Now, if you're like most of the people I know, you probably think I'm a raving idiot, and even if you agree with me you probably think TV doesn't affect you in that way. You only watch a few things, mainly on Channel Four and the news. And The Simpsons is great. How can you live without the Simpsons? Think of all the great stuff on TV. Surely nature programmes are educational. And television has opened up a lot of things to people, from celebrities to current affairs. We know more because of television than our ancestors ever did.

Okay. But what are we doing with this knowledge. Bugger all. We're sitting in front of a piece of furniture for four hours a night (on average) and then trying to relate our lives to these unattainable ideals. Try giving up television and see how sad and dull this "did you see…" conversations are. You can't talk about your life because you're spending it in a passive state. To quote the book, "television doesn't give you experiences, it takes them away from you."

As you can tell, I could go on, but I'm just rephrasing the book. Read it for yourself. If you want more info I highly recommend the WHITE DOT web site.

But what the hell. I'm like a born again non-smoker. I've been there, so I feel I have the GOD GIVEN RIGHT to ram this down your throat until you look at that box with the contempt it deserves and get rid of it. Why do rock stars traditionally throw televisions out of the window? I reckon that in a drug and booze fuelled state of heightened awareness they see it for what it is and realise that it stands against everything rock n roll stands for. Television is the enemy of self expression and individuality and as such it must die.

A cartoonist I greatly admire (Dave Sim – you probably haven't heard of him – he doesn't appear on television much if at all) was once asked why he thought comics were relevant in the age of television. He replied that comic books were one of the few mediums that were capable of taking a creator's idea and communicating it to the reader directly. Television isn't interested in individual voices and self-expression. Television in interested in formats. Think about the word "format". If you wanted to express your inner self would you use a "format"? The next time you're in the pub and you shout out a Fast Show catchphrase, that's exactly what you're doing. You're not expressing yourself. You're not being an individual.

Think about Zoe Ball. Whether you love her or hate her, you have to admit she's good at her job. What is her job? Her job is getting as many television viewers or radio listeners (for the sake of argument the mass appeal of the Radio 1 breakfast show is comparable to television, especially as it's success justifies the licence fee in the quantitative world of ratings) for her employers. This is exactly the same as my job being to sell as many books as possible for Dillons. That's what we're paid to do and we try and do it well. Zoe Ball is not there to be your friend in the morning. Her job is not to introduce you to new music and interesting ideas. Her job is not to help entertain you. Her job is to make you stay tuned to her programmes and if pretending to do those things helps her do her job well, then more power to her. I have nothing against Zoe Ball because I don't know her. If you love or hate her, ask yourself why. She doesn't love or hate you. She doesn't know you.

There's been a lot of talk recently about how web sites are getting meagre hits compared to television; therefore the Internet is a failure. There's also been a lot of hype talked about how Digital TV will put power into the viewers' hands. The first view is misguided, while the second is malicious. The Internet is all about choice – you go where you want to go and stay there as long as you want to stay. Television is about sitting in front of a box and having programmes spoon-fed to you. BT experimented with Digital TV a few years back, giving a test audience of viewers' complete freedom over what they watched. From a huge database they could select films, sit coms, documentaries, the whole works, to view at any time they wanted. A vast majority embraced this freedom and simply turned the box off. They didn't need to keep watching to see what was coming up next so they didn't keep watching. They fitted their viewing around their lifestyles. When BT took these findings to the television industry, they knew exactly where they went wrong. They suggested offering a smaller selection of programmes in rotation and then taking them away. That way the viewers would be forced to veg out in front of the TV to make sure they didn't miss stuff. They would be forced to organise their lifestyle around television. Television will remain king of the living room.

Read this book. Get a life.