[dba-Tech] Remotes

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?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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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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Bob Geldart             BGeldart at verizon.net
Maynard, MA



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