As the Internet and TV converge in living rooms, lots of folks, including the New York Times, have been drooling over the idea of smartphones as next-gen remotes. On the surface, this seems like a cool idea. After all, smart mobile devices have touch screens, keyboards, and all sorts of other bells and whistles that should equal an enhanced, enjoyable smart-TV experience.
Once you scratch the surface, however, you soon realize what a terrible and impractical idea an app-enabled smartphone remote really is.
(And the author forgets to mention that TV’s are often watched in darker environments, where tactile feedback on the location of the volume and programme buttons are simply quite helpful – one can change the volume or the programme without having to watch a normal remote, but you can’t do that with a touchscreen smart phone).