Sree's Thoughts on the Tme-Scout Monitor
Thursday, July 17, 2003

When I was a pre-teen, my parents got tired of how much TV I watched. They came up with the idea of rationing the time I spent with the television. Each Sunday, I'd draw up a menu of programs I'd want to see the following week, total not to exceed six hours. Anything educational teachers wanted to see didn't come under the quota and I had to see at least one news program a night (again, not covered by the quota). Looking back, I am glad my parents tried to instill limits to my TV watching. It didn't quite work because I found ways around it and, in the end, my revenge has been that I now work in TV and have a TV running all day in my office.

What my parents needed - but were about two decades too early for - was the Time-Scout Monitor, from a company called Card Access in Utah. The $69.95 device, which goes on sale at the end of July, is exactly what parents need to deal with the problem of kids watching too much TV, playing too many video games, etc.

Think of it as a credit-card or EZ Pass system for kids who want to watch TV. The monitor is a small soap-sized unit that you plug your TV into. The monitor then plugs into the power outlet. It comes with a parents' master swipe card that allows you to lock and unlock access to the power supply and therefore, the TV. It also allows parents to give individual kids their own cards which they can use every time the kids want to access the TV. Here's the great part: each kid can be given a quota of "watching time" that the parents determine. Then the clock counts down the time remaining. That way, the kids are forced to regulate what and when they watch. Parents can reward kids for chores by adding more time; or they can subtract time as punishment.

This also works well for video game consoles. It can be used with computers, but I think it's risky locking down the entire PC if the child has, say homework to do. Instead, parents should control the time kids actually access the Internet itself with other tools (which I will discuss in a subsequent segment). The monitor requires no technical training and is easy to install. The product's tagline says it all: It's hard to argue with a box.

I recommend this for kids in the six to 12 age group - though it might work for some precocious five-year-olds, too. Of course, if children can access the parents' master card then they can control the lockout system. But if your kids are hunting down your card, then you might have larger issues than too much TV.

I am just glad this wasn't around when I was growing up.

Resource:
To pre-order the Time-Scout Monitor, visit Time-scout.com or call 888-299-8989

Write to techguru@sree.net and let me know your thoughts.