I already know what alot of you will say, probably the same thing i would say and did say when she asked me, but here goes.
We've got a decent little surround system @ home which i've accumulated over the years in the business and i usually control everything with an MX3000 since my RC5000 died a horible death during the AFC championsjip game last year. Any way she doesn't really like the touchscreen so i programed an MX350 for her to use instead. She pointed out that she can do almost everything i can do and in some ways hers is actually better, such as feeling channel 3, 5, enter rather then having to take her eyes off of the screen. And she also loves to point out she doesn't need her glasses to read "her" remote. So her question was why. Why do you sell or even have that big remote which costs a fortune (in her mind) when the little remote will give her 90% of what my MX3000 will do. Given, it won't do all of the channel icons or have nice pictures of my CD's but i programmed all of her channels into the fav's which is all she really ever watches anyway and she can find her cd easily if she decided to listen to one.
I've had this same discussion with my boss, co-workers and even customers (who have brought it up) but i was curious as to what you guys would say to her when she asked Why?

The answer, quite simply, is it's a matter of want vs. need. She doesn't need that MX350, you could get a 30 crap universal that will do most of that... but the MX350 works better, which is why you want it.

This is an industry of wants, not needs, and the 3000 (which I personally love) is one of the ultimate displays of want vs. need.

Plus, throw in a new piece of equipment and race her to see which one of you can control it with your remote first.

I've always have to use an 'expensive' remote (700/850) to get the discrete codes to make the 'magic' possible on every 350 I've ever sold!

The 3000 has a 'wow' factor that is undeniable.
If your a techie, it might fall into a 'need' category!
The graphics alone can get more attention than a boring 'hard button' remote!

It's much easier to drive an Accord than Ferrari.
Wich one are you more likely to notice?

I personally prefer the hard buttons of an 850.
But....I would never turn down a sale of a 3000 if someone wanted one!

I guess I prefer function over 'style!

To sum it up...

I 'need' an 850 for day-to-day operation!

I 'want' a 3000 for the creative ability in the programing and the 'bling' factor!

The 350 is useless without either of the above(a little harsh but this is MY opinion!)

simply put its a "mines bigger than yours" kinda thing

i personally like the 850 for every day use. the 3000 will definetely impress the guests

Why is really simple really......

My dog is bigger than your dog, my dog is bigger than yours....fa la la....

My dad can kick your dads butt......

My car is faster than yours.....

My TV is bigger than yours.....

So, my remote is most dang definitely bigger, better, faster, fancier, etc. etc. etc. than yours......

I too prefer a hard button remote, I have an MX-850 and a 700 and they work great for what I am using them for, but the 3000 and other touchscreen remotes do have a very important role in home control that the hard button remotes cannnot do, and that is provide enough "space" to incorporate all of the homes controllable devices and have them catagorized (read-GUI pages with lots of alias's) so that you have ease of operation of devices outside of a basic home theater or whole house audio system(read whole house lighting control, climate control, security(to a degree) CCTV, sprinkler systems, window treatments and on an on). Their was an article in one of the trade magazines recently about designing GUI's and to boil it down, this fella says (and he is right), you should not have to make more than 2-3 "button" pushes to make what you want to happen, happen, and that is where a hard button remote is limited.

There are two reasons for a touch panel over a remote but we must forget about using a Pronto to grasp some of these reasons.

The advanage of a touch panel is a) room and b) the ability to use that room to simplify the user interface. If I have a Tivo or CD server, or FM presets I can use a universal remote but I will have to remember that keypad 1 is preset 1, keypad 2 is preset 2 and so on.

Where will I place my surround mode buttons?

What about DVD players that have Menu, Top Menu and Setup buttons?

What about XM radio where you have channnel up/down, Category up/down and guide up/down and preset up down buttons?

What if I want presets for lighting, CD server, or XM? It's not as if I could not accomplish the same thing with a URC but the button may not be where I want it or b) it may have to be programmed on to a button that does not convey its fuctionality. ( where would you program the Aspect Control button? You might be able to label it "SIZE" but what if that did not convey its fuction well to the end user but Picture Size did? You could not fit that on to the URC remote but you could a touch panel.

If we move to 2-way touch panels the comparison becomes even more obvious. Think your wife might wish to be able to scroll though her radio channels and "see" what station she is currently on? What if this were a CD server? Might she not want to search for the music she wants to hear where the device tells her what is happening? Might she wish to adjust her thermostat without ever having to get up? Perhpas not often but on a really not day it might be a "nice" feature if availbable.

How about if the kids what to watch Barney or " What a Girl Wants" for the 4737th time? If you had a centralized DVD player you could scroll though the DVDs there and find the one you want.

That said, my dream system includes both a 2-way touch panel and 1-way remote for the same reasons your wife adduced. It is tactile so you can find the keypad buttons by feel. But if you are a guy, lacking the second X chromosome means you will constandly be surffing through channels and you can do that faster with a hard button remote than a touch panel.

Some devices require feedback and a touch panel can display indirect text. But even 1 way touch panels can allow the clever programmer to construct a superior GUI for the end user than one where some manufacturer has laid out hard buttons. Finally you can add text to a touch panel whereas you either cannot or are very restricted with hard button remtoes like the MX-350.

Alan

alan

i must be missing the second and third x chromosone. That would help explain a lot of things.

Alan left out that you can also take away all control from the wife if she doesn't want it, by giving her the infamous 'Oprah' button (no control at all, just a button that says Oprah, and another that says off). Heard that story at Crestron class, and still think of it from time to time...

OK,OK you could do that with the 350, but it wouldn't be nearly as cool...;)

That's my problem. The 850 is the most practical control device I've ever run across. My wife really likes this one because it gets a bunch of "dumb things" done with just one button.

I'm still doing a bit of work on the 3000 before I hand it over. I like a remote designed in a way that doesn't distract the casual user from what they really want to do: you know, enjoying a little free time.

Every time I see a question like this I get more and more confused.....

Why sell a $3000+ Receiver when most $999 receievrs can do 95% of the big guy? Why sell Separates at all???

Why sell a $1000 DVD player when a $99 jobber gets a picture onteh screen?

If you have to ask these types of questions, your probobly in the wrong business.....

In a nutshell...

Touchscreen Remote/Control system = Bling, Flexibility and Profit.

If those three things dont do something for you, well... I dunno what to say about that....

I think there are many good reasons for a TS. But honestly it has to do with what one ultimately wants or needs.

The reason I am here on RC was because several years ago my boss goes "we need to find a cost effective way to make videoconferencing easier to use". That brought me to the Pronto and RC. I decided to get one to try it out and it worked flawlessly.

1) -- this is mostly true for any universal - I got rid of all menu buttons and anything that can lead to problems -- where a TS comes handy is that you can add them but make them unreachable through a password protected area--

2) -- it meant one remote and one touch macros-- this would be true for the push button remotes

3) --this is where the TS really shines and where the high end PB will not be able to come in.

On the home screen I had 5 buttons on, off, call, VC-control, projector

call jumped to a section with a dialling pad and a button called directory (and a few more), pressing directory jumped you to an index page and then a letter to locations who's name started with that letter and then clicking on the button with the name it would speed dial the location and jump back home --- with the PB remotes you cannot have a full name like Brisbane (Australia) or Bristol (UK) or some that were much longer ones

if you pressed VC-control it would jump to a page with a room layout, table chairs like the real room, and other equipment depending on what was available to the user in the room(second camera, doc cam, PC input, VCR, DVD, Sat, cable......) a click on a chair would use the equipments presets (it can hold 16 presets) to zoom on he guy in the chair, a click of the table would zoom to fit everyone around the table, a zoom I also used middle view buttons for 1/2 table ( <-----------> at the top as long as the table) or left hand side, right hand sight (<-----> that only covered the left or right)
the user could also click on an icon like a VHS tape to get to the VCR and press record to tape the conference or play (and other VCR commands) to show a tape.

Lastly one of the hard buttons was always set to a help screen that had sub menus explaining how to use the remote and who to contact for different problems and their numbers

now I know you might say cool, but what does that have to do with a home environment. All of it can be applied depending on what you have. Channel logos look cooler, but you could do channel names with no prob CBS, NBC most are under 5 char. but what about if you have a DVD/CD collection, the directory feature could give you (like my directory) the push of 1 button for any song or movie, you can also use DVD cover art for your DVDs instead of text. Look in the file section many people with Prontos and MX-3000 do it. A directory could be applied (like I have done at home, had put in my submission for the ProntoPro 6000 contest) for a directory of take out places, add a button with tel# for each restaurant and then if you press the button it shows you some of the dishes.

You might say, OK a directory, get that, but a PB remote with larger text fields (lets say 10-15 characters) might be good enough.

Do you have IR controlled lighting in your home? then you can use a room layout " I don't find this movie all that interesting, I think I will continue reading my book" push the icon covering the seat and voila the light goes on.

Now the last part I mentioned with a help screen, does not need a TS, Harmony has done that quite well with just an LCD, "is the TV on?" (one PB for yes the other for no). But it is one of the stuff that cannot be easily reproduced with the HTM PB remotes.
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admitedly it depends on what you want and need to decide if a TS would be better then a PB remote. I just disagree that all a TS gives is flash and inconvenience (have to watch screen). It can be a big advantage in the right environment while having no advantage in others.