Monday, June 7, 2004
Remote Control Anarchy
Jakob Nielsen's latest column, "Remote Control Anarchy," takes on the usability of home theater remote controls (a subject near and dear to me). Most of his columns consist of about 99% hot air and 1% data and this one is no exception.
He asserts that remote controls are sooo hard to use that "the consumer electronics industry is losing significant sales because prospective customers are afraid of the complications entailed in attempting to integrate one more box into their existing system." Says who?
What I find most interesting, after reviewing the photo of his remotes, is that this usability "guru," who "could easily afford more equipment," chose ReplayTV over TiVo. TiVo has long been recognized for the usability of both their software and their remote control.
Jakob Nielsen's latest column, "Remote Control Anarchy," takes on the usability of home theater remote controls (a subject near and dear to me). Most of his columns consist of about 99% hot air and 1% data and this one is no exception.
He asserts that remote controls are sooo hard to use that "the consumer electronics industry is losing significant sales because prospective customers are afraid of the complications entailed in attempting to integrate one more box into their existing system." Says who?
What I find most interesting, after reviewing the photo of his remotes, is that this usability "guru," who "could easily afford more equipment," chose ReplayTV over TiVo. TiVo has long been recognized for the usability of both their software and their remote control.
¶ 12:43 PM 
About Shawn Morton
Married father of 4, social media strategist at Nationwide, consumer electronics enthusiast, hair metal aficionado.
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