« TBS ups the ante on annoying commerical insertion | Main | TiVo Summer Update (9.4) rolling out »

The history of the TiVo Remote

Gizmodo has an awesome and exhaustive history of the TiVo remote including lots of prototypes and molds and reasoning for why things turned out the way they did.

After 8 years of using it, the TiVo peanut remote is still one of my favorite things about TiVo, and one of the best examples of well-designed hardware interface.

by Matt Haughey June 20, 2008 in TiVo

Comments

It reads like a second or third draft. The information is very interesting but its pretty apparent it didn't get proofed very well.

Posted by: Erik at Jun 20, 2008 3:38:03 PM

I actually don't like the tivo remote. It's pretty comfortable, but the button layout doesn't strike me as all that great. I use a universal all-in-one as a replacement, and I've been happy with that.

Posted by: reid at Jun 20, 2008 6:54:42 PM

huh, I guess I disagree reid. I've never found another remote that uses differing button sizes as well as placement as good as the TiVo remote. Without looking at the remote, I can find a dozen or more different functions just by feel.

I've never found a universal remote that offers that kind of tactile feedback that makes it easy to pause or lower volume in a dark room without being able to see your remote.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Jun 20, 2008 6:57:11 PM

Matt, I can actually say the same for the features that I use on my universal remote, which is here: . It's nothing fancy, but it puts all of the commonly used buttons right in the center. I can access just about everything with my thumb without having to use my other hand or sliding the remote up or down. The tivo remote has a nicely clustered set of video controls (play, etc.), but it annoys me that the tivo button is way at the top (on mine, it's the blue button in the center). I just don't see that as good design.

Anyway, if it works for you, more power to you! It's just become a peeve of mine when I see such glowing reviews of the tivo remote; I think it's good, but not great.

Posted by: reid at Jun 20, 2008 9:24:26 PM

Um, I guess html really isn't supported. I included a link to my remote's home page. I guess if you search for One For All URC 6131, you should find it easily enough.

Posted by: reid at Jun 20, 2008 9:25:43 PM

I've been using a Logitech Harmony Advanced Universal Remote for Xbox 360 for the past couple of years. It's very easy to find most of the keys by feel, although the backlighting helps when I lose track of where I am.

I haven't used my DirecTiVo peanut since I bought the Harmony, although that's mostly due to the programmability/functionality of the Harmony. I like being able to select an activity and have my remote turn things off/on and select inputs programmatically. Switching between three game consoles, a DirecTiVo and a DVD player couldn't be much simpler, and I can find all of the mapped TiVo buttons with my eyes closed (the circle and bar buttons help keep things oriented).

As Reid stated though, "if it works for you, more power to you!" This one works for me.

Posted by: John Wise at Jun 24, 2008 11:56:23 AM

Post a Comment

Name:

Email Address: (required, not shown)

Remember personal info?

Comments:

(html not allowed)