Image 60: Remote control and pen/pencil

Some of the nifty goodies that shipped with the TAM.

The remote control has buttons for:

• volume mute 
• power (yes, that's a power button for the whole computer, and it doesn't ask you to confirm shutdown) 
• volume level 
• channel (cycles among TV channels, or among six main preset FM stations if Apple FM radio app is running) 
• display (switches video window between current and largest size) 
• TV/Mac (switches between video window and Mac screen) 
• CD controls (stop/eject, reverse, play/pause, and forward) 

You can't switch between TV and FM radio with the remote; head to the computer to do that. Another oddity: If you play a CD while TV or FM radio is active, you'll get both audio sources blasting at once.

Intentionally or not, the white Apple logo on the remote points toward the future. Otherwise, the remote is a pretty bland-looking item; it matches the TAM by virtue of its color (everything goes with black!), but otherwise looks and feels like any low-cost gadget remote. No luxury points earned here.

Still, it's nice to sit on the sofa and watch "TAM TV" from far away. (Squint from far away, that is; only 12 inches to that screen, remember?)