Slashdot Mirror
Sony's $700 Linux-based Remote Control
SlashdotMeNow points out a remote control to consider if money is no object: "The NAVITUS from Sony has a 64k colour touch-screen with tactile response, 32MB of RAM and a 200MHz processor. Looking at the photos it looks like a sexy little beast! It uses Linux as an OS and you can customise just about everything about it by linking it up to your PC. Hell, this thing is more powerful than my iPAQ. Useful for replacing your TV, DVD, sound system and other home entertainment system remotes, it can also control your lights and air conditioner. ... Just be careful using the Memory Stick slot - you don't want to get a virus on a device that controls your whole house!" Of course, that would have to be a Linux virus ...
While that sure does seem like the ultimate remote, who in their right mind would put $700 down for something as simple as a remote? Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't lowering the price quite a bit make 'em sell like hotcakes?
I can't imagine what sane mind would try to market something like this! Let's see...
1) remote should be take anywhere, put anywhere device, as this thing is a huge power-hog, it needs no rest on the charging stand when not in use.
2) remote controls basically sends a relatively short sequence of bits to an infrared LED when a certain button is pressed. It does not need a 200MHz processor or a 65k colour screen to do this. In fact, this gets back to the battery / power thing - you can make a remote control that functions perfectly that can last a year on two alkaline cells.
3) if you really want customizability, the remote itself doesn't have to do all of this! it would be much wiser and cheaper and easier (more later) to simply have the remote be programmable via, say, a computer - it'd be like writing to a cheap FPGA, if you want the remote to be that powerful. as for easier - programming a remote on a well designed application on a computer monitor would be much easier than doing the same on the tiny remote display, no?
4) and it's like... twice the price of my TV! geez... fuck, i might as well write an app for my palm to control the TV via the infrared port. Heck it might be cheaper too...
My life in the land of the rising sun.
The idea is to make life easier and give you more time to enjoy life. Remember the optimism of the 50s.. (at least in America)? The idea was for there to be less time spent working and more time spent playing without sacrificing on the amount of work done. Make work faster.. make everything easier. Having one remote is far easier than having 6. Believe me.. I've got plenty and wish I had this bad-boy. Let's see.. TV, cable box, stereo receiver, DVD player, home automation.. That's five.
I understand your point, though. America is getting FAT and not having to get up from the couch to change the channel certainly isn't helping. However, keep in mind that a lot of people do still get outside and participate in physical activity. I, for instance, play hockey quite regularly, and spend my weekend hiking, going to the lake etc.. I don't need the extra workout of turning my tv on at the tv itself.
So this remote is handy and attractive to manywithout the fear of them getting fat.
What is your penile percentile?
I see his stuff and I think who in their right mind would want any of this?
You are going to have the materialistic mega rich who after buying this stuff are gonna confirm the fact that they are just out there to pump their lives full of materialistic crap pefore they die. May be priding them selves on how sophisticated and character filled they are by the amount of technological crap hey own.
Ah, yes. If you can't afford it, then it's by definition a waste of money. See Aesop's parable of the sour grapes.
I make a lot of money, and consequently have a lot of "materialistic crap", including two $1,000 remote controls (one for the living room, one for the home theater). While I'm sure that that seems like a terrible waste of money to you, keep in mind that the only reason you can afford a lot of the technology you can today (computers, televisions, etc.) is that the "materialist mega rich", a.k.a. early adopters, bought the stuff when it was ridiculously expensive and therefore helped to finance the R&D that made it affordable to the masses.
In ten years, when plasma TVs are a commodity item, I'm sure you'll still look down your nose at the idiots who spend $20,000 on them today. And I'm sure the thought "Hey, if they hadn't done that, the technology would have stagnated and I wouldn't have been able to afford mine" won't even cross your mind.
Society needs early adopters. Whether it's the latest and greatest $500 video card or a super-expensive remote control, if nobody buys it it will never become cheap enough for the common person to afford.
ZFS: because love is never having to say fsck