I received an iPronto last Friday and while I've had no technical difficulties with it, I am astonished by Phillips corporate decision to doom this device by not spending any money on it. Allow me to explain.
I have been in the computer software development business since 1986. I've been a project manager long enough to recognize user interface deficiencies and what it takes to overcome them.
The iPronto is a throwback to the days of DOS, when computer users were dedicated "first wave" riders willing to spend the time to learn arcane commands like copy c:\doc\*.* a:\ .
Those of you who love your iPronto talk about your .icf files and using the "learn" function. Good for you.
You folks obviously have the time, patience, and intelligence to hack through the process of adding data to your iPronto.
I have very little doubt that the bean counters at Phillips decided NOT to spend any additional development money on the iPronto, thus the crappy "do it yourself" user interface. A fully developed interface would be one heck of a lot easier to use.
For example: A: When first initialized, the iPronto should ask for an inventory of your AV equipment, by product name and model. It would then automatically set up those devices using a database of codes (which any decently funded tech lab could develop within a few months) and that would be it. B: If you need to add a device, you should be able to simply choose from a menu.
This is all very doable. So why didn't Phillips do it? Why do I have to spend hour after hour using the "learn" function. Why should trial and error be 50% of the user experience with the iPronto?
Phillips could have had a really nice piece of work here, but they chose to save a few pennies. In the end they'll lose money and blame the consumer.
