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Remotes: Who needs 'em?

Just bought a nice used pre-amp, make and model unimportant, that is aesthetically and functionally what was needed for one of my systems EXCEPT... Other than a bedridden or legless person, what kind of inadequate, drooling idiot would need a 56-button remote? What happened with our society twenty years ago to convince marketers and manufacturers (no right-thinking person would EVER ask for this crap) that a remote with literally dozens and dozens of little buttons would ever appeal to anyone who is attempting to operate a machine for the purpose of listening to music? The only sane remote I have ever used is that on my 1985-vintage HK CDP (owned for historical reference only!), which has no more buttons than a touch-tone phone of the same era.

It is taking all of the reserve I have to avoid crushing the remote underfoot and pretending that it never existed. I'll get my lazy azz up and handle the limited faceplate controls manually rather than even open the separate manual for the remote, thank you very much! I came very close to purchasing the Vincent SA-31 and taking a hit on frequency extremes precisely because it does NOT have this ludicrous appliance included (and which a recent reviewer bemoaned the lack of...) just to reward them for actually having the chutzpah to offer a reasonably-simple component. Who is reponsible for the idea that every device I own must have a remote? Where can I send the mob of fellow luddites with their pitchforks and torches?

I listen to relax, not to go from my electronically-enhanced workplace to sit and fiddle with some idiotic plastic cell-phone wannabee!
morgenholz
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,966 posts
 
it is very impressive you took time to count the number of buttons on that remote.

and even if it has 156 or 256 buttons, why would you want to fiddle with this remote while listening? You say you want to relax while listening. Don't you just use the remote to adjust volume and mute the unit? or if you don't like the remote, don't use it! it's pretty simple.

you complain about people who flip through TV channels? That you think is bad? Counting buttons on your remote control isn't bad, ha?

A clear case of OCD.
morgenholz OP
61 posts
 
OCD, perhaps. Counted 'em to provide hard data to support my hypotheses. Please do rest assured that I won't count them again, and certainly will not memorize their functions and positions. I'm more concerned with why this kind of garbage is produced and fishing for input from ANYBODY who actually uses these "features."

And no, I never use remotes for anything. I choose my material, set my volume, sit back, and listen-- I don't fidget with silly toys. I'm just acknowledging that many on this board do indeed use volume and mute and that these are quite legitimate applications for a remote. Regarding channel-flippers, garbage in, garbage out.
gawdbless's avatar
gawdbless
1,235 posts
 
Remote buttons are akin to breasts, buttons that should be fiddled with constantly.
rodman99999
6,156 posts
 
Find a roll of duct tape(a color pleasing to your eyes, to avoid further angst), cut off a suitable length and cover the face of your remote. With an Exacto knife(or an, as yet, unconfiscated scalpel), trim out around those precious few buttons you have no objection to. Out of sight, out of mind! Perhaps a pair of gloves might be in order, lest your sense of touch betray those nefarious button demons lurking beneath the tape and trigger an apoplectic episode. Happy listening!
morgenholz OP
61 posts
 
Ha. Still not a single one of us that admits using even half of them on a given unit, just some possibly defensive replies that could be fueled by some sense of personal inadequacy for not having mastered all of 'em. No real defense for even twenty or thirty buttons.

I suppose many who routinely use a remote like to lay that remote next to the cell phone or Blackberry(R) so that they can be interrupted by another little multibutton electronic device, maybe even one that can take pictures and make little movies?

Gawdbless, most breasts, at least the ones I've seen, provide only one button per unit. Again, not forty or fifty. I have seen a duplicated nipple, but you've still got only an analogy to volume up, down, and mute.
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