Remotes

shadow people
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

Why does my remote have 40 buttons on it? 40! What are they all for? I use only four buttons.

The problem I have is that while watching TV in the dark I can't find MUTE, or FAST-FORWARD so I keep hitting the wrong button. They are very close together. They are very small. I need to select them with a pencil point. I use my fingernail. It would be helpful if the buttons lit up at night.

My TV remove has glow-in-the-dark buttons. If I put it under the light before turning it off, it's easy to see the buttons. I wish my satellite remote was like that.

And the buttons have inconsistent shapes. They are not all raised. Some are indented, some are rocker style, others are flat. Why?
If they were all the same size and shape my fingers could count the bumps as they glide across them. But now they scrape along, hit a dip, and press the change channel. Rats, how do I go back? Where's the previous-station button? I can't find it in the dark. I turn on the light and press another button. It doesn't work. Instead it pauses the show. So now I'm paused at a show I don't want to watch.

If they can send a man to the moon, build a space station 220 miles from earth, and take pictures of the Titanic 12,500 feet underwater, why can't they design a simple remote?

Mine would have four buttons.

I think I'll go outside and do something that doesn't require a remote.

...dave
Space isn't remote at all. It's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards. - Fred Hoyle