Bob Geldart
bgeldart at verizon.net
Tue Aug 2 13:42:56 CDT 2005
Arthur, I found that article, in last Sunday's Boston Globe, a series of short takes on new ideas being explored in the Boston area. Here's a link: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/07/31/the_internet_of_things/ Bob At 8/1/2005 05:06 PM, you wrote: >As the marketing types always like to say, every problem is an opportunity. >So why can't someone build a universal remote that can communicate with the >net and download the instruction sets to all machines available within your >household? It's obviously not going to pick up my 1969-era Bose amplifier or >the turntable, but it should be able to find the TV, VCR, DVD and the two >microwaves. Why not? > >The microwave might be a little more difficult. But the DVD and VCR and TV >ought to be brain-dead simple. On the TV, next = next channel. On the DVD, >next = next track. On the VCR it's a little more complicated, admittedly, >but there remains the valid concept that any movie is comprised of scenes >with scene separators. On a DVD it's almost instant; on a VCR it would take >a while, but what has that do with the interface? > >I imagine a world in which one single remote operates my TV, DVD, VCR, >microwave oven and so on. Do you have some ethical/fiscal problem with this? >All I want is SIMPLER! I have four computers in this room, one running >Linux, one running w2k, one running winServer2003 and one running xpPro. >They all seem to be able to communicate, within reason (Linux does the print >server stuff and everybody can see the printers, and also the file-shares -- >I still don't have the ftp server working right but I am working on it). In >addition, I use Kaboodle, which is a way cool program. So I can do all this >with winX + Linux etc. but still I have 3 damn remotes on my coffee table >and I hate it! If this is your definition of the free market, I want to go >beyond it. > >-----Original Message----- >From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com >[mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Peter Brawley >Sent: July 31, 2005 11:11 PM >To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues >Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Remotes > >/>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? >/ >Might it be a bit of the 'free' market that's actually free? > >P. > >----- > >Arthur Fuller 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 Bob Geldart BGeldart at verizon.net Maynard, MA