+1

There are some customers that NEED that button. There are some porn videos that use it.

Exactly. It has to be there in the rare chance it could be used. Then if it doesn't work you can just explain to the customer the movie just doesn't do it and you'll just have to rewind it a bunch of times.

I always try to explain it like this...

If you were a single person living in an apartment by yourself then i say OKAY to a lot of things i usually say no to. I get people all the time asking me about voice commands and occupancy sensors for music and TV. For a single person these things can be fine tuned and perfectly tailored. The moment you add a wife or kids or even a dog...it becomes annoying and most people ask us to disable it.

Same goes for the ON and OFF button. You mention "most widely used source". In a house with 5 people this could be any of the sources. What about if they have a his and hers cable box? Which cable box do you decide to select with the ON button?

If your dealing with a single family room or a place with a single person/personality this is fine and will never become an issue. If you are dealing with a larger home/family you are creating inconsistency that causes confusion. if on the other hand you make it so that every time someone picks a remote up they see the "Select a source" or "Watch" & "Listen" buttons you force everyone to use the remote the same way for every source.

The OFF button isn't needed either but someone here years ago taught me a way to deal with the OFF button. Actually it was for the URC T2-C "POWER" button. We use the button to popup a "OFF MENU" page where you can put whatever you want like for our typical systems we will have "Room Off" "All Rooms Off" and sometimes even "Lights" to toggle lights on and off just in the room you are watching TV in.

BTW...at my house in my single zone system i use the ON button exactly the way you described. Great for me but always confuses anyone in my house who wants to use something other than cable.

Only time I have a his cable box, her cable box, kids cable box scenario is in a system with a video matrix of some sort. Those jobs get TC rather than CCP and the rules change as the physical buttons on the remote are different. The power off button works the same with the exception of:

- Press the button to power the room you are in off.
- Hold the button down to power off the house.

Customer: "How do I watch my cable TV?"

Me: (with a hint of sarcasm) "Press the button that says Watch Cable."

I haven't had much success with press and hold functions. When I tried it, it has been confusing for my customers.

Let's face it...the people who hate technology, but love to watch TV and listen to their favorite music are our customers. After they watch me install a system that takes hours or months, they have already convinced themselves they won't be able to operate it. During the sale and installation process I reassure them they will be able to operate it...and promise a customized cheat sheet on my letterhead. I also add they won't need it. I provide cheat sheets...even for Universal Remotes...because it is for the customer's peace of mind. Otherwise, I have to explain I won't provide the cheat sheet because I can work their system and I don't think they need it...rather awkward.

Despite the momentary satisfaction you get from being sarcastic this way, there's no real reason to denigrate a person who's about to write you a check. Also, you should know by now that people learn different ways, and you might have to teach someone using more than one method before they can internalize even the most obvious -- to us -- thing.

Don't be snarky with clients who don't get it. Maybe they'll get it from someone else next time.

At one point I was dreading the remote control instruction session for a well educated, wealthy, older, proudly anti technology fellow. I was using Pronto at the time. This was about to be a very frustrating lesson because he was so eager to prove that technology was impossible to deal with. However, a few minutes before the session was to begin, salvation walked in, -- in the form of a very sharp 12 year old granddaughter. Seizing the opportunity, I spent a couple minutes showing her how the remote worked, told her that she should teach him, then I left. Everybody won. She was proud, he was proud, and I was gone.  It was a very successful installation.

My favorite is when people "aim" the remote (RF or Wifi) at the TV no matter what. They even aim their Iphones and Ipads.....

I bet most of us installers and programmers aim remotes at the TVs. I've seen it happen. It's a bit more involved to hold a pad, with no definite top or front end, so that probably happens a bit less.

When i met my girlfriend 15 or so years ago she would come over and unplug the X10 gear to get lights or fans going because she hated my pronto's. Fast forward to last August when we moved and i installed my surround equipment without the RF base station. This is the first time in a long time i just put the gear in a cabinet under the TV so i didn't bother with emitters.

The first night we were in the new place i got this crazy look with an eye roll after she asked "why isn't the receiver turning on?" and i told her to make sure she keeps the remote pointed towards the TV. Her next statement was "whats up with this rookie installation".