A simple television set was once considered the absolute pinnacle in home entertainment.
Seriously, when it was first introduced in Canada in the '50s, entire families (and neighbours and friends) would huddle around the glowing box sharing in those first broadcasts.
Of course if anyone could have ever known ahead of time that we'd end up with reality shows and Fox News as programming, they'd probably have taken an axe to the thing and gone back to books or making shadow puppets on the wall.
But television has come a long way since the days of Milton Berle and not just in programming.
We've gone from small boxes with black and white screens to ridiculously large high definition flat screen televisions that come with stomach-churning and headache-inducing 3D effects.
Today, thanks to ever-changing technology, we can practice the fine art of couch potato in a variety of ways from almost anywhere you please heck, even places where you don't please because sometimes it just has to be about you.
For instance with a gadget like the Slingbox that can turn any Internet-connected PC, Mac or mobile device into your home television, you don't even need to be anywhere near a couch to get your potato on.
It's like carrying your home entertainment system in your pocket, without people asking you, "Is that a 55-inch LCD in your pocket plus TV tuner and cable box or are you just happy to see me?"
But for me the device that's really changed the way couch potatoes get their vegetative fix is the personal video recorder or digital video recorder (PVR/DVR).
Let's get one thing straight though. Nobody actually needs a PVR but the odd thing is when you do get one, you won't want to live without one again.
A PVR is basically a glorified VCR (remember those?) without the tapes to rewind or get humorously stuck in the machine.
The gizmo really consists of a computer hard drive that is hooked up to your cable box, allowing you to watch your favourite television shows at your leisure.
I broke down and got one a few weeks ago and really enjoy the convenience.
The PVR acts like a sort of time machine in addition to being able to record two shows simultaneously.
Whenever you switch to a channel, the PVR immediately (and without you having to tell it to do anything) begins recording the show in the background.
Say the phone rings just as they reveal the murderer in a good CSI show - no problem, just rewind the show once your call is over.
Or better yet, pause it whenever you like and come back later to fast-forward through the commercials and watch the show uninterrupted.
Of course the commercials are more often a lot more entertaining than the shows themselves.
The PVR can also be set to record an entire television series whenever it comes on either every show including repeats or just the new episodes.
Now we no longer have to wait until certain nights of the week to huddle around the glow of a television.
We can control the when, the where, the how and even the advertisements.
Now if only we could control the quality of programming they actually put on the air it'd be a true couch potato paradise.
An all Simpsons channel anyone?
