[mythtv-users] FYI: harmony 650 37.99 @ costco (instant 17rebate)
Craig Treleaven
ctreleaven at cogeco.ca
Wed Nov 30 14:25:53 UTC 2011
At 3:13 PM -0500 11/29/11, Dean Collins wrote:
>Pretty much every device has on/off/toggle commands.
>
I'd dispute that. If you follow, say, RemoteCentral.com, you'll find countless cases where there is no discrete on/off command. Or other weirdness in the control interface.
In fact, I think IR control of home entertainment devices is one of the most bass akwards technologies extant. No two-way communication. Slow. Prone to transmission errors. No auto-configuration of connected devices. Zero intelligence in the interface (a sleep timer doesn't count).
It's been reported that Steve Jobs, before he died, felt he had come up with a radical re-working of television. Eg:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20124761-37/apple-tv-did-steve-jobs-crack-the-code/
Many guess that this means using Siri for a voice command system. Jobs just said "It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine." Being Apple, it almost certainly means that all content will come from Apple--there will be minimal ability to connect other sources, I would guess. Otherwise, I don't see how they can attain the simplicity goal.
The part I can't fathom is audio. Too many potential customers already have multi-channel sound systems. How does an Apple TV control somebody else's a/v receiver? That doesn't seem like the simple system Jobs touted if you have to mess with an IR blaster to control your legacy audio system. Or have they done a deal with one or more component companies to supply new models with a compatible control system. (How does the Siri-controlled a/v receiver hear your command to lower the volume when the opening scene from Band of Brothers is blasting? ;)
Anyway, I think that the interfaces to home entertainment systems are well-overdue for a rethinking. The chicken and egg problem is, some company has to go first and get enough of the rest to play along. Maybe Apple can do that; maybe somebody else.
Craig
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