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Some Taxi TV Screens Always, <em>Always</em> On
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 24, 2008
Modified Jul 24, 2008
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 24, 2008
Modified Jul 24, 2008
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Photo courtesy jth10036.
Notice anything unusual about this photo? If you were riding in the back of this cab you might immediately realize – as you reflexively move to liberate yourself from the tyranny of ubiquitous commercial television – that there is actually no way to turn the bloody thing off! The reader who sent us this photo wonders if this is the beginning of a new trend, or at least a stepping stone to the day when all citizens receive frontal lobe TV monitor implants at birth. Or something.
Either way, this is a horrible development, and we've now heard multiple reports from people who have not been able to turn off their taxi TVs. A TLC spokesman is looking into it, but we're assured that "every unit is required to have an off button." So perhaps the screen seen here is just malfunctioning, or maybe cabbies are hacking the TVs to hold our serenity hostage until they get their fuel surcharge – in which case we'll gladly pay them whatever they want. Please just let us turn off Channel 7!
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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