How Apple's Remote app ruined remote controls for me
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Features, Apple TV
Way back in what we called “the 80s,” my father bought a VCR. Its magic let us record TV shows for later viewing, and we loved it. In fact, VCRs did 4 things:
- Record the show you were watching
- Record a show that was airing on a channel other than the one you were watching
- Watch videos previously recorded (your own or commercial movies)
- Record shows all on its own
Number 4 required a Tarot deck, eye of newt and a Harry Potter Time-Turner. The VCR had two “clocks” on its face. You set Clock A to your show’s starting time, and Clock B to its end. Next, a series of switches that were developed by 14 or 15 blind and drunken NASA rejects required precise manipulation. At last you finished only to realize that your show had begun 11 minutes earlier.
Eventually we upgraded to a model with a wired remote control that was the size of a baby manatee and had more buttons than a scientific calculator. Twenty-eight years later, the DVR has made recording easier but remotes (or “clickers” as we call them) are still stuck in the 80s. To the max.
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TUAWHow Apple’s Remote app ruined remote controls for me originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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