Whose Time Has Come

I had an idea the other night, and thank God I was able to lay my hands on a legal pad and a pencil to get it down, or else it might have been lost forever. I doubt it would have been, because it's a good enough idea that either I would have had it again, or someone else would have. The greatest ideas gestate in the minds of several. This one was recorded in just five words: "Dead man's switch for television".

Now, your first thought may be that this already exists. It's true enough that televisions have been equipped for years with a timer one can set so that the TV will shut off as you sleep instead of running all night long. That's a perfectly good thing that they can do, and I have relied on it many times. It's the best that we have so far along the lines of eliminating waste in one's electronics, but we can most certainly do better.

A dead man's switch works like this: The man who runs a train is in a critical position. He must be attentive, or else terrible disaster could befall his speeding vehicle. If he were, let's say, to have a heart attack or just fall asleep from fatigue, the train would then be hurtling on its own with no guidance. For that reason, the man must continuously do something like squeeze a handle. The moment he releases his grip, the train comes to an instant halt.

You see how the idea translates. The television viewer already has a remote control, and it's entirely possible to give it some kind of pressure sensitive grip or touch screen. Indeed, some already have the latter. As the viewer lays in bed, they clutch the remote. When they let go, the TV shuts off. This way, you don't have the thing on a moment longer than you are using it, and you don't have to worry about the TV going off before you fall asleep. It's too good an idea to not happen.