OK, first let me say that I do appreciate being able to switch channels and change the volume without having to get up, lean over, or for that matter move any muscles besides my fingers. Reaching into the bag of Dorritos is enough exertion; I don’t need to turn channel surfing into a workout.
However, it is a fact of life that remotes are not dependable companions. They get lost in couch cushions. Batteries go dead and there are only so many smoke detectors from which to pull good ones. This would not be such a big deal, except for the predicament in which one finds themselves in the absence of a remote.
All you have on the TV unit is Power, Volume, Channel, and then one Menu button which, through some convoluted interactions with the other buttons (which varies from unit to unit, and is never explained anywhere but some 13-language user’s guide that was discarded even before the first remote was lost) is supposed to let you access the other 101 functions of the TV.
Meanwhile, the remote has 70 buttons, and it takes me more time to find the only six I’ll ever use than it would to just get up and change the channel on the TV. What often happens is I unwittingly invoke one of 50 useless and unwanted features, such as the time I was stuck watching everything in French until my roommate came home and straightened things out. It would be like the phone company putting all the controls for their network on every payphone, while the guys at control central needs to work their way through a phone tree.
Why can’t they give you an idiot-proof six-button remote for the general public, and then put the other 64 buttons on the unit behind some little door with a warning note stating that only those still in possession of a user’s manual or kids under 16 with thick glasses should be pushing any of the buttons within? Not only would I avoid being stuck listening watching Friends in a foreign language, but I could leave the batteries in my smoke detectors, as it is less work to do without the remote than get out the stepladder.
If one button can perfectly exemplify an utter waist of remote-control real estate as well as the plastic it is made of, it is the “Eject” button. Are you kidding me? What is the point of ejecting a DVD if you are not already planning on approaching the unit and reaching your hand towards it? Is there something I am missing here, like the button than summons the guy in the closet to come out and change the disc for me?
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Kapusta,
Amen. Perfectly stated.
It even gets worse when people add the “home entertainment center” to the mix. Last year I was babysitting for my brother-in-laws kids. He had three remotes there: one for the cable box, one for the tv, and one for the stereo amplification system. I touched one wrong button, and after about 30 minutes of fiddling with it (making it worse actually), i never got to watch tv or listen to the stereo again. You can’t babysit without TV, you just can’t.
Then he comes home and says…. dude, it’s easy all you have to do is hit this {insert special button}, and go to this menu and choose {kill me}, then on the sony remote hit {somebody get me a beer}…..
HAHA I totally laughed at the eject key part
Lawrence on August 27th, 2007 at 11:03 pm | Link
While most of what you said makes a lot sense, the ‘eject’ button is believe it or not is very helpful to those persons who have a physical disability, or other inguiries such as back or other spinal issues, which limits there mobility. Guess the manufacturers ‘heard’ what you’ve had to say, as this ‘particular’ button seems to no longer exist most remotes today.
Bea K. on January 13th, 2008 at 8:08 am | Link
Think about this for a second: Are you suggesting that their are spinal conditions which allow one to get up, move to the DVD unit, remove a disc from the drawer, grab a new disc, place it in the drawer, and return to their seat/bed/wheelchair/whatever yet prohibits them from pushing the eject button right next to the DVD drawer? If someone cannot get up to reach the DVD player, what good is the ability to eject the DVD, unless it is to simply watch the DVD drawer go in and out?
Kapusta on January 13th, 2008 at 9:51 am | Link