[Link: cnn.com]

This article makes me want to rant and rant and rant.

Is this out to lunch or what? CNN article about researchers from Maya Designs and Carnegie Mellon University hard at work on how to control A/V and lights etc. around the house from an IPAQ.

"The prototype handheld has so far been used to control two lamps, a fan and a stereo with a five-CD changer".

Gee guys, great reporting. What will you researchers think of next? I know - I've got this really cool idea for something called an automatic garage door opener!

On a serious note this article is an example of how the mass media almost always seems to manage to think up the most idiotic examples of home automation and completely distort what we do and what consumers really want. "Use your cell phone to turn on a lamp". It is this type of idiot example that sets back home automation and stops people from wanting it. After a consumer reads this article they will be left left thinking "why the hell would anyone want that, it sounds worse than what I've got now".

p.s. I need to rant more so I'm editing and adding this quote from the article: "But considerable work, and the thorny business of obtaining industry cooperation on a standard, lies ahead before consumers can even think of shelving all but one of their various remotes". Have these guys been living in a cave for the last 10 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



This message was edited by QQQ on 09/01/02 01:11.47.

That article was in the local paper a few days ago... they made it seem like universal remotes are something new that they're still trying to come up with!

What's even funnier (if you click on "Extra Information" in QQQ's link) is that the two devices pictured on the right side look suspiciously like a Marantz-9200 and a Pronto TSU-2000.

Jim L

I hate stories like this. I remember on the MSN page, they had this huge atricle on "Copy your DVD's!". I read the article and it said nothing about the fact that you can't copy store bought/rented tapes. What a farse.

Rant! What a good idea! I gave CNN a couple of paragraphs on just how bad they missed the mark. Just look for Contacts once you are at the link target.
Tell them! I see only one thing that looks right, and maybe I just don't have the contacts -- they say that the manufacturers are hard to get involved, or something like that. Seems, sadly, so.

Don't forget that the mass media has to play to the lowest common denominator.

Those types probably think that what cnn said was way too advanced for them!

They're getting a little better. They ran this article today.

[Link: cnn.com]

now THAT'S what we need in the news