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[Marty Chinn]

Edit: I don't even know if a Universal remote can be programmed to go straight to said menu because there's no single-click solution to get there on the remote to program the Universal remote with.

Many TVs actually have way more remote control IR commands than what is shown on the remote since a lot of stuff carries over from other models. It's one of the reasons something like a Harmony is great because you can discover these other remote commands. For example, on my last Sony HDTV, the typical remote button is like a TV/Video to change input, one input at a time. It turns out all Sony TVs have IR commands to jump straight to any input rather than needing to cycle through them. So there may be a possible way of bringing it up.

Was thinking the same thing.

It is gloriously sitting in front of me as I type this.

Are the current panels that Apple uses much better than what's in the 2008 iMac cuz I find that panel to be pretty average at best?

 

[Kermit The Dog]

Are the current panels that Apple uses much better than what's in the 2008 iMac cuz I find that panel to be pretty average at best?

Me and my friends have a drinking game. Everytime Marty Chinn eschews thinly-veiled negativity towards an Apple product/business development while pretending to be neutral and reasonable, we take a shot.

I haven't been able to walk straight since about 2008.

 

[kehs]

That troll reminds me, who makes the current panels they have in the Cinema Display?

That's a troll? I thought Samsung made panels for Apple.

and storage

and ram

and misc chips

hey look it's a samsung phone.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Me and my friends have a drinking game. Everytime Marty Chinn eschews thinly-veiled negativity towards an Apple product/business development while pretending to be neutral and reasonable, we take a shot.

I haven't been able to walk straight since about 2008.

Of course you ignore all the positive things about Apple I speak of too. Serious question though, why not just answer it? I find the view angles to be pretty limiting on my iMac 2008 which is disappointing so I'm curious if that has improved which is why people rave about them now.

 

[duk]

no thanks

 

[RiZ III]

Apple software that seamlessly syncs all my stuff .. like how ITunes seamlessly syncs all my stuff after crashing ten times. I've literally spent the whole damn day trying to upgrade my 3GS to Ios5 and it's still not done. Froze several times when "backing up" and "verifying", and then doesn't bother copying all of my apps after several hours. Apple needs to do some serious house cleaning in their software engineering department.

 

[StudioTan]

I want a full-featured "remote" app for my phone that controls everything.

No you don't. It sounds cool in theory until you realize your phone goes to sleep all the time and you need to unlock it and wait for the app every time you want to change the volume.

 

[WordAssassin]

Of course you ignore all the positive things about Apple I speak of too. Serious question though, why not just answer it? I find the view angles to be pretty limiting on my iMac 2008 which is disappointing so I'm curious if that has improved which is why people rave about them now.

I have a 2006 iMac and I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, the screen looks fine to me from any angle? Did they change the screen from the 2006 iMac to the 2008 one?

That said, their new screens are insanely beautiful. My dad just got one of the brand-new 2011 iMacs and I am soooo fucking envious of his computer. It's magnificent. If their cinema displays use the same screens (I don't know why they wouldn't) then yes, they are vastly improved and simply gorgeous.

Don't you have a Best Buy or an Apple store nearby that you could go into to see for yourself?

 

[dejay]

No you don't. It sounds cool in theory until you realize your phone goes to sleep all the time and you need to unlock it and wait for the app every time you want to change the volume.

This - although I can envision a phone that's half asleep in remote mode, able to quickly wake up and communicate with everything. Amoled displays can display discreet text for minimal battery drain. I can still see an issue if your phone rings though. A a dedicated universal remote based on Android could be amazing.

The only way a universal remote will be really good is if there is two way communications between the devices and the remote, via a standard protocol, most probably wifi. Universal remotes, and particularly macros, fail when one of the devices it's trying to control is in the wrong state and the whole lot becomes out of sync.

That's why I like the trend of devices having built-in with wifi. Now they just have to standardise a home device control language for people to really set their stuff how they want it, simply and easily so that they can control everything from a smart universal remote, their phone, tablet or PC.

 

[Fusebox]

Me and my friends have a drinking game. Everytime Marty Chinn eschews thinly-veiled negativity towards an Apple product/business development while pretending to be neutral and reasonable, we take a shot.

I haven't been able to walk straight since about 2008.

Ha! I just loled.

 

[Laughing Banana]

...I would suggest someone made a Steve Jobs Quote [OT] or Steve Jobs Bio [OT] or something, lest we have a new thread for every quote Steve Jobs said in his bio.

 

[MikeE21286]

That'd be cool. Apple is always known for getting high quality displays in their sets. But I'm not sure they actually make displays? THey would just be the UI/OS manufacturer for the if/when one comes out.

 

[rezuth]

That's a troll? I thought Samsung made panels for Apple.

and storage

and ram

and misc chips

hey look it's a samsung phone.

Samsung supplies some of the RAM, while Elpida supplies the rest. The storage that you claim to be Samsung is actually Toshiba. The panel is made by LG the last time I checked, Samsung keeps claiming AMOLED is better. Don't know why they would say that one of their panels suck but maybe they just started making panels for the iPhone, what do I know.

So lets see your trolling here. Hmm unless misc chips means that they manufacture the A4 and A5 after the design Apple did I don't think you had a full single right.

 

[Burai]

Of course you ignore all the positive things about Apple I speak of too. Serious question though, why not just answer it? I find the view angles to be pretty limiting on my iMac 2008 which is disappointing so I'm curious if that has improved which is why people rave about them now.

They switched to LED backlit IPS with the late 2009 iMac and the following cinema display.

They really are the best displays money can buy right now, inputs not withstanding.

 

[kehs]

Samsung supplies some of the RAM, while Elpida supplies the rest. The storage that you claim to be Samsung is actually Toshiba. The panel is made by LG the last time I checked, Samsung keeps claiming AMOLED is better. Don't know why they would say that one of their panels suck but maybe they just started making panels for the iPhone, what do I know.

So lets see your trolling here. Hmm unless misc chips means that they manufacture the A4 and A5 after the design Apple did I don't think you had a full single right.

$$$

 

[rezuth]

$$$

So my precious little troll, how do you feel about not knowing what you are talking about?

 

[jump_button]

Complex remotes what? anyone really find them that hard?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Complex remotes what? anyone really find them that hard?

It's not that it's that hard. It's that it can be done differently and better.

I don't really understand how so many of you take his unknown idea to be "remotes are hard, guys."

 

[Marty Chinn]

It's not that it's that hard. It's that it can be done differently and better.

I don't really understand how so many of you take his unknown idea to be "remotes are hard, guys."

No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels.

Because Steve Jobs said it.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Because Steve Jobs said it.

"Complex" doesn't mean it's hard. I can operate a computer. Doesn't mean they're hard to use. And whatever his idea is that none of us have any idea about, maybe he does get rid of the complexity of remotes for multiple devices.

 

[TylerD]

Purely talking to the TV has to be it. Siri is the new "thing" and it is so much fun to say. Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri! Not that voice command hasn't been around for a long time but now iOS has Siri and we can all rejoice.

I agree to an extent with the make something so simple that it becomes complicated comments. Multiple people with multiple iOS devices on iCloud syncing in the same house anyone? How about a separate app for every little task you want to do?

I have an iPad and love it for consuming media and browsing the internet but that is about it.

 

[Marty Chinn]

"Complex" doesn't mean it's hard. I can operate a computer. Doesn't mean they're hard to use. And whatever his idea is that none of us have any idea about, maybe he does get rid of the complexity of remotes for multiple devices.

So was Steve Jobs trying to reduce the number of components inside the remote? I'm not sure how you can try to deny that he was trying to say that remotes were complicated and thus hard to use. He was trying to simplify it to make it easier to use.

You can use a computer which is complicated internally because the UI has been made to not expose that complexity and easier to use. In the case of the remote, the internals is the machinery, and how the commands are sent and so forth, which is complicated, but I'm damn sure he wasn't talking about that. He was talking about the external UI which is the button interface that people use.

Purely talking to the TV has to be it. Siri is the new "thing" and it is so much fun to say. Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri! Not that voice command hasn't been around for a long time but now iOS has Siri and we can all rejoice.

I think Microsoft is going to beat them to the punch in a few weeks.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

So was Steve Jobs trying to reduce the number of components inside the remote? I'm not sure how you can try to deny that he was trying to say that remotes were complicated and thus hard to use. He was trying to simplify it to make it easier to use.

Still doesn't mean they're hard to use. Everyone knows how to work a remote. Everyone knew how to use a phone, too. It didn't mean it couldn't be changed.

Purely talking to the TV has to be it. Siri is the new "thing" and it is so much fun to say. Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri, Siri! Not that voice command hasn't been around for a long time but now iOS has Siri and we can all rejoice.

Why would you need to build a TV to do this? The Apple TV as it exists right now could do that.

 

[XMonkey]

They switched to LED backlit IPS with the late 2009 iMac and the following cinema display.

They really are the best displays money can buy right now, inputs not withstanding.

That money can buy? Hardly. There's a lot of better monitors out there. They are good for what they cost and in line with similar manufacturers (Dell).

 

[Burai]

Exactly. Complex is a ton of buttons spread across multiple input devices. Simple is few-to-zero buttons with alternative input methods on one device with little-to-zero setup work beforehand.

I have a feeling that before the end of next year, Microsoft will be kicking themselves for not pushing the Kinect concept to it's logical conclusion fast enough.

Siri on your TV will change everything and Microsoft had it in their grasp.

 

[Burai]

That money can buy? Hardly. There's a lot of better monitors out there. They are good for what they cost and in line with similar manufacturers (Dell).

Depends on your definition of better. We're talking consumer displays here. Yeah, there are better pro displays costing more, yeah there are better gaming displays costing less.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Still doesn't mean they're hard to use. Everyone knows how to work a remote. Everyone knew how to use a phone, too. It didn't mean it couldn't be changed.

If they're easy to use, why do you need to change them then? Part of what Apple is great at is trying to make things easy to use that weren't so easy to do before. Everyone knew how to use a phone but that's not what the iPhone brought to the table. What the iPhone brought to the table was how things worked together on the iPhone which made things a lot easier than it used to be.

Why would you need to build a TV to do this? The Apple TV as it exists right now could do that.

You don't need to but being integrated into the TV itself could go a long way I think, plus even further integration into the TV would be nice from an interface standpoint. You'd also remove selecting the appropriate input which has always been a barrier among people.

 

[Marty Chinn]

Exactly. Complex is a ton of buttons spread across multiple input devices. Simple is few-to-zero buttons with alternative input methods on one device with little-to-zero setup work beforehand.

I have a feeling that before the end of next year, Microsoft will be kicking themselves for not pushing the Kinect concept to it's logical conclusion fast enough.

Siri on your TV will change everything and Microsoft had it in their grasp.

Wait what? What are you talking about Microsoft and Kinect here? They're going to beat Apple to it in a matter of days.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

If they're easy to use, why do you need to change them then?

You're hilarious.

 

[WordAssassin]

Why would you need to build a TV to do this? The Apple TV as it exists right now could do that.

You can't talk to the Apple TV because there's no microphone, or do you just mean the form they have now but with updated hardware?

I agree with you, though, if Apple is going to jump into making an actual TV and not just a box that plugs into one, then they've figured out a way to "rethink" what a TV is and how we interact with it, which is something not many people in this thread seem to understand.

Weather they pull it off or not remains to be seen but I really, really, really doubt Steve Jobs would OK a simple HDTV with an Apple logo on the front.

 

[Burai]

Wait what? What are you talking about Microsoft and Kinect here? They're going to beat Apple to it in a matter of days.

No they aren't. There are masses of limitations to Kinect, not least the inability to do things cross-app.

 

[Marty Chinn]

You're hilarious.

Answer the question. I think to a certain degree remotes can be difficult, but I think that comes down to when you have to use multiple remotes not any single specific one. I really think Steve Jobs was claiming there is a difficulty to using all these remotes and let's face it are we trying to say Apple doesn't try to make difficult to use interfaces and try to make them easy to use for the masses? Apple's bread and butter has been this so why are we trying pretend that's not what they do and interpret that complexity did refer to difficulty when talking about remotes? We know Steve hates excessive number of buttons because it makes the UI difficult to use and daunting to the end user. So really, none of this should be shocking to see this type of reaction when there is a quote from Steve Jobs about complicated remotes.

 

[jump_button]

Remote is one of the thing you should look at befor buying a TV its the thing you use the most. Cant see how anyone can make a better one, not to say that they all good, To change TV you have to change how we get it and how it is shown.

God help us all if it end up like youtube where the most lowbrow on top full of attention hogs

 

[Marty Chinn]

No they aren't. There are masses of limitations to Kinect, not least the inability to do things cross-app.

I think when it comes to watching TV, Microsoft is going to do what we're describing here. Completely voice interaction with the ability to search for content across multiple sources. Isn't that what we're talking about here?

 

[TylerD]

It needs to have lots and lots of apps too. And we will need "extra HD" or "HD plus" versions of them because the ipad has the HD versions already but they are only 1024x768 so you will need to buy the 1920x1080 versions of your favorite apps that you already own on iphone, ipad, and mac.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Answer the question. I think to a certain degree remotes can be difficult, but I think that comes down to when you have to use multiple remotes not any single specific one. I really think Steve Jobs was claiming there is a difficulty to using all these remotes and let's face it are we trying to say Apple doesn't try to make difficult to use interfaces and try to make them easy to use for the masses? Apple's bread and butter has been this so why are we trying pretend that's not what they do and interpret that complexity did refer to difficulty when talking about remotes? We know Steve hates excessive number of buttons because it makes the UI difficult to use and daunting to the end user. So really, none of this should be shocking to see this type of reaction when there is a quote from Steve Jobs about complicated remotes.

You're doing the Marty Chinn thing again where you're willing to argue for pages and pages over hypotheticals and what people may or may not think or do.

If Steve Jobs says he has an idea for TVs and remotes, then he does. If he says it's no longer complex, then let's see if it is.

You're willing to argue every degree of semantics on what the words "hard" and "easy" mean, and it's just so damn boring.

 

[Marty Chinn]

You're doing the Marty Chinn thing again where you're willing to argue for pages and pages over hypotheticals and what people may or may not think or do.

If Steve Jobs says he has an idea for TVs and remotes, then he does. If he says it's no longer complex, then let's see if it is.

You're willing to argue every degree of semantics on what the words "hard" and "easy" mean, and it's just so damn boring.

If you don't like discussing hypothetical scenarios or anything that isn't concrete, why are you even posting in this thread then?

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Ugh. Here we go...

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

There's this line that normal human beings stop at, and Marty Chinn is the only person on the entire forum that's endlessly fascinated about crossing it.

Marty, we can seriously talk forever about what "hard" and "easy" mean and what Steve Jobs means by "hard" and "easy" and what you mean by it and what I mean by it and what your mom thinks about it, but it's so goddamn tedious. Seriously. If you think the remote is fine, then good.

 

[Marty Chinn]

There's this line that normal human beings stop at, and Marty Chinn is the only person on the entire forum that's endlessly fascinated about crossing it.

Marty, we can seriously talk forever about what "hard" and "easy" mean and what Steve Jobs means by "hard" and "easy" and what you mean by it and what I mean by it and what your mom thinks about it, but it's so goddamn tedious. Seriously. If you think the remote is fine, then good.

A remote is such a broad term though. There are good remotes and there are terrible remotes. Let's put this in a different perspective. Apple's bread and butter has been simplifying things for the end user. Steve Job's has passionately felt about this and has said numerous times about his design ideals and ease of use for people to use his products. He's stated that these remotes are complex in that quote. Just about everyone based off Apple's history, Steve Job's history, and that quote has inferred that Steve must have felt they were difficult to some degree to have an issue to solve. You're the only person here who seems to think otherwise.

 

[sleeping_dragon]

Samsung supplies some of the RAM, while Elpida supplies the rest. The storage that you claim to be Samsung is actually Toshiba. The panel is made by LG the last time I checked, Samsung keeps claiming AMOLED is better. Don't know why they would say that one of their panels suck but maybe they just started making panels for the iPhone, what do I know.

So lets see your trolling here. Hmm unless misc chips means that they manufacture the A4 and A5 after the design Apple did I don't think you had a full single right.

that's just prove hardware wise Apple sucks, they have to outsourced everything, and when it comes to HDTV, the panel is the important aspect of a HDTV and as you can see the best panels are from Japanese manufacturers, I don't care how simple and intuitive the UI are, if the picture quality sucks then no software can make up for it.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

that's just prove hardware wise Apple sucks, they have to outsourced everything

So does every other computer company, bro.

 

[tedtropy]

"DVD players." Even outside the computer realm he won't acknowledge that BluRay exists.

It's a shame we likely won't hear more of his take on simplifying the TV, whether it was one of his more crackpot ideas or if this one actually had wheels. Honestly, what he sees as complexity on any decent universal remote, I just see as a level of control, but I can certainly understand how it can frustrate many other folks, my...well, folks being a prime example.

 

[RubxQub]

I want to participate in the thread, but I can see it'd be pointless so...nah.

Annoying.

 

[davepoobond]

wouldnt that just be an imac with a super large screen and maybe apple tv integrated

 

[snoopeasystreet]

I like my sky plus remote. I'm trying to think how they could remove buttons and make it equally as functional. Although there's a lot of buttons on a remote, they're all single use buttons that do one thing. When you start getting into contextual buttons, I'm guessing it becomes more difficult to use for the luddites out there.

 

[Burai]

I like my sky plus remote. I'm trying to think how they could remove buttons and make it equally as functional. Although there's a lot of buttons on a remote, they're all single use buttons that do one thing. When you start getting into contextual buttons, I'm guessing it becomes more difficult to use for the luddites out there.

With a TV it's not so much the remote but the remote + UI.

For example, after years of using Sky, you know that 100 channels are entertainment, 300 are movies, 400 sports, 500 music, 600 news, etc. You know how to work your way around the EPG, programmed in your favourites, etc.

Well imagine that you didn't have to worry about channels or EPGs. Just press a button and tell the TV through the mic that you want to know the weather and it'll just take you straight to a news channel showing a weather forecast or, should there not be one currently airing, a weather app.

Instead of going through the EPG to find the show you want to record and then choosing to series link, just press a button and tell the TV you want to record the whole series of that show. Or if you wanted to watch a comedy, just tell the tv and it'll give you the choices of everything on right now for you to choose from, again aurally.

Take away the buttons and the walls of text and you break down a massive barrier to end users.

 

[giga]

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is turning to the software engineer who built iTunes to help lead its development of a television set, according to three people with knowledge of the project.

Jeff Robbin, who helped create the iPod in addition to the iTunes media store, is now guiding Apple’s internal development of the new TV effort, said the people, who declined to be identified because his role isn’t public.

Robbin’s involvement is a sign of Apple’s commitment to extending its leadership in smartphones and tablets into the living room. Before his Oct. 5 death, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he had “finally cracked” how to build an integrated TV with a simple user interface that would wirelessly synchronize content with Apple’s other devices.

“It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine,” Jobs told Isaacson in the biography “Steve Jobs,” released today by CBS Corp. (CBS)’s Simon & Schuster.

Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment. Outside of Jobs’s remarks in the book, Apple hasn’t acknowledged that it’s developing a TV set. According to one person, it’s not guaranteed that Apple will release a television.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...-to-be-led-by-itunes-creator-jeff-robbin.html

 

[Kosmo]

Apple make things simple, yes. Unfortunately, they do it by removing funcionality. This leads to a worse product in the end. At least, for those in the know.

Actually, no. Simple is complicated.

I think the Apple TV has all along been an experiment by Apple on how to get into the living room. They now have things down to a $99 box and can take things to the next step by incorporating it into an actual set. I think this only works one way:

It MUST come with licensing deals for live sports (NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, ESPN) on it and have some major news networks signed up as well (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC). Then they can crack the cable companies.

 

[Snaku]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...-to-be-led-by-itunes-creator-jeff-robbin.html

I'll take three!