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Development Of The TiVo Remote Charted
victor_the_cleaner writes "The New York Times (anonymous readers need not apply) has an article about the development of the TiVo remote control. The article reviews the user-centered design approach the designers took. According to the lead designer, they considered 'how it feels in the hand, for long periods of time.' How about you - do you have an emotional attachment to your TiVo remote? Or other well-designed objects?"
"...emotional attachment to ... other well-designed objects"
Oh, no... why must they ask such a question on Slashdot?!? Why?!?
I had but a simple dream, to destroy all humans.
"how it feels in the hand, for long periods of time"... I don't know about you, but I don't get attached to things that feel good in my hand... except for certain bod- errr nevermind
It is obvious what it is designed for and easy to use.
The TiVo folks really did a great job in the design of the remote, however I would have liked it a little smaller. It's kind of like the phasers in Star Trek TNG which went from being gun-like to being tamagotchi-like to the final TV remote shape. If TiVo could fit all that functionality into a tamagotchi sized remote, I would be the first one at the store to buy.
I have been pwned because my
Laught. It's not *that* funny.
...and in other news, several thousand internet users mysteriously suffered spontaneous eye bleeding.
Just my humble opinion... but the TiVo Peanut Remote is the best designed remote control ever made. It fits your hand perfectly, and all of the controls are easily reached with your thumb. The only problem is that it can't control your DVD player.
"...emotional attachment to ... other well-designed objects"
Although I also have 4 other PCs, the only one I feel attached to is my Mac, all the others can go to hell.
hmm (pls don't tell my gf about this)
I don't think karma-whoring works very well without line breaks :p
My fiancee got me this awesome programmable remote control. You know, with the touch sensitive lcd, learning functions (works with Bose stereos even!). That cleaned up 5 remotes off of our coffee table. The only remote I refuse to program into it is the Tivo remote. That thing is perfect. Accept no substitute. Every button is well placed, and easy to locate without looking. She understands...
---- El diablo esta en mis pantalones! Mire, mire!
This is a really cool project you might want to check out if you're interested in controlling the TiVo unit with a web browser rather than the standard remote control. i mean, sure the control is great and all, but i prefer a mouse :)
see here.
I have a strong attachment to my WASD layout for FPS games.
Often times at work I find my fingers relaxing into FPS stance.
Always wonder if they make all of their models of mice for left handed people as well though?
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/02/18/tec hnology/19REMOTE.b.jpg
Yep, remote control is the first thing that comes to mind when viewing their prototypes.
Error: Id10t detected
What about badly designed objects? My comcast cable remote is horrible. To use the scroll buttons on the program guide (if it can be called such, half of it is ads) I need to contort my wrist. Why remote controls are still shaped like hotdog buns is beyond me. On some level, these designers must realize that an ideal situation would involve a more mouse-like remote. And please, lets start using RF instead of IR. I'm sick of pointing my remote. Yes I'm that lazy.
Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
Africus aut Europaeus?
Google Link here
I had a series one Philips TiVo and liked it a lot, so I replaced it with a Pioneer series two TiVo with DVD-R. The remote control is 99% similar, but the button in the lower left that was 'clear' on the Philips (used to kill the guide display and all kinds of other things) is now 'TV power'.
It's been 3 months and I still kill the TV power about every 20 minutes...
God I hate the NYT registration. I must have over 25 different accounts there by now and just keep forgetting them. Anyway: use the google partner-link
If an experiment works, something has gone wrong.
i havnt used a TiVo remote, but i can sure as hell say that ATI made one nice remote for PC. hmmm, never thought of the TiVo as a remote before, as i'm a software developer working with several wireless remotes... maybe i will get one a play around with it now.
With the recent trend of article mirror trolls, I don't trust the first poster's text.
Now Preening on the Coffee Table: The TiVo Remote Control
I've had my TiVo for about 4 years or so now, and I use the remote as little as possible. I feed my DirecTV box into it and use the remote for that to change the channels, view the DTV guide, etc. Aside from the fact that the remote sucks, I never liked the fact that changing the TiVo channel erases the 30 minute buffer (I don't keep up on TiVo hacks, so maybe there's a way around that one by now). The curvy design is annoying, and it's fallen on the ground so much because of the odd shape that it now makes the old broken-plastic-pieces-inside rattle noise.
My dad has a TiVo (a gift for my mom...) and he actually made a cradle for his so it rests flat on the table next to the couch. He likes to be able to press buttons while it's still on the table, which is all but impossible given the curviness.
For what it's worth, I think the Nokia 6190 (or the non-gsm variants) is one of my all-time favorite designs in this category. I almost wish I could turn that thing into a remote control, as the buttons, display, feel in the hand, weight, and size were just about perfect. IMHO.
We all know a whole bunch of smartass posters are going to post innuendo about well shaped objects and their relation to dildos.
Welcome to the next Wired article, "Geeks like dildos more than they like TiVo remotes".
--
The last digit of pi is four.
"how it feels in the hand, for long periods of time."
As an interface designer I'm happy on both a professional and personal level to see user-centric design getting press lately. On the other hand I'm afraid that a lot of MBA-types will read articles like this and figure that they can just throw a designer at a problem and expect them to fix everything that's wrong with their product.
Real UI design will not fix fundamental flaws in a product. In fact a good designer will probably uncover problems that no one had noticed before. The reason that Tivo's interface is good is because the entire product was designed from the beginning around being easy to use. I'm willing to bet that there were designers involved in the product from the very beginning.
I recommend that people interested in this sort of thing read Alan Cooper's The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. It's a bit harsh on engineers and I don't buy Cooper's zealousness regarding his techniques but it has a lot of good insight into what can go wrong and how to avoid it.
I also really wish that the press could find a better poster child for our indutry than Nielsen, whose core competency is attention whoring and getting people to pay him thousands of dollars for speaking gigs [something he excels at]. He's got some pretty smart coworkers who have actually designed products that changed the way we interact with computers. Nielsen's crown jewel is a kooky Sun skunkworks project.
After TiVo stuck their foot in their mouths when they subliminally announced they monitor what you're doing, why the heck would I even bother...
Kissing your privacy goodbye...
MoFscker
Why has the dark remote in the article got two buttons missing???
My Katana (forged blade, with traditional mounts). Designed for cutting, great grip. Love my kat.
...TiVo remote? Or other well-designed objects?
:)
Yes, my second generation iPod
Cheers,
Mike
Intel transfer the difficult from Hadware to software, for get more power, programmer need more technology. -- chinaitn
I have used the TiVo remote, and it is pretty good... I prefer the remote I have, though.
It is the Radio Shack universal 15-2116 (previously 14-1994, which I also still own). I hacked together a little parallel cable to connect it to my computer and program every single button exactly how I want (called the JP1 hack). You can map any button any way you want, clear out the memory of unused buttons, etc. I have that thing programmed for 6 different things (from the replayTV to the original Apex hacked dvd player to an offbrand tv/vcr combo) and have the buttons so intuitively mapped that I don't ever need to look at it. It also has this weird textured plastic that feels like hardened suede. IR learning and everything else, all for $30.
IANAL, but I play one on
Karma: Contrapositive
By the way, one complaint I've heard (and can see) in the Phillips remote design is the fact that it's too symmetrical front-to-back -- when watching tv in the dark, it's hard to know if you're holding it the right way. Guess they didn't think of turning out the lights when they were doing their ergonomic tests. Whoops!
Ha-hah!
"Orthodoxy is unconsciousness" - Orwell
"I recommend that people interested in this sort of thing read Alan Cooper's The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. It's a bit harsh on engineers and I don't buy Cooper's zealousness regarding his techniques but it has a lot of good insight into what can go wrong and how to avoid it."
The psychology of everyday things is a good one. There's also two others (sorry not home) that deal with handheld devices, one the precursor to the PDA, and the other a PDA. There's actually a lot of material on human-machine design, but the people who do this are much like teachers as far as regard (and pay). I also recommend a good book on when things fail (be it architecture or project failures).
My biggest issues with my rather new Direct TV tivo are as follows:
The guide is sloooooowwwww. Way slower than the old RCA vanilla reciever.
I can't filter out the channels I don't get, and have no interest in nearly as easily as the old reciever did. The RCA would automatically go through the list; any channels I didn't subscribe to would be removed from the list. I could also scroll through and *see* the channel (Bye bye, Home Shopping networks!) that I was deleting - no trying to decipher the 3 letter acronyms. I was done in 3 minutes with the RCA; with the Tivo, I'd better set an evening aside.
The tivo is recording shows I might like to watch on channels I don't get! Great movie, Tivo! I love the way you mock my poverty by recording two hours of black screen!
No use for the USB ports on the back. I was all excited thinking I could dump some shows right to my Powerbook and burn some DVDs. Nope. Sure I can record to VCR, but why? It's sooo 1995.
No Home Media Option as of yet for Direct TV PVRs. Not that I can't do this with the old PB, but I feel like I'm being shorted. (See previous point)
The remote is far and away the best one I have, but I still need other crappy ones to control stupid features on my TV, Sterio, and VCR.
The first company to devise a 'middleman' remote that waits for a 3 digit code from my tivo remote, then shunts further remote functions to my chosen equip is going to get my money. It could be programmed with the 'left out' functions of all my other remotes (PiP on my 97 Magnavox TV, for instance), then I could put them in a drawer somewhere and forget about them 'till garage sale time.
No reason I can't learn key combos - you have to in order to play any video game these days. Perhaps when I select the VCR it can scream "FATALLITY!" at me.
Another problem with the Philips remote is that it feels the same upside down, making it hard to tell which way you're holding it in the dark. With the Sony remote, I can do everything without even glancing at the thing.
On the whole, the Sony remote is among the best remotes I've ever used for anything. No extraneous buttons (you use basically everything), but the frequently used stuff is intelligently placed.
I have to stop and wonder at their claims... They can bill you via identification, but not 'know' who you are?... Ok fine. So what happens when something similar to the RIAA comes out for TV, because after all unless you're blind you would see those annoying FBI warnings that come on when watching movies. Or did you think you didn't need permission to record that. So (of course a what if scenario) what happens when lawsuits start dropping on users of TiVo... "Hey we're you're friends, we would never monitor your habits for targeted advertising and sell millions of users' information for mmillions. We're honest because by golly we're TiVo, and although we monitor what you watch to target advertisers to you we would never give out your info."
Hrmm sure alright, you're right I am a troll. Corporations would never do the wrong thing like sell your information for millions. They all have morals.
MoFscker
"Welcome to the next Wired article, "Geeks like dildos more than they like TiVo remotes"."
Well if you're going to put batteries into something.
At least that's the way it went in my house. I suspect a number of slashdot users - certainly myself - have so many remote controls they replace them with an all-in-one remote. My current cheapy all in one controls my CD player, my TV, sky box, vcr and DVD. And nice as any individual device's remote control may be, I'd rather stick it in a drawer and use the all-for-one instead of having to fumble for more than one remote.
sorry must have forgotten to close that annoying ass bold tag
MoFscker
Since Tivo came out with their restrictive dongle and DRM, I really don't give a rats' ass about them anymore.
I've always loved the way my GameCube controller sits perfectly in my hands, and the deep contour of the shoulder buttons. The Control Stick is very precise and sensitive, and isn't too loose. The face button configuration is likewise very intuitive and easy to use without looking at the controller.
:)
Sure, it took a little getting used to for some games. But there were a few games (mostly ports) who did a bad job with controller mappings in the beginning. Any native GameCube game controls beautifully. I prefer the controller to the PS2 controllers. They are also nice controllers, but a little boxy, and I can't stand the analog sticks. Way too loose for me.
That's my attachment.
// The article really pissed me off because of the huge flash ad in the middle of the page. You shouldn't suffer the same. Missing: stock photo of a remote control.
To most home viewers, remote controls may seem like ancillary sidekicks to the main attraction that is the television, DVD player or digital video recorder. Yet in some ways the remote has become the centerpiece of home entertainment: so many functions have been relegated to this slip of an object that if it is lost, you may find yourself unable to do so much as call up a menu for watching the movie you popped into the DVD player.
But if the remote control is a linchpin, it is also often an inscrutable one. A typical remote may have some 40 buttons, with functions that are hard to divine. Often the labels - "toggle," "planner" and the like - are no help. The device can feel like an afterthought, thrown together without any planning at all.
Increasingly, however, electronics companies are recognizing that building an easy-to-use remote control is an important and challenging task. To improve the remote, they are deploying teams of experienced industrial designers who focus on the product for months - and reaching out to consumers for advice.
In 1998, design engineers at TiVo, the Silicon Valley company that helped introduce the digital video recorder to the world, set out to produce a distinctive remote control. The result was a textbook blend of complexity and ease of use.
The peanut-shaped TiVo remote is at once playful and functional. A smiling TV set with feet and rabbit ears, the company's logo, graces the top. Distinctive buttons like a green thumbs-up and a red thumbs-down button have helped the remote win design awards from the Consumer Electronics Association.
"They did a really good job," said Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group, a technology consulting firm in Fremont, Calif. Mr. Nielsen called the oversize yellow pause button in the middle of the remote "the most beautiful pause button I've ever seen."
When Paul Newby, TiVo's director of consumer design, arrived in June 1998, as the company was just starting up, he and a team of six designers were given 14 weeks to come up with a functioning remote control. Along the way they relied not only on their own instincts but also on feedback from potential users on everything from the feel of the device in the hand to the best place for the batteries.
Mr. Newby, 45, a mechanical engineer, came to TiVo by way of designing much larger objects - Caterpillar construction equipment, to be specific. Designing something that was by comparison microscopic was an inviting challenge.
Many remotes are monochromatic slices of hard plastic. For years, they have generally stuck to the old design conventions, a rectangle with neat rows and columns of buttons lined up like so many cadets.
"They were designed by - and I hate to say it because I am one of them - engineers," Mr. Newby said.
Mr. Nielsen said: "They work well if you're sitting in bright light and you have good eyesight and you're 20 or 30 years old. They're overloaded with features you don't really need except once a year or once a lifetime."
The shape of the remote - the subtlety of how it feels in the hand - was Mr. Newby's first major design consideration.
Because of the nature of the TiVo video recorder, the remote is held for long periods as users continually choose shows to record, skip commercials, fast-forward and rewind recorded shows, rate programs by pressing the thumbs-up or thumbs-down buttons, and even pause live TV. Designing a remote that consumers would find comfortable was a high priority.
Central to the process, Mr. Newby said, was producing prototypes "early, ugly and often."
Ugly?
"There tends to be this conservatism in the design process," he said. "I encourage young designers to go off and scare me.''
Some of the results fell under the category of "Be careful what you wish for." One sket
I think that Tivo is a triumph in usability. Not only is the remote very comfortable to hold (it is by far my favorite remote), but the GUI on the application itself is extremely well thought out.
I can't count how many times when using Xbox Media Center to watch a movie that I've been frustrated by the many ways that that XBMP falls short of the Tivo experience.
The fast forward / rewind interface is beautiful. Not only is the predictive fast forwarding extremely convenient, but it also shows you where you are in the movie in an equivalent of a scroll bar.
It's a shame that it isn't easier to convert MPEGs into TMFs that can be inserted w/ MFSFTP. If it was, I'd be watching my archived movies on my Tivo instead of in XBMP in a heart beat.
My only complaint (actually My GF's complaint) is that it sometimes is difficult for her in the dark to figure out which side is up and which is down.
Evolution: love it or leave it
The remote was also annoying as there was no way to extend it, even for something simple you HAVE to do. My idiot TV always resets itself to channel 3 when turned off. So the first thing I want to do is change the channel back to "AV" input (where the nice S-video attached to my Tivo is). There is no way to have the Tivo remote change a channel.
Two problems with cheapy all in ones. One it doesn't operate your device (have a VCR like that). Two doesn't have all the functions that the original did. Now you can get more expensive, but I hope you're not hard on your remotes. $50 poof.
The TiVo remote is indeed well-designed and more or less a joy to use. However, it seems to suffer a problem pandemic to all remotes: the eventual mysterious "buttons need ever-larger amounts of pressure to make electrical contact" problem. I tried taking it apart (which, of course, no remote is designed for), breaking the tiny points of the circuit board at the front. I washed the contacts anyway and put it back together, only to discover that the buttons now worked well, but the visible-light LED no longer worked. Sigh.
So I ordered a replacement from the TiVo website. Oddly expensive -- $35. Plus, only the translucent blue was available. On top of that, when it came, I discovered it was slightly different from the old remote in form and function. The immediate upshot was that it's slightly longer, which, having gotten used to the good layout so intuitively before, required a period of adjustment to the new positions without having to look or feel for it.
Anwyay. Anyone have a better method to cure (or prevent) that button-mashing problem?
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
Hate it all you want, but it is the editor for the pure touch typist. Nothing else even comes close.
Billy boy, ya done good. Bless you.
KFG
I used to have a Philips Pronto remote (with the LCD screen that looks like a bloated Palm) and it was very flexible, but impossible to use in the dark: you had to look at it to see where the buttons were, since it was just a touch-screen. (Then I dropped a cup on it and the screen cracked, so that was the end of that.)
of course Apple hardware goes without saying...
Biggest aesthetic triumph i can think of otherwise are the wavebird controllers for nintendo gamecube. the buttons are easy to identify by feel/shape, the layout in general just makes sense (heavily based on playstation, i know...) -- and most importantly, they don't make your hands uncomfortable even if you play for hours on end [and there's plenty of us who do.]
The wretched four-way button at the top is awful. When it's used so much for navigation, they should really have made sure that it always goes the way you want it to go (and the right number of times).
Maybe I'm just unlucky, but the number of times it's registered one of up/down as left/right (or vice versa) or double hit (a problem with some of the other buttons too) is no joke - and I've only had it for a couple of weeks!
This is a UK model, so it may have a different build quality from the US models.
In short, it's *designed* wonderfully, but implemented slightly less so.
I find it incredibly frustrating to look at a 'TV Input' button that doesn't control the input on MY TV.
Sony models can learn on volume and mute buttons, and I think tv power, but even that isn't enough.
I switched to the Harmony remote that sort of looks like the Tivo one. It has it's own issues, but I never have to pull out an original remote to do something ordinary.
It would be nice if it didn't look like a little black dildo on my bed when its flipped-over. Seriously.
You know, the first thing my girlfriend said when we unpacked the TiVO from its box and placed the remote face-down on the table was, "Why did you buy me a dildo to go with your new toy?"
I mean, great remote, but it really DOES look like a sex toy. Also it's too easy to hold it upside down if you're not looking. A couple of weights in the bottom of the unit would have taken care of that (I mean more weight than the batteries).
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
What I LOVE about my TiVo remote is the way every button press is recorded and sent back to the TiVo command complex once an evening!
/var/log/tivoLog.prv. 'ln -fn /dev/null /var/log/tivoLog.prv' will do the trick quite nicely.
If that bothers you, you can opt-out, or hack the unit. It's
When I tryed out a Tivo for the first time it took me forever to figure out that the funky emblem was a button.
Great design my ass.
Artist will always make art.
... then search for page 2.
The remote control for Sky digital TV beats every other remote I've ever used. The button layout is designed perfectly and the weight and balance make the remote want to stay in your hand without effort. Looks good too.
g if
Colours are a bit off in this picture but...
http://skybuy.sky.com/img_live/HTML-SA0015_large.
The remote for Sky+ (a PVR) has a few extra buttons on it for record and playback. Has more of a silver finish to it and looks even nicer.
While I don't have many major qualms over the TiVo remote, one issue I always have with remotes are their physical properties. I own a few pieces of Bang & Olufsen kit, and they built their remote out of Zinc. So not only is the remote cool to the touch when you go to grab it, but it is heavier than a plastic remote as well. I even have it set up now to where I don't have to use my TiVo remote, I can use my Beo4 remote from Bang & Olufsen instead.
Have you ever tried a B&O remote? It's IR-based and works even if you point it in the direct opposite direction of the TV/stereo! The (only) problem with IR-based remotes is that they usually are cheap crap.
The original Palm PDA had similar origins. The creator of the Palm, Jeff Hawkins, carved a block of wood into a size that would comfortably fit into his shirt pocket, and using a "stylus" made from a whittled-down chopstick walked around Palm inc. for a month or two entering dates and phone numbers and taking the thing with him to meetings.
In my opinion, this is the way you should design any technology product; user experience first, technical stuff, code, and engineering later.
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
Frankly I preferred the remote that Sony shipped with their first generation TiVo product to the one TiVo ships with the Series 2. For one thing, the Sony remote had a "power" button which put the unit into Standby immediately. For another, the "clear" button was closer to the navigation buttons, so you could use the shortcut of pressing clear to delete a program with a single hand instead of having to use both hands.
Of course the Sony remote doesn't work with the new TiVos...planned obselescence?
...what I'm sure every Slashdot reader wants to know is whether you tried it out in "that" sort of way. Is a TiVO remote a suitable challenger to a Rampant Rabbit?
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
The worst design of remote control i've ever came across is from NTL (cable company in the UK).. its extremely unfriendly to channel flickers.. all the buttons are in the wrong place, they're sticky and i've (no joke) had cramp from using it.. now that's kinda put me off using the damn thing.. which isn't particularly good for their profits in the long run is it? come on NTL, follow TiVO's example!
Because I do not even own a TV!!!!!
Oh, wait....
Family room, bedroom, bedroom, bedroom, bedroom, bedroom (yeah, five), office, playroom, garage, mini-van....
OK...I'm superior because I own many TVs!!!
it is just the right size for a pocket, a hand, a shirt pocket, ...
other than that my sony remote feels well, too.
Honestly, folks. He might as well be talking about Linux distros, or open source software generally. In my experience, open source UIs are just plain terrible from a user perspective (though perhaps not from an engineer's).
How is free/open source software ever going to replace anything on the desktop if the people who are attracted to these projects are almost exclusively engineers and programmers? The art of UI design is very different from the art of programming, and I think the open source "community," such as it is, needs to be more aware of the need for skilled UI designers.
How to get UI people to join open source projects, however, is a mystery to me. Any ideas?
yours
I'm probably going to get slaughtered for saying something positive about Microsoft, but I love the Microsoft mouse. IMO They know how to build quality hardware, shame they can't apply that skill to other areas.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/19/technology/circu its/19remo.html">free link to article.
I think the RCA remote, which came with my: RCA TV,
RCA/Proscan DVD player, and RCA DirecTV box is a better than the TiVo remote. But perhaps I'm just used to it. Infact RCA's universal remote is identical to these remotes (each one has a slight variation, usually some extra buttons for PiP controls or something near the bottom or maybe just a different color case).
I hate the universal remote that came with my Mitsubishi 55" rear projection TV. You'd think for such a nice TV they would have build a better remote control. I guess nobody really buys things based on what kind of remote control it comes with.
That's a shame. A good user interface should be one of the many things a consumer considers when buying a product. Nobody I know has bought a tivo because of the remote, they all want it for the PVR functions and ignore the rest. And for whatever reason they don't consider ReplyTV or anything else. It's tivo or nothing.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
I just got some very nice kitchen stuff. The old room-mate was a chef, and he took all his nice tools when he left. I decided I wanted good gear, as I love to cook, so the wife and I went on a bit of a shopping spree.
The DeLonghi toaster we got is fantastic. It's got a brushed aluminum finish and kind of looks like an old Airstream trailer. It has a cancel button, defrost button, and a bagel button, and the darkness knob is so smooth, it feels like it should be on high end stereo equipment.
I picked out three Wusthof knives: the classic model 8" chef's, 6" hollow ground santoku, and 3" paring knife. These are very high quality steel, which is important. Cheap knives won't take or hold a decent edge. They make two other models of equal quality steel, with different handles. My ex roommate says for professional chefs who may be chopping for hours at a time, the other two models are lighter and more ergonomic, but I like the heft and traditional style of the classic line.
I also got a set of Scanpan cookware. Goodbye Teflon. Whatever nonstick stuff they use on these is amazing. It's somehow melded into the metal so it won't scratch off even with metal tools. They also have a multi layered construction with some kind of titanium alloy in it somewhere, so they have great heat distribution. And they are tough. I let a pot of water boil dry the other night while snuggling on the couch with my wife watching 'Lost in Translation' again. Nothing melted or cracked, and the mineral scale and discoloration came right off.
Also the (relatively) new kind of silicone spatulas and tools are great. Mine are rated good up to 500F/260C. They are also more flexible than the old rubber kind and don't wear out as fast.
I wanted a KitchenAid mixer, but the wife nixed it as she is on Atkins and baking anything would be torture to her. If you can eat bready things and like to bake, these are worth the price. You can pass them on to your kids.
I did get a Cuisenart blender/food processor combo. It's a little small, and the gearing in the food processor attachment sounds like a jet engine winding up, but it is powerful and nicely made.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
All devices should include all the buttons available on the remote on the front of the device. If that's a problem, the can be hidden behind an idiot door. (A door so that idiots aren't consfused by the buttons)
A related issue is that tv related devices need to be able to completely disable on screen displays and should include an LED display for important information like channel number. I don't want to have to cover up the picture just to know what channel I'm on. (Those station logos have got to go too!)
That being said, the best remote I ever owned was for my 1980 Sony Trinitron. A clasic rectangle shape, just the right width and length, featuring metal vener, and metalized rounded buttons. I hate those damned rubberized membrane pad buttons. The TV, by the way, featured classy wood grain sides which included handles making it easy to pick up. Every try to pick up on of the newer trinitons? It would be a *lot* easier if they included handles.
The Tivo remote is a fantastic design, but I've replaced it with a universal remote - truly universal; that has programable LCD buttons on the top 25% and REAL buttons with different shapes for the remaining.
This new remote replaced no less than 2 other so called "universal remotes." No longer will you have to hunt for the original remote because your universal remote is missing 1 or 2 buttons, this thing controls them all, supports macros, is programmed over a PC interface, can learn commands, and comes with many devices preprogrammed into the interface.
What is it? A "Home Theater Master MX-700"
http://www.remotecentral.com/mx700/
I found it on eBay for $140. Ok, that is steep for a remote. It is about $50 more than other full featured remotes that lack those few buttons. I ask you, how much satisfaction will you get when nobody can complain that your universal remote isn't really universal anymore. There is a newer model which has features I didn't need.
Whatever you do, avoid those fancy all LCD remotes. There's no "feel" to them and you'll be pressing the wrong buttons contantly.
Did I mention it controls **everything** on my Tivo perfectly with intellegent tactile button locations?
do you have an emotional attachment to your TiVo remote? Or other well-designed objects?
You shouldn't have such an attachment. Good design shoud fade below your consciousness. Like a good pair of shoes; you shouldn't need to remember you are wearing them, they just work. You don't get an emotional attachement to light switches: they just work. When you get onew which doesn't, you curse it. If you do get such an emotional attachment, it means that there is a lot of bad design out there that you are reacting against. The fact that this article is interesting shows what a lot of badly designed handsets there are out there (see lots of preceding posts). Whioch shows how much of the time people are willing to accept mediocre results. OK, at first generation, results are bound to be mediocre: nobody did it before. But how many generations are we into remotes? About thirty years since the first domestic remotes came out, and domestic goods having a lifetime of two years at most. We have had 15 generations of remotes, and it is still newsworthy when someone tries to make a good one!
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
Does the article detail the "evolution" of the Tivo remote to not have commercial skipping OR 30 second jump anymore?
If you're thinking about buying a PVR, seriously, either buy a ReplayTV, or build your own MythTV or Freevo Box. Tivo is a horrible company. They got rid of all commercial skipping ability ( ReplayTV still has one button commercial skip, even in the new 55xx models ) and they locked the box up hard core. With a ReplayTV, you can very easily copy the mpeg2 files it records off of your unit to store on a hard drive or burn to DVD or CD, and you can stream shows easily from the Replay to a computer, and from a computer to the Replay.
You can do all of this without having to hack the box; it's built in functionality. So please, support a good company ( Dennon ) instead of Tivo if you are going to buy a PVR instead of building one.
I must be one of the rare ones but I've found that the TiVo remote isn't the panacea led to believe by the article.
The numeric keys are to me in a very odd position and require me to either set the remote down or use two hands - one to hold and the other to push the buttons - to type in the direct channel number.
Everything else is in a good spot though I wish it had a 'live TV button' like the sony versions did instead of having to hit the TiVo button twice - because sometimes it gets a little behind and you play the flipping TiVo menus as it goes to live TV and back.
Just my $0.02 from someone who's had a TiVo since 2000.
As a rock-in-roll Physicist once said, No matter where you go, there you are.
... There's no OFF button! To turn the damn thing off, I have to navigate down six lines of a menu to "standby." Sure I've programmed my universal remote to do it for me, but if it's not quite pointed directly at the unit, or if the batteries are running low... grrrrr!
ScienceSeeker.org
Amen to this. Other than that, it's a really nice concept, but I can't belive other people are overlooking this, maybe it is a UK only thing.
This frequently annoys me - it does this all the time (and I've had it for 4 years). I have no idea how that got passed any sort of quality control. It just point blank frequently ignores what direction you press in and very often sends what's interpreted as two presses when you only pressed once.
On the same topic, the new iPods annoy me too. I vastly prefer the old interface on my origional 5 GB iPod - the tactile buttons are far superior to the new ones I feel (you can no longer feel around for the buttons in your pocket, like you could with the origional design - if you try this on a 'new' iPod it invariably results in you jumping to the next or previous track).
My testicles feel good in the palm.
Very well designed, quite ergonomic.
Snap-on wrenches!
Yes, it's nice while it's in your hand, but mine spends a lot more time on a table than in my hand. And this device sucks when it's on a table. It's got these two little flat bits on the bottom near the two ends, but other than those, it's all curved. You've got to get those two contact points onto the same flat surface for the remote to be stable. If you don't, the thing falls over constantly. So, whenever I want to start watching my TiVo, because of their remote design, the first step is a hunt for the remote. None of my other remotes have this problem.
Yeah, but what about a delete button? I figured I had to be missing something. I just got Tivo for Christmas and that's the one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb. Shouldn't I be able to delete with one button if I realize that I'm watching a re-run or just a program I'm not interested in?
The Red Pill
I have yet to find an A/V receiver remote that's comfortable. A hundred buttons crammed onto a large, flat, uncomfortable brick. And maybe a cover at the top or bottom that you flip open to reveal another 25 teeny tiny buttons!
And why is it that every remote that comes with a new appliance (with the exception of Tivo) is designed to be a "universal remote" capable of controlling all our other gear? Great idea on paper, but I've never seen it executed very well, except in high-end universal remotes with backlit screens and such.
-CausticPuppy "Of all the people I know, you're certainly one of them." -Somebody I don't know
- I'm sure the two thumbed tester loved it, but it's really hard to hit the delete key in the bottom left and then the select key in the top middle using one hand.
- 30 second skip button and the tv input select button are too close together.
I love my garmin 12xl GPS. They were the first to put the control buttons on TOP of the LCD display. It's a good thickness, and as durable as a rock. I've had it strapped to my chest while white water rafting and it never missed a turn.
M@
Krispy Cream is people
One of the best examples from that Alan Cooper book is alarm clocks.
That's also a perfect example of dysfunctional relationships between user design and the engineer. There are alarm clocks that project the time on the wall or ceiling, alarm clocks that (supposedly) lull me to sleep with white noise or "nature sounds," and alarm clocks that wake me with my favorite CD -- but every blinking last one of them has horrible user design, especially for the intended audience: sleepy, disoriented people who don't have their contacts in. It's pretty amazing to consider just how awkward the things are.
The guts of a better alarm clock: Bigger buttons that are clearly differentiated, even without my glasses on. Decent control over my snooze-ing -- limits on number of times, variable length, etc. would be nice. Readable displays that show different information -- ta dum! -- differently. ("Alarm" is not the same as "PM" and should not be an identical dot on the display.) And so on.
Everyone has one of these, but the business hasn't produced a really good alarm clock at the commodity level for Target to carry. Designers with swooshy plastic cases aren't going to fix the problem by themselves.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
I helped build the little parallel cable that runs his remote, since Aeronautical engineers aren't much with soldering irons. I was going to build one for myself, until I actually tried using his. I guess you get used to it, but I decided I prefer a remote where you can tell what the buttons do just by looking at it, rather than having to be the one that programmed it. He says "intuitive," but that's because it's his setup. I couldn't figure out how to control his replayTV with it. That's the big drawback for the programmable remotes that don't have screen faces-- you can't change the text.
But hey, everybody likes what they like. I like the original Tivo peanut remote, but the new slightly longer one that came with my DirecTivo ruins the perfect balance and layout of the old one.
I know what you mean (a friend of mine is a Sony nut, all the remotes he has are awful), but the Sony TiVo remote is completely different from any other remote Sony has made. I would even go so far as to say that it's better then the TiVo peanut remote, and that's saying a lot.
The remote is just so perfectly balanced and shaped... I actually started to fall in love with TiVo just because of the remote without ever seeing the TiVo interface.
My English teacher once told me that two positives don't make a negative. Two words for her: Yeah, right.
My wife insists that the TiVo remote is better than any back massagers out there.
I know, I know, I'm married, so I've broken my geek vow of poverty and paris hilton pron... cast me out...
I had a Series 1 tivo, and I loved its remote. No problem hitting the numbers, or turning the tv/receiver on without moving my hand or contorting myself. I *loved* that remote. Perfect balance, ergonomics, layout, etc...
I got a DirecTivo, which is fantastic because of the two tuners and the digital recording. But they decided to redesign the remote. It's longer (so much for the balance), it has unused buttons in key places (there's an unused "window" button where power used to be, and power is hidden in the middle now-- so much for layout), and the layout/length change makes it so you have to either use two hands or shift it in your hand to reach all the buttons. Very disappointing. Thankfully, my old remote will control the DirecTivo to a degree (the new separate guide button makes it tough)-- I just wish DirecTV hadn't felt the need to mess with perfect. The Phillips Series 1 tivo remote was spectacular and "just exactly what you need," turning on TV and receiver, channel changes tivo, and volume changes your choice of tv or receiver.
Of course, it won't control your DVD, VCR, change inputs on your tv/receiver, or learn the secret codes for your HTPC card's IR dongle. But that would require a slew of extra buttons.
As someone who has used both the Sony-style and Phillips-style remotes, I can't see calling the Phillips 'peanut' well-designed.
I loved my Sony remotes, they were easy to hold and the buttons were all placed in easy to remember locations, and were very distinct by feel. The flaw with the 'Peanut' isn't evident until you try to use it in a darkened room.
First, the remote itself is symmetrical, which means you can't tell the top from the bottom. At least once a night, I point the bottom at the TV and either get no response, or the opposite effect (FF instead of RW, Pause instead of Play)
The next issue is that while the playback control buttons are different sizes and shapes, the thumbs up and down and page up/down are nearly the same shape and located next to each other. So sometimes, instead of scrolling through the guide, I'm randomly rating programs.
That's not the worst of it, the other control buttons (on/off, video select, go back and go to end) are all the same shape (small circles) and located immediately next to each other. The same issue occurs. I want to go back, and I end up turning off my TV. I want to change to another video input, and I end up going to the end of the program I'm watching.
On average, I hit the wrong button about 5 times in an evening's worth of viewing, or end up pointing the remote the wrong way. This is the only remote that I've owned that I've ever had an issue with, and it's serious enough that I've considered actually hacking my old Sony remotes that I still have. Sony Remote Hack
It's not that I hate the Phillip's 'Peanut's design itself, it is ergonomic. It's the button layout and sizes that are the main issue.
Dr. Wu
"I Know This SuperHighway"
Eh, I use a reversal remote control for everything and keep my pile of remotes in a drawer where they belong. And I also prefer ReplayTV over Tivo.
James
http://james.nontrivial.org
which means that if your're not careful and not looking you could change the channel instead of reversing a bit to rehear that line of dialog you missed. Of course that means that you've lost the history of what you were watching. That is my biggest peave about the TiVO remote.
Take the remote completely apart, removing every component possible. When disassembling, take notice of where the battery wires and/or springs run so that you can return them to their original positions. Also, note the order in which you removed the parts.
Clean the plastic housings and other case parts like the battery cover with dish soap, water and an old toothbrush. Clean the button side of the button membrane with the toothbrush, but do not get water on the contact pad side. The circuit board usually just needs a good dusting, I typically dry blow it off. (By dry-blow, I mean "don't use spit-or-humidity-laden breath".) And never directly contact any circuit board with the nozzle or brush of a vacuum cleaner, they generate tremendous amounts of static which can blow chips.
If the circuit board is really filthy or sticky, (as in "beer spill",) you will need to clean it and the membrane pads with the soap and toothbrush, too. Make sure you completely and thoroughly dry the parts afterwards. I use a hair dryer. I have heard of people washing the circuit boards in the silverware tray in their dishwasher, but I have not personally tried this. I would also not put any plastic components through a heated dry cycle.
Once the circuit board is clean and dry, take a pink pencil eraser and clean the contact pads. If they are bare copper, polish each one until it is bright and shiny. If they are carbon coated, lightly rub them with the eraser but do not deeply abrade them. You just want to break through any surface dirt, not reshape them. And be careful not to rub so hard as to lift the copper traces from the circuit board, or your remote is probably toast. Afterwards, carefully brush or dry-blow all residue from the polishing. Even the tiniest particles here will cause the buttons to fail.
The buttons, however, are usually where the problem lies. For many years I've used a new U.S. dollar bill (or any new paper currency) as a mild abrasive on the black contacts. Depending on the design of the button and the membrane, you can either grip the individual buttons and rub them one at a time on the abrasive, or you can sometimes place the whole membrane assembly flat on the paper, move it with a circular motion and press the buttons to the paper. Be careful, some membranes are extremely thin and fragile. When rubbing the contacts on the abrasive, it is very important that you maintain the parallel planes between the button pads and the circuit board pads -- if you grind too much off one edge of a button pad, you'll typically just make your problem worse. You want to rub off just enough to break through dirt and/or damage. You may need to abrade more to repair badly rounded or misshapen contacts. When it's properly done, each pad should be flat (or imperceptibly convex) and parallel to the circuit board.
Reassemble the remote, usually in the reverse order in which you took it apart. Carefully route the battery wires and/or springs back through their original positions. Finally, install out-of-the-package fresh batteries.
John
That being said, I never use it. It won't control the volume on my receiver, so it's useless to me. I generally find only "learning" remotes are useful. Code programming for other components never seems to work--either there isn't the right code, or else some critical button is missing.
So what I actually use is an MX-500 learning remote. It's a bit big, and not quite as elegant as the TiVo remote, but well designed, with plenty of buttons and a thumbstick, and able to learn on every button.
The only thing I hate about my Tivo remote is the arrow "pad." Putting all the arrows on one button means I invariably hit "right" when I meant to hit "down."
I've got an older Tivo, so maybe this problem has been resolved in later remotes.
My wife got so angry with the clutter of remotes from all of our a/v equipment that she made me get a universal. I settled on a Philips Pronto programmable remote, and it's replaced all but one of my remotes. The only one I can't shake is the Sony Tivo remote. It's different from the one that comes with a Series 2 or any of the Philips HDR Series 1 units. It just fits my hand so perfectly that I can't seem to replace it. If they had only made it a learning remote so that I can adjust receiver volume or control my DVD player... If anyone is in the market for a Tivo, the used Sony SVR-2000 and SVR-3000 units listed on eBay are great and they come with this unbeatable remote.
Of all the remote controls that I have, I have found that the Xbox DVD Remote is, by far, one of the best that I have encountered, design wise. It fits extremely confortably in your hand, you can easily reach all of the buttons with your thumb, and it's easy to read in the dark.
It is really easy to talk about the development of the remote control as an internal Tivo project while glossing over the contribution of IDEO, the leading product development firm. I assure you that the foam models shown in the story were not created by engineers, but Industrial designers. I guess the process involving a company that works on many of the products discussed here is a less intriguing story than a former Cat engineer designing one of the coolest remotes out there. I assure you, I have no affiliation with IDEO, but know a bit about them.
http://ideo.com/portfolio/re.asp?x=12389
am I the only one who hates the Tivo remote? if it's sitting next to you in the dark and you pick it up, the odds are 50/50 that you'll pick it up backwards... a good remote is obvious as to which end should point where... granted.. you can touch the buttons to figure it out... but that's dumb.
I've got a series 1 Tivo, and I agree, it's the best remote control I've ever handled. It's just the right size, I can easily reach all of the buttons. Everyone I know who has tried it agrees that it feels right.
Then the series 2 Tivos with their large remotes came out. I find I have to constantly shift my hand around to reach buttons. It's just too damn big. Why did did they take something that worked and screw it up?
Search 2010 Gen Con events
I was hoping to find a better explanation of the "window" button than "reserved for future use."
For example, a lucid reason why a remote control requires a button that has no function.
Even a marketing-related reason would be more satisfying than "coming soon: something we can't tell you about now."
we sometimes forget that everything made by our hands is designed by someone. An amazing number of these things are well-designed. The book, for example, or the wristwatch. The problem lies in that there is a lot of mediocre design all around us, too...making us work around the bad design in order to make the thing work. Some designs are cases of form over function, the others are over-engineered, and some are the result of too many focus groups. But things that are well-designed are things to cherish. All hail the TiVo Remote!
the DVR2 dtv combo box has a variation of the "peanut" where the power button is the worse place ever! And they included a button (window) that maps to nothing.
d.
It's got one huge, unbelievably bad flaw for those of us who use the Tivo in the dark - it's friggin symmetrical!
You can't tell which way is up without either looking at it or taking your time to find the Tivo button at the top... so a huge percentage of time when I'm laying in bed, I end up rewinding when I want to fast forward.
I can't believe this was picked as an example of a great remote design... we bitch about how awful it is DAILY.
Come on editors, I've SEEN it used before. Why don't you modify all the links to NYTimes to include the bits for the slashdot partnership (somethin like &PARTNER=SLASHDOT ... not sure exactly). That's what it is *there* for isn't it?
...), why don't we just use the partner link we have???
How about instead of making it a custom to bitch and moan ("first born required", "right arm and shirt off back required", "anonymous users need not apply",
no comment
Holding a remote for long periods of time is a concern.
I hate the fact that you have to look at this remote to use it.
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
"The Member ID gotohell is not available. We suggest gotohell49 instead. To accept it, click to register at the bottom of the page, or enter a new ID and click to register."
Does that mean that 48 other people have used "gotohell" as a login name? haha
Also, "screwyou@noneofyourbusiness.com" has been used before as an email address!
The Philosophy of Liberty | lewrockwell.com
Lamy pens, made in Germany. If function matters most, other pens don't come close.
The Safari and Al-star models are my favorites, and are ergonomic masterpieces.
http://lamyusa.com/
You don't wanna know how many times I've cursed them because I've hit those buttons by accident.
Note to the clueless "feature-add-on" leech designers at Hughes: TiVo originally set up the remote so the buttons you USE MOST OFTEN are under your fingers and near the circular jog dial. The buttons you would hit ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY THE LEAST are the power and source, which have no business being anywhere but the edges of the remote.
TiVo put the TV power on the upper left edge of the remote, but Hughes changed that to be a "Window" button which currently does nothing. I'll bet that once they enable the feasture, the window button will be used often of course, becuase IT's IN THE WRONG PLACE. It should be where they move TV power.
ARGGHH!!!
The TiVo remote WAS the best designed most useful remote ever, but they let their partners screw it up!
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
Sorry, I'm "attatched" in more ways than one to that ever-so-special object that feels GREAT in the hand.....
The reason why the tivo remote is great is because it's balanced.
I tried a Magnavox 3-in-1 remote to replace it but the buttons were all labelled wrongly and it was a pain to use for anything but the basic functions. *Finally* I found a "one for all" remote that has all the buttons correct and is sensible laid out. It even ahs a "PVR menu" button (though I do miss the little Tivo guy). Now I am back in Tivo heaven.
By the way, any Tivo owners out there have any good weay of dealing with certain shows ("Law and Order) which are now setting their start times one minute early, meaning that they clash with the show that runs an hour before on a different channel?
Rich
I guess I feel kinda bad that they put so much thought into the remote control. I think the only thing I've ever used it for was to teach my Sony Remote Commander how to work with the TiVo. I gotta admit, though, that the Sony isn't the most ergonomic control in the world, and its size is an encumberance, but golly, it's soooooo nice having a single control for the TV, receiver, DirecTV, TiVo, and DVD player.
And before I'm accused of being a rich idiot again, the TV's a 27" analogue, five-year old RCA, the receiver's a Technics, the DirecTV was $50, the DVD player's a $100 Philips, and the TiVo's an original series 1 with self-installed updates, and the reason I have the Sony Remote Commander is I can't justify the cost of Philips Pronto. So there.
--Jim (me)
Yeah, especially since, aparently, the thing looks like a black dildo...
BTW, here is the Google link to the article.
I have to say that when I switched to a series II TiVo from my original Sony Boxed TiVo, I generally did not like the new remote. Why do I not like it? With the sony remote, you could access ALL buttons from one hand placement, with the TiVo remote, you have to reposition your hand from the top to the bottom when switching from regular controls to the numnerical (and the clear button). But it's biggest fault is it's symmetry. When it's dark, you sometimes can't tell which way is forward and you start fast-forwarding when you want to rewind. I can't be the only one this has happened to. Otherwise, it's a pretty good remote, but I like my Marantz RM-2000 MkII, which just rocks.
"This is you left and that's your left. This is your right and that's your right. You're gonna die!
I bought a Sony SA Tivo years ago and loved the remote. The natural curve that fits the hand well, the easy accesibility of the buttons, the select in the center of the 4 arrows. All the most-used buttons are close at hand, and the power buttons are at the top above the number keys (also seldom used, at least by me). It was great.
As a gift, we gave our friends a Philips DirecTivo, and it had the 'peanut' shaped remote (the one the article profiled). Simply horrible! The navigation arrows were near the very top, nearly impossible to reach with your thumb, the number keys are very accessible, but unnecessarily. It's very easy to pick up the remote and point the ass end of it at the TV, either doing nothing, or fast-forwarding when you meant to rewind if the signal happens to reflect off a white T-shirt or something.
Then we moved 8 months ago, and _we_ got Philips DirecTivo. Nearly the same crappy remote, but still better than our friends. At least it's got a 'live tv' button to easily switch between the two tuners, and a few other things were cleaned up as well.
Awesome furniture, accessories and cabinetry in Santa Rosa, CA: http://humanity-home.com/
The Phillips-type 'peanut' is a wonderful design -- especially the older 'short' model...
Where it really shines is in comparison to the older Sony-style tivo remote -- being squarer and with the buttons placed in a much less intuitive manner.
Dont forget to enable 'thirty-second skip' capability...
"select, play, select, 3, 0, select" and your 'skip-to-end-for-no-good-reason' button is now a 'commercial-advance' button...
We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
We have 3 Sony DVR-2000 Series 1's and we recently got our 4th TiVo, a Series 2. The remote STINKS! I absolutely HATE it! The Sony SVR-2000 remotes are much much much better and a lot nicer to use.
For one thing, the Series 2 remotes are missing some functions that the Series 1's have. Also, the channel number buttons are WAY WAY WAY down on the bottom of the remote making it a pain to one-handedly change channels by number. The direction pad is horrid because you accidently hit the wrong directions rather than the nice Sony remote which has individual buttons for left/right/up/down with plastic dividers to prevent accidents.
What brain-dead moron designed the TiVo remote?
The JP1 interface hack is pretty much a full fledged support option now. So many contributors and websites that you can just buy the cable with the software (Windows programmer and Excel based script builder that doesn't work in OO.org Calc program, but you might be able to rewrite the spreadsheet scripts to work with Calc and there might be a linux programmer). And almost every device is either natively supported or some dork with an offbrand device has made his own spreadsheet that you can download and use.
Essentially, you just buy a bare parallel port connector (has the box and pins), 2 resistors and a spare IDE cable. Solder some of the wires in the IDE cable to some of the pins and the resistor, put in parallel port connector and you're cable is done. There is a 6pin connector inside the battery box of the remote, which the sawed off IDE cable connects to. You use the Excel spreadsheet to setup a code set, then copy that into the programmer software. The programmer can save and archive old remote setups (so you don't have to remember what codes did what device and can revert if you screw up) and is pretty easy to use.
The newer 15-2116 actually does almost everything I need natively without the JP1 hack... the only thing I had to do was multiple volume passthrough. The geniuses who make the remote decided that instead of being able to assign the volume button for one device to another, you can now (changed from the 14-1994 version) only have ALL volume buttons control one volume, or ALL control their own. I want ReplayTV and TV to control TV volume, but RCVR and DVD to control RCVR volume.
Oh, and I know what you mean about the Play button... I got into the habit of sliding my finger down till I felt the last row of buttons, then went up one row to find Play.
IANAL, but I play one on
The only way he "helped" was by letting me borrow his soldering iron. And the remote setup he used was on my 14-1994... I had that setup to have the exact layout of the original remote mimicked, so buttons were "mislabeled" but they were where I remembered them being on the original remote. The new 15-2116 has most of my codes in it natively, so it is setup with correctly labeled buttons. I had to relearn some positions, but now all my dorky friends can look at it and know what they do.
There is something I find beautiful about only having a single remote on your coffee table that controls everything, instead of 4 or 5 remotes strewn everywhere.
IANAL, but I play one on
I recently purchased a TiVo and I must say that its remote is a POS. It doesn't properly work with my APEX TV, let alone support my other settop devices. Instead I bought the inexpensive ($18) URC 6131 universal remote, which supports my TV, VCR, TiVO, and Xbox! I highly recommend it to anyone that has too many damn remote controls and just wants one to control everything.
I dig the TiVO remote, but the first thing I did when I got mine was to program its functions into the my Marantz RC-2000. ALL of its functions. I emphasize that because the RC-2000 is the first universal remote I've ever seen that could fulfill the promise of all universal remotes - replace all of my remotes. Sure, there are other remotes out that claim to be universal, and I've tried a LOT of universals, but they so seldom replace all of the functionality of the originals. The RC-2000 will replace at least 12 remotes (at least, because you can mix and match functions under each device). It has a LCD screen to facilitate changing functions on each device and all of the buttons are PHYSICAL buttons. I can't stress enough how important that is. I had one of the early touch screen remotes and while it worked as promised, using it blew chunks. You have to look at a touch screen to use it because there's no tactile feedback. With this remote, I always know exactly which button I'm pushing without looking down. It has programmable macros so you can push one button and turn on your home theater system and start a dvd movie, etc... There was even a radio frequency attachment that you could add so that you could control home automation systems if you needed to. It is the the king daddy of all remote controls and the most decadent thing I've ever purchased ($250.00 - and worth every penny). Unfortunately, it is no longer in production. You can find them on eBay every now and then. Apparently, the spiritual successor to the RC-2000 is the Home Theater Master mx500. Which I'll check into if the RC-2000 ever dies.
It's round. On first impression, one might naively get the idea that it's designed with the hand in mind. Wonderful... except that is only ONE environment in which it must function!
Coffee table operation
Have you ever tried to push the volume or channel up/down buttons while the remote is on the coffee table? Imagine dozing on the couch, and reaching out to the coffee table to flip the channel, only to have the STUPID ROUND remote roll over when you press the button which is so BRILLIANTLY placed to the side of the STUPID ROUND remote's axis of rotation? That's right, the result of this operation is not the channel being changed, the result is the STUPID ROUND remote flipping over on it's back.
Armchair placement
Have you ever tried to put the remote down next to you, on a surface that was not perfectly horizontal? Remember the remote is a STUPID ROUND remote... This means that the contact area underneath the remote would approach a point, were it not for the small, inadequate flat spot under there. The small, inadequate flat spots which do nothing to keep the STUPID ROUND remote from sliding off of any fabric covered surface you might place it on. A fabric covered surface, which might not always be perfectly horizontal... hmm... let me think of an example. Ah. Maybe a COUCH or SOFA perhaps? Pretty rare environment for a TV remote, so I can understand how this slipped by during testing...
Seat cushion placement
Okay, I think you can see where I'm going with this STUPID ROUND idea. Imagine you place the remote next to you on your prize sofa, an exotic artifact which you imported at great expense just for the novelty of it. (Imagine that... actually owning a SOFA!) Next, imagine a friend who comes to sit down near you on the sofa, and the cushion the STUPID ROUND remote is sitting on is compressed on one side (please, try to imagine this even though it might seem alien and unfamiliar). Now, the surface of the cushion is no longer horizontal. Promptly, the STUPID ROUND remote, as round objects are want to do, rolls on the surface of the cushion. Which way does it roll? Yes, that right, DOWN. Down between the cushions. Out of sight. Inaccessable.
Perfect.
*Some* aspects of the Tivo remote reflect really good design. It would be a good design, if the only thing I ever used my hand for was to hold the remote! This design is arrogant. It may not have been their intention, but underlying assumption that I'm never going to remove from my hand this 'oh-so-important and marvelously designed' object d'art just drips from its very essense.
How many times I've had that thing flip out from underneath my fingers when trying to flip channels when an obnoxious commercial roused me from my slumber... Oh, how I long for the chance, just once, to get up off the couch, and KICK THAT DESIGNER SQUARE IN THE NUTS AS HARD AS I CAN!!!
DON'T GIVE ME YOUR DAMMED "IMPROVED" DESIGN UNTIL WORKED THROUGH ALL OF THE SIDE EFFECTS THAT YOUR "IMPROVEMENT" IS GOING TO CAUSE !!! In the meantime, I'll use my crappy, square, poorly designed remote.
And people, stop gushing over this piece of crap plastic...
Each end is shaped exactly the same. I'm always picking it up and pressing the fast forward (I think) only to discover that I just pressed the rewind. My other remotes I hardly have to glance at because they are bigger at one end, or have some other tactile clue as to which is the correct orientation.
Proverbs 21:19
I always end up picking it up pointed the wrong way and rewinding when I meant to fast-forward.
you're absolutely correct about that.
The TiVo remote is pretty good (would be better if the buttons were backlit at least a little), but unfortunately I've also got a TV, receiver, DVD, comcast box, etc, so anyone have any rants/raves on universal remotes? I need one that can do macros or is "task oriented," so that girlfriends/guests/etc don't have to hit much more than one button to power everything up, switch to the right mode, and watch TV or a DVD.
I've been reading up on remote central and the Harmony SST-659 looks pretty good. I've tried the Sony RM-AV3000 but find I prefer 'real' buttons in the dark, and its huge touchscreen always gets covered in smudges.
A month into the model-making, the peanut emerged. "The shape is comfortable in your hand," Mr. Newby said. "It's friendly and disarming. It's designed for simplicity, and it stands apart from the crowd of remotes on the coffee table."
The next challenge was to fend off an attack of buttonitis.
"Buttons proliferate on remotes like rabbits," Mr. Newby said, adding that he and his designers, who ranged in age from 25 to 45, had "bloody battles" over which ones to include. They managed to hold the number at 30, a considerable achievement given how many functions the TiVo receiver performs. Color, too, was a well-trampled subject. "Color is this very emotional thing," Mr. Newby said. Determined to come up with shades that the designers considered "warmer" than standard-issue black, they chose dark cherry as the base color, with light gray keys for contrast.
To avoid a look that was too bright and toylike, he said, all of the colors ultimately got "dusted down a notch." The pause button, for example, is a subtle yellow-orange.
Then came the feel of the buttons, for which they chose a smooth, pliable rubber. Mr. Newby likened the feel of hitting the buttons to that of playing a piano. When a button is pushed, the user feels a slight snap, signaling that the key has traveled far enough to achieve electrical contact.
"These are the devilish details that often get overlooked," he said.
In the middle of the design process, Mr. Newby turned to non-engineers on the TiVo staff for feedback. This helped the designers refine the size and shape of the keys and the amount of space between them.
By September 1998, 11 weeks into the process, Mr. Newby and his team had completed the first few hand-built functional remotes. Then came a quick tooling cycle so TiVo could distribute the remotes to beta testers, consisting of technologically inexperienced friends and relatives of employees. The testers' feedback prompted the TiVo designers to reduce the time lapse between pressing a button and seeing the command executed on the screen.
The same group helped the designers fine-tune the dimensions of the remote to maximize the comfort level. Mr. Newby said the testers also advised the designers on where to put the battery compartment so that the device would balance nicely in the hand.
Other refinements followed, and by the time the first TiVo box was shipped to stores in March 1999, the remote was being produced in high volume.
The base color of the remote has since been changed to a dark gray to match TiVo's Series 2 receiver, with buttons of much lighter gray for contrast. And the number of buttons crept up to 34.
But the look and feel of the original TiVo remote as it emerged from the design team's sketchbooks and modeling labs has survived, which is no coincidence. "We wanted to create an iconic shape that would stick," said Dennis Boyle, a team leader at Ideo, a design firm in Palo Alto, Calif., that lent its expertise early in the process.
TiVo holds four design patents on the remote's basic shape and key layout. Third-party companies that sell receivers with TiVo built in, like the satellite television provider DirecTV, supply customers with a 36-button remote that is almost identical to the one sold with TiVo boxes.
The TiVo remote has many fans. One TiVo aficionado, Pat Hughes, a software engineer in San Jose, Calif., dressed up his two-month-old daughter as the remote for Halloween in 2002. The costume, which took a week to make, was a painstakingly exact replica, complete with battery compartment in the back. "That's where she went in," he said.
Mr. Hughes ranks his TiVo remote among the most important objects in his house because of the amount of time the device spends in his hand. "I don't think that you reach that level of simple elegance by accident,'' he said. "It's designed the way remotes should be designed."
Yet even some people who admire the remote say it has room for improvement.
Mr. Nielsen, the de
The Tivo remote is definitely the best designed remote I have ever used. All of my other equipment is controlled by a Pronto touchscreen but I never use it for Tivo Control. The shape is perfect, the buttons are actually conviniently placed (which I find is a rarity among remotes), and they were able to make it easy to use for basic users but scalable to power users with shortcuts that won't confuse the casual users. As a very early adopter of Tivo I have definitely developed an almost unnatural fondness for the remote.
As a side note my sister has a Sony unit which has its own control which is simply awful.
I realize this doesn't prove much, because none of you know which one of us is which. But here are the pictures. That would be *me* soldering, despite boarder's faulty memory, and him meticulously slicing the wires out of an IDE cable to make a little connector block.
Yes, we're both dorks. I might be somewhat worse.
Dorky Pictures
The design isn't bad, compared with little rectangular motel-tv remotes that are designed to be so unattractive and unresponsive you won't steal them.
The first thing I did with mine was transfer its functions to my Sony RMV-L900, which is well balanced, has a rubber grip all around the edge, puts the important stuff right where it should be, and is fully reprogrammable if you don't think so.
If only it'd been designed after TiVo was invented, so I wouldn't have to repurpose the otherwise laughably unnecessary "MD" selector button to be the "TiVo" avatar.