In our house, there's no cable tv, no satellite tv and no TiVo. But what we do have is Karma TV and depending on your family ranking, you either love it or hate it.
Karma TV is for those young viewers like, say, my 5-year-old boys, who don't know the meaning of the word moderation when it comes to television viewing habits. We are pretty much a DVD/Netflix only family. Whatever my children watch via DVD comes to them via the generosity of Karma TV.
Here's how it appears to work - or doesn't work. When my sons are being good, Karma TV works. They push the "on" button and the television illuminates. Good = good = good is how I explain karma to them. When my sons are not on their best behavior, Karma TV shuts down. However many times my boys may push the "on" button, the television stares back at them blankly.
Here's how it really works. We have a little kit called Bye Bye Standby that serves as a master controller for devices, which in our case is the television. Turning the tv off with this controller renders the usual tv remote useless. I have to use it in secret, so it's hidden under a pile of my grandma's vintage linens which I display in the living room. Nobody has noticed it yet.
When I agree to let me boys watch tv, I have to get to the controller before they get to the TV "on" button. "You've been so good, try it, " I'll say, as we both run to our respective remotes. Sometimes, it's tricky, with my trigger happy fingers turning on the television before my boys get to the television "on" button. When this happens, my boys always look around in awe, as if magic has happened. Sometimes, they question me, "How did the tv turn on just like that?" Karma knows you've been good, I say. Though baffled, they leave it at that because I think they're afraid to mess with karma.
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