I don't think anyone's bemoaning "having to do this..." I, for one, am bemoaning the fact that I/we have to deal with service providers that are so utterly out-of-touch with the needs of their users and, often, the specifiers of their product.

I've repeatedly explained TWC's power control problem to TWC Supervisors, installers and at least one corporate agent for a DECADE. We integrators and control system manufacturers as a community have been bitching about it on forums and at trade shows for nearly TWENTY YEARS. And yet this functional deficiency not only hasn't been addressed BUT IS NOW EVEN WORSE. How the hell is that possible..?

Perhaps I'll just join some of you in surrendering the notion of building bullet-proof control systems...I'll just shrug when I hand my customer the controller for his $3000+ control system and dryly convey that all of the integration industry's muster and might cannot manage reliable control of his silly old cable box after 20 years of trying...Pathetic.