That sparked some critisism, but also yielded a fair amount of intelligent conversation about who "owns" in-store media. Just yesterday I came across a totally unrelated blog on the device which also has some active commentary (mine included).

I don't think that it's fair to even remotely relate the device to a WMD, which was the original (tongue-in-cheek) title of the blog post, but there are a number of folks out there who are completely comfortable with the idea of going into a store, restaurant or airport and shutting off media devices that "annoy" them.

This is far from a settled issue, but for owners and operators of digital signage networks, certainly take this into consideration, and take active steps to prevent your screens from being shut off by passers-by.

Tags: digital signage, TV-B-Gone, retail media, out-of-home advertising,