Who Changes?

Yes, Virginia, the TV Guide Channel really is made by the devil. Where once you could view five channels of info at a time and the scroll ran less than two minutes, now you can see only three, and the scroll lasts over four minutes, giving ample time for freakishly-attired spokesdroids to enthuse over programs you wouldn't watch if you were stapled to the sofa. I use the mute button, which unfortunately covers half of the remaining relevant data with the word "muting" in big green letters. But I can see a market for a windowshade accessory--remote-controlled of course--to cover the top two-thirds of the screen. Jiggly hand-held quick cuts, dueling scrollers, screen in screen popups--the more the TV screen changes, the less it moves me. Hence the lasting appeal of books, which stay exactly the same, and it's the reader who goes through the changes.