Invisible wrote:
> On 04/04/2011 01:43 PM, scott wrote:
>>> The market theory is that if a device doesn't work very well, everybody
>>> will buy a competing product instead. Except that, as far as I can tell,
>>> almost all of these devices tend to be equally inept.
>>
>> Maybe it wasn't possible to make a better one for that price and still
>> make a profit?
> 
> How hard would it be to add 3 lines of code to display the number of 
> files still to be copied? I mean, maybe it would actually be difficult 
> to add a second progress bar, I don't know, but I can't imagine adding a 
> little bit of text could be that hard.
> 
> There's already an option to reformat the internal HD. So why isn't 
> there one to format an external one? The necessary code obviously exists 
> already, so...?
> 
> Alternatively, if you actually need a PC, why not document this fact 
> correctly? If the drive has to have at least one empty folder on it, 
> document that too! (Weirdly, you can create and delete folders from the 
> device. You just can't until at least one empty folder exists, WTF?)
> 
> We're talking about tiny little changes that would have made a big 
> difference to how easy to use the product would have been. OK, making it 
> so that you can still change channel while a file copy is in progress 
> *might* actually be difficult. Most of the other stuff would have been 
> trivial.

It always seems to me that usability is the lowest possible priority of 
set top box hardware. I won't even go into how much I despise the 
software on our cable box. I'm rather busy when I get home. I expect 
that my favorite shows will be dutifully recorded by the box, stored, 
and the box will warn me if I'm running out of storage. It seems rather 
simple. Every week record show with title X. When new data comes in, add 
anything that matches my list to the schedule. If a show conflicts, the 
highest priority always wins. If a show is set to record both new and 
repeats, then record both new and repeats. How hard can it be? And yet 
... the functionality is so broken that if I don't babysit the device, 
it fails to record anything. I noticed my selection of shows was growing 
rather thin, so I looked at the future recordings. Nothing. I had to 
re-enter all of the series I had set to record. Now it records fine. My 
wife reminds me to check that our favorite show is being recorded, about 
30 minutes in (we were busy ... this is what a DVR is for...) No, it was 
not recording. The show is set to record new and repeat (because new 
doesn't always work) and is Priority 1 on the DVR's list. and it was not 
set to record. WTF... Oh, but it was recording something further down 
the list, and still had an open receiver for recording another show.

Oops... it looks like I just did.



-- 
~Mike

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