Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

It seems that forcing me to watch commercials on the DVDs I've paid for isn't enough. Philips now wants to force me to watch television commercials:

Philips Electronics has done it again. Flush with heady optimism after successful products such as the digital compact cassette (DCC) and the super audio CD (SACD), the redoubtable European giant has developed a way to keep television free for the masses for the foreseeable future - a patent application for a device which prevents a user from changing the channel during commercials.

The networks just don't seem to get the fact that the viewer actually gets a say in what they watch. But then again the viewer isn't the customer - they're the product of a sort. The television networks sell viewership to advertisers; the more viewers the higher the price for an ad. But if those viewers can't be show to be watching then ad agencies are not going to cough up big bucks for ads. There is already a huge decline in newspaper movie advertising.

The one saving grace here is the patent system itself. Perhaps manufacturers will be afraid of violating the Philips patent so they won't implement similar technology. Of course, I can still change the channel, leave the room, or I could do the unthinkable and turn the tv off.

Now wouldn't it ruin the networks' day if people just stopped watching altogether?

I was stunned by all the fuss over Katie Couric jumping to CBS as anchor. Network news is in permanent decline. What's the big deal?