[dba-Tech] Remotes

Andy Lacey andy at minstersystems.co.uk
Mon Aug 1 01:29:02 CDT 2005


This belongs on OT, not here. Please take it there.

-- Andy Lacey
http://www.minstersystems.co.uk 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com 
> [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of 
> MartyConnelly
> Sent: 01 August 2005 06:21
> To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
> Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Remotes
> 
> 
> 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?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>_______________________________________________
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> >>dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com 
> >>http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech
> >>Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com
> >>
> >>    
> >>
> >_______________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >  
> >
> 
> -- 
> Marty Connelly
> Victoria, B.C.
> Canada
> 
> 
> 
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