People are so excited about being able to talk to the remote control and tell it to change to ESPN, or change to CNN. Since they can't do it with their fancy custom programmed remote control, we are going to have to go back to Xantech and Niles with our tails between our legs.

Since the eavesdropping remote will control cable box, television, and receiver, all we need to do is keep all eight of our cabinet doors wide-open for line of sight, or go back to the industry standard of 25 years ago – the IR target.

Great savings await our clients.

What is there about URC, RTI and other systems with RF between the remote* and a receiver/repeater or receiver/processor; that makes these things fall outside of your dystopia?





*sorry, URC, the client is NEVER going to wrap their heads around calling a remote an "interface."

I have clients asking me all the time if their Comcast remote will work with their fancy remote. People LOVE it. (I have to say the stupid voice remote works damn well, I actually use it my self since I just switched to Comcast and don't know any of the channels)

So now a beautiful room and system and people want two remotes out :(

I tell my TV what channel I want to watch with URC and it tunes to that channel.

Nothing wrong with using multiple remotes now, is there? It might seem crazy to you, but I dig when people turn down my recommendation for a single remote because they are fine using 3....or 4.....or 5. :)

And yes. Please go back to open shelves or cabinets without doors. I wanted to see the gear when I am controlling it!

A-phi,
I can't tell if you're being C-rious or not!

O I B C-rious E!

I think some times we all get into a "mode" where any idea that falls outside of our [normal] way of doing things is automatically considered inadequate or wrong. I do not see things that way very often.

I applaud clients who choose to forego a $1000+ "fancy clicker" in lieu of a better speaker or a bigger TV, etc. If they do not see the value in something, I do not try too hard to create that value. Of course those types of people are not too common. Just a breath of fresh air when they happen to come around.

I think there is a generation gap here as with a lot of other facets of our niche industry. My older clients have to have a simple to use universal remote. Anything more than 1 or 2 remotes goes right over their head. They get confused and grumpy.

The flip side is when I am at the stage of an install where the system is functional, yet before I have programmed the remote, the teenagers or younger of the house are already using the system using all the OEM remotes or even the front panel controls of some devices. No explanation necessary.

I had a 30-something guy make his mother return the URC remote we sold her because he thought it was easy enough to use 4 remotes and could not understand why she would spend ~$700 for a remote. So she ended up paying for a service call to take out the remote and base station and a restocking fee so her bonehead son could feel like a hero. WTF is that about?

Anyhow, I am still not convinced that voice control is all that. It is cool. But that is about the extent of it as far as I am concerned. I should probably get on board at least somewhat. :/

Here is to the good old days of the "hi-fi". 👍

If all they ever do is watch TV and there are no cabinet doors, I don't push for a remote. But as soon as they have doors or need to switch TV inputs or AVR inputs, it pretty much becomes a must. Seriously, not that many people get what inputs are about, and if they do, it is still too much trouble in comparison to a good programmed controller.

A lot of folks like those voice remotes, though!

What does your voice control system do when you want it to switch from Sounds Of The Humpback Whale at 110 dB to Mongolian Death Metal? Also at 110 dB?

There is a big "cool" factor with respect to barking "CNN" at a remote, but lack of standardization will become a drag and present opportunities. Just as we have a bunch of old timers (customers, manufacturers, and CI's) who cannot embrace "Digital", we will have factions that will not embrace "Voice". It's cool if there is only one subsystem to be controlled by voice, but what happens when there are a bunch of subsystems. The command "Watch TV" is a relatively simple button for us to provide, using one of our fancy picture remotes, but how does one do similar with a voice stick or black puck hidden away somewhere? Who establishes the standard vocabulary and how is this taught to the user? We don't even have a standard wake word. How do we create "Macros" that will accept our "Watch TV" voice command, then deal with the various subsystems? How fast will we be able to respond to the shifting feature sets? (For example, will we need to wait months or more for an RTI, URC, Apple, or whatever, to give us access to a new or changed feature?) Currently, all of the heavy voice processing is done somewhere in the Cloud. Can an RTI or URC afford to support its own Cloud?

I'm supporting a shore rental with multiple rooms, each with multiple subsystems and there are multiple open areas within hearing range of each other. Each week, the user base turns over. I have "picture remotes" (RTI) and the system has been very successful because there has not been a single query about "how do I ... ?" after multiple seasons. The user base spans multiple generations. With voice I'll need to work out a scheme of room and subsystem names -- but the room names and boundaries are not so obvious. There are little issues such as: where does the "Bar" end and "Kitchen" begin and "Bar" could easily be mistaken for "Game Room" and there are multiple "Bedroom" zones, one with four sub zones. I also have no idea which language should be presented. With my crude old picture remote, TV and Blue-ray pictures with station icons is universal.

I'd probably need to encourage someone to sit down and view a video, then have some helper notes scattered around as room name reminders. Should the video and notes be in multiple languages? Who prepares this video? (Must I now become a video producer?) Should I have the cleaning crew swap the videos and notes to reflect the language preference of the new tenant? On a picture remote I can throw up some "Help" screens (I use these [English only] sparingly, and I doubt if they are ever used, but having a "Help" button is a comfort) How would a voice stick or puck provide help? How could this "Help" be made context appropriate?

Inquiring minds want to know.

You used cool and CNN in the same sentence. That's an error.

:)
:)

So far not a fan of voice. I have to use it to control my G4 ATV to bring up subtitles. Which means I have to keep the little ATV remote on the table. :(

I spent $$$ on a nice remote so I could have just one.

Yes, I'm sure that, similar to "Mirror mirror on the wall ... " someone who is the center of CNN will shout various names into his remote, and tally which name gets the "yugest" number of hits and the most adulation. (Taking notes about those who don't follow the line.)

I hear tell that Trumps favorite TV channel is CNN...

LOL

Voice will be the interface of the future.
However, today it's still a novelty, while improving it's not 100%.

If we removed all the wall switches in your house and installed one of the home voice systems, you'd sue is inside of a week. This remote system allows you, your family and guests the ease to operate the whole TV system, not just the cable box. If you'd like to use the Comcast remote as well, the system certainly allows it.