Tech
Rove Life Will Revolutionize Your TV Viewing
Fourth of July 2021 was a weekend I will never forget. Not only did I get to see friends I hadn’t seen since before the pandemic, but I also was introduced to an entirely new philosophy of life. It’s called “roving.”
Rove life is not the same as #vanlife. Roving does not involve dropping everything and hitting the great outdoors. The only commitment you need to join the rovers is a TV stand on wheels, colloquially called a “rover.” Here is the one owned by my buddy, the apostle of rove life who called me to its teachings:
What is roving? Roving is the revolutionary notion that your television viewing habits do not have to be constrained by the spatial demands of the universe. In pre-rover households, you have to decide on one spot to place your TV, and that is simply where that device is kept until you get sick of it and decide to rearrange the furniture. These days, most people affix their televisions to their walls, so there really is no moving it on a whim. As a result, the TV becomes a semi-permanent fixture.
Roving liberates you from all that. By having a roving TV stand, you can situate your TV wherever you want it, for whenever you want it. The best use case in my experience is being able to rove your entertainment outside for nice evenings, or (as was the case with Independence Day) when you have people over for a grill out. Another good roving scenario is when there is contention in the house over what to watch. Assuming you still have a primary television set up in the family room, you can rove in your second set so that both people can enjoy their shows while still spending time with one another.
For those who might still be skeptical, let me remind you that roving has been around since the very beginning of television. Watch any episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show if you don’t believe me. You will see the Petries rove their TV from their living room to the bedroom before they go to bed each night. And Rob Petrie worked in the television industry! When the small screen first hit the market, it was quite expensive for regular folks. A rover allowed you to watch your shows in more than one room without having to buy more than one TV.
One final note about rovers. If you search for rolling TV stands on Amazon, you will find a plethora of options, including the one featured at the beginning of this article. However, it is not always clear that you can live the rove life by setting a TV down on the cart when you are ready to roam. Many make it seem like you have to mount your TV to the rover as if on a wall. That is certainly an option, but if that seems like a lot of hassle to you, you can use the rover in a more traditional manner—there is a simple stand you can put your TV on when you want to. Then, if you need your TV in a room that is not easy to roam to (such as on a different floor), just pick up the TV and move it. No screwing or unscrewing required.