This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I don't remember when I stopped watching television. It occurred during the last 10 years, though. At some point I just lost interest in what TV had to offer.

Not only was there increasingly little worthy of note, but it wasn't convenient for an already flighty attention span to be interrupted every five minutes with important reminders about lawyers, dog food and diapers.

Commercials didn't bother me quite so much when I was a kid and addicted to TV. They provided important pit stops in the decompression cartoon binge-watching that took place immediately after school.

A television commercial featuring Mrs. Olson explaining that Folgers coffee was "mountain grown" and "the richest kind" was just enough time for a kid to pee and get another bowl of Sugar Smacks.

My TV addiction continued into my early and mid-teens, when I would tune in to music shows like "American Bandstand," "The Groovy Show" and "Shindig!"

Later, I discovered substances capable of turning my entire head into its own TV. While this form of entertainment had its own drawbacks, at least it was commercial-free. There were no mandatory interruptions unless the police showed up.

I'm old now. My television watching is limited to the KUTV Channel 2 news program at 10 p.m. after I climb into bed. I'm usually asleep before Shauna and Mark give over to the weather.

Not watching television keeps me out of the loop on a lot of things, most of which didn't matter in the first place. I rarely know what movies are playing in the theaters. I'm not always up on the news. And new product announcements have to wait until I actually see the item in the store.

I prefer to read. My own imagination is far superior to that of Hollywood, especially if I'm not taking my meds. Best of all, there are no commercials in books.

Back when newspapers were the best way to get the news, it was different. By this I mean actual newspapers. The ones made out of paper? They were full of advertising to be sure, but I didn't have to read them. I could read around them, and it didn't slow me down a bit.

I'm still reading newspapers today. Digitally, of course. And I've come full circle. I'm back to fighting the advertising battle that killed my relationship with television.

Digital newspaper commercials come in the form of pop-ups, fly-ins, rollover and sound ads enhanced to the point of ear damage. They jump into your face until you can get rid of them.

I don't hate advertising per se. In fact, I know it's necessary. I just hate being forced to watch/see it, or, worse, wait for it to load until I can continue with what I wanted to see in the first place.

Advertisers need to rethink how they're handling things. A way to find out how annoying the public finds this type of in-your-face attention grabbing is to try it out on someone reading a book.

Walk up and yank the book out of their hands in order to give them an important message about lawn care. See how many times it takes before they put something in your face.

Robert Kirby can be reached at rkirby@sltrib.com or facebook.com/stillnotpatbagley.