TV-B-Gone gadget goes open source

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 5th November 2008
Comments (15) Stumble
TV-B-Gone gadget goes open source

The TV-B-Gone remote, designed to switch off any model of TV with IR capabilities, will soon be available as an open source project.

Creator of the – often controversial – gadget TV-B-Gone Mitch Altman has made the surprising decision to open-source his nifty little IR dongle and allow anyone with the requisite skills to build their own.

The inventor describes the reasoning behind the brave decision over on the MAKE:Blog, describing his decision to patent the device originally as protection against “large companies [...] copying TV-B-Gone remotes, since selling copies would open them up for being sued once my patent is granted.”

Strangely, it was a hackers' conference that changed Altman's mind on the subject. After talking to passionate hackers who “see these [patent] laws as obsolete and obnoxious” and realising that applying for a patent on his device “stifles the creativity that patents were supposed to encourage”, he opted to completely open-source the nifty gadget: full plans, copies of the firmware source code, board layouts, the works.

Altman sees the release of the design behind the device as being payback for the help he has received from the open source community since the device first went on sale. Third-party hacks that required an original TV-B-Gone unit drove increased sales, and suggestions and ideas on how to improve the device lead to “versions of TV-B-Gone remotes [that] were considerabitly better than the original.”

Altman isn't giving away the crown jewels willy-nilly, however: the product will be licensed under the Creative Commons scheme, which will allow for modification and use of the device while removing the possibility for a company to commercially exploit Altman's designs without cutting him a cheque. The best of both worlds: Altman gets recognition and rewards for what is, whether you agree with the sentiment behind it or not, a nifty little gadget, and hordes of hackers get to play with – and improve – the design to their hearts content.

Tempted to build your own TV-B-Gone once the plans are made available, or is the product odious even when stripped of patents? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote proxess 5th November 2008, 13:38
Muahaha this would be funny at the local pub/bar then the opposing team is about to score.
Quote Dr. Strangelove 5th November 2008, 14:01
Watching the movie in the link just makes you think how much fun that was and at the same time how bad that was
Quote LeMaltor 5th November 2008, 15:17
What use does this have beyond annoying people?
Quote cyrilthefish 5th November 2008, 15:39
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeMaltor
What use does this have beyond annoying people?
I think thats mostly it
Quote TomH 5th November 2008, 16:18
Quote:
Originally Posted by proxess
Muahaha this would be funny at the local pub/bar then the opposing team is about to score.
Now that would be fun. Right up until the point where you get your head kicked-in...
Quote notatoad 5th November 2008, 16:34
everybody remember this?
ICpM3ItIhI0
Quote ChaosDefinesOrder 5th November 2008, 16:55
Quote:
Originally Posted by supertoad
everybody remember this?
ICpM3ItIhI0

I believe that would be the video that is embedded in the first link in this news article actually...

freaking hilarious when the attendant are struggling to turn them back on!
Quote notatoad 5th November 2008, 17:03
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaosDefinesOrder
I believe that would be the video that is embedded in the first link in this news article actually...
wait wait wait... are you telling me there are articles that go with the news threads?
Quote Joeymac 5th November 2008, 17:06
That video is really funny. All those crappy promo videos needed turning off.
Quote Gareth Halfacree 5th November 2008, 18:30
Quote:
Originally Posted by supertoad
wait wait wait... are you telling me there are articles that go with the news threads?
At the risk of blowing your mind, I feel compelled to inform you at this point that there is an entire website which is intrinsically linked to these forums.
Quote Mr Mario 5th November 2008, 18:56
Imagine how much mischief would be caused if this was used in a argos/curry's/commet etc. haha I imagine some more videos (like the one above) will appear shortly.
Quote notatoad 5th November 2008, 19:40
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gareth Halfacree
At the risk of blowing your mind, I feel compelled to inform you at this point that there is an entire website which is intrinsically linked to these forums.

i call bull****. that would imply they have staff who take time and effort to write articles, and i just totally ignore them. and that couldn't be right.
Quote satannuts 5th November 2008, 20:24
Funny how this is big news now. A female once took that device apart and improved on the idea. She sells kits for the DIYer.
http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=20
adafruit industries... they have several good kits for the soldering freaks out there.
Sorry I hope this isn't considered spam.

I just thought that this should have been open-source from the get-go.
Quote HugoB 6th November 2008, 01:13
Quote:
Originally Posted by supertoad
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gareth Halfacree
At the risk of blowing your mind, I feel compelled to inform you at this point that there is an entire website which is intrinsically linked to these forums.

i call bull****. that would imply they have staff who take time and effort to write articles, and i just totally ignore them. and that couldn't be right.

I used to share an office with them and ignored them so it's more plausible than you think :p
Quote Langer 6th November 2008, 01:28
Why was I not told this product existed?

I just ordered one of the 'pro' models... I know I could build my own, but the inventor deserves my money.

Haha, I cant wait to take this baby for a spin.
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