[mythtv-users] Kodak Theatre HD Player Impressions

[Brian Wood]

On Thursday 01 April 2010 11:21:16 am Nelson Tang wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 8:43 AM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
> > I picked up one of the Woot deals, a Kodak Theatre HD Player for $50. It
> > was
> > delivered yesterday.
> > [...]
> > Visual interface is a bit odd, as is the included gyroscopic pointing
> > device.
> 
> I saw this on Woot as well but didn't think it would work well for a
> non-Windows Myth environment.  However some number of people were raving
> about the remote control and their plans to remove it and attach it to a
> Myth frontend.  Is the remote really that interesting and worthwhile?

It's basically an "air mouse", very similar to the Gyration unit I already 
have. It allows you to wave it in the air instead of using it on a flat 
surface.

But it's still a mouse, and MythTV is well designed to operate without a 
mouse, using a remote in the manner that most consumers are used to for A/V 
devices. I can't see a mouse of any type helping a Myth F/E. Maybe when using 
MythWeb, but I never do that.

It's nothing new (Gyration beat them by years), doesn't integrate into Myth 
well and is unintuitive to most users.

I've read the hoopla as well, and can't figure out what all the hype is about.

Kodak's UI is odd in many ways, and the "mouse" doesn't help IMHO. You have to 
hit the "hide" button to make the cursor go away. Once it has gone away, you 
have to hit "Hide" to make the cursor re-appear, how's that for unintuitive?

I think Kodak just can't get away from the mouse cursor/web browser paradigm, 
and thought the air mouse approach would at least eliminate the need for a flat 
surface. I like Myth's answer much better, get rid of the mouse and its 
cursor. It does confuse some new users (witness the "my mouse went away" posts 
here), but once you get used to it, Myth has a better answer.