MartyConnelly
martyconnelly at shaw.ca
Mon Aug 1 00:21:11 CDT 2005
All people are born right-handed but a few actually succeed and overcome it. Ed Tesiny wrote: >William, >NO, the cars don't work identically....left drive vs. right >drive...totally different.. >all instints are different..you look into the mirror and it's on the >left not the right...you shift with your left hand...you obviously >haven't driven in Europe. Anyway, I'm tired, going to bed...BUT re: >your comments re: Bolder and Madison I think your out of >place...Tourch a snake hole,..hammer some nail...wrestle some >alagator...or throw yourself on a small fire, as a proper wet blanket >would do! >Ed > >On 7/31/05, Arthur Fuller <artful at rogers.com> wrote: > > >>Before I launch into this, let me ask this question. Look at your living >>room table and count the number of remotes positioned thereupon. Include >>those that fell between the sofa cushions while you drifted off switching >>between Conan and Craig Ferguson. >> >> >> >>Why is this? >> >> >> >>I can go to Tokyo or London or Albequerque and rent a car and it works >>identically, no matter the brand, no matter the left/right rules. The car >>works identically. Very occasionally I have to grope to figure out how to >>dim the headlights, but most of the time I know exactly where everything is. >> >> >> >>Borrow someone's cell phone for a moment (said cell from a different >>manufacturer than yours). Suddenly you're in the world of "grope". >> >> >> >>TV is IMO the WORST offender. One remote for the TV, another for the DVD, >>another for the VHS. (By now I think BetaMaxes are all in the dustbin.) >>Click one wrong button on one remote and you spend 5 minutes figuring out >>the problem and you just missed the beginning of the most recent Law & >>Order. >> >> >> >>I think I hate software, but I hate hardware an order of magnitude more. Why >>o why cannot these manufacturers go to IEEE and settle on a spec, such that >>one single remote can work everything (including, incidentally, my sound >>system, microwave and so on)? >> >> >> >>I have seen allegedly universal remotes in the local stores, ranging from >>$19 to $99, and they are laughable. The $19 ones assume that you have the >>remote to machine X and that you will point them to each other and thus >>absorb the signals. Sheep manure! I should be able to point the allegedly >>universal remote at any receiving device and inhale its instruction set - >>and if there is a problem then automatically visit the manufacturer's site >>and download said instruction set and map it to the buttons on said >>allegedly universal remote. All of these devices have ops in common - >>loudness for example. Some have unique functions (i.e. dvd and cd can jump >>to next track), and some have functions shared with one or two devices (i.e. >>fast-forward within the selected track). >> >> >> >>Being a dinosaur, I have lots of equipment incapable of such intelligent >>responses (Oracle 3-pin turntable, lots of stuff made by Bose, etc.), but >>the modern stuff I would expect capable of IEEE-like responses to a common >>set of signals. But it seems not to be the case. At the moment I have 3 >>remotes on my coffee table, one for each device (cable tv input, dvd player >>and vhs player). Aside from the physical clutter there is the intellectual >>clutter. Why o why can't I have one device that works everything, including >>setting the microwave to start defrosting the object therein at exactly 5:11 >>pm? >> >> >> >>I don't get it. This seems SO obvious to me, as obvious as renting a car in >>another country and knowing how it operates. I must be missing something >>major here. or perhaps detecting an opportunity, as the marketing folks >>would phrase it. But I have been bitching and whining about this for years, >>and no one has leapt into the gap with a product that can do it. Is this >>because all the vendors keep secrets? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>dba-Tech mailing list >>dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com >>http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech >>Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >> >> >> >_______________________________________________ >dba-Tech mailing list >dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com >http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech >Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > > > -- Marty Connelly Victoria, B.C. Canada