I'll be the first to admit that devices such as Tivo and DVRs are really nice, especially when you find yourself writing about television on a daily basis. However, it also seems like the viewing experience, as it becomes more convenient, has also become unnecessarily complicated. For example, a new device known as Slingbox allows folks to port live television to any other device via a broadband connection. It seems straightforward enough, but some experts fear that there may be some legal issues about when and where content is made available: "Place-shifting is problematic to many copyright holders because it sidesteps what is known in legalese as proximity control, which restricts the distribution of content to specific regions and times."

I like television, but I don't want to think about it THAT much.