Two Massachusetts residents and a Californian who bought stuff at Apple stores across eastern Massachusetts yesterday sued Apple, alleging they got junk mail when the company figured out their home addresses from the Zip codes they say they were required to hand over at the cash register.

The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Boston, seeks treble damages for themselves and all the other Massachusetts residents they claim were grievously harmed by the alleged practice.

Whether you’re someone who sits on the couch with the cat or time shifts your entertainment and loads it onto your mobile device, technology has changed our TV watching.

These days - and maybe you already have one - there are Apple TV devices, Roku boxes, Google TV and many more so-called connected TV devices. And these types of technology have opened up the capability for people to enjoy their entertainment.

To that end, as I type this there are five entertainment and tech industry executives sitting in bar stools at the front of a Hill Holliday conference room in downtown Boston. These TV pros have their own opinions about how you should watch TV. Whether you believe them or step into line with their wishes is really up to you.

So who are they and what are they saying? On the panel are: Aaron McNally of Google TV; Anderw Kippen of Boxee; Greg RIvera of Xbox; Chas Smith of Roku; and Tara Maitra of TIVO.

When asked by Hill Holliday’s Mike Proulx, “Who are these devices for?” the panelist responded as follows...

Covering technology events is a breeze, but sometimes - as with today’s #TVNext panel in Boston at Hill Holliday - you sometimes run into a challenge. Today's event is a challenge for me because I've already heard some astonishing facts and it's only 10AM. We now watch TV five hours a day, on average, in America.

Let me paint the picture and then I'll share where that five-hour figure came from.

Mike the Mad Biologist discovers first hand that that cool, cool minimalism of the new Apple store on Boylston street kinda sucks when it's raining:

... Then there's the elegantly designed minimalist interior which has no carpeting. That means that everyone's umbrella piddles on the floor and leaves puddles everywhere.

So the Apple Store devised a solution: at the door, you have to enclose your umbrella in a plastic bag to prevent umbrella piddling. Of course, this is described as "ensuring your safety." And it's environmentally friendly to boot. So now you're in the store, into which people are tracking dirt and mud--there's no rug to wipe your feet. Minimalist interiors with light gray floors don't look so good with mud (and umbrella piddle). ...

And all that's before you even get to the plastic staircase.

The Apple store on Boylston Street is set to open on May 16th at 6 PM. It is reportedly the largest such store in the world.