#303046 - 14/10/2007 14:08
Wanted: Magic Television
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
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I am looking for a magic television for aging parents. Not sure it exists, but here are specs:
1) It is just a television with a very simple remote control. There are no external boxes, cables or secondary controls, al la Tivo..
2) The remote is simple and has big buttons. It controls the TV and nothing else.
3) It has programming features such that:
- Every Sunday my sister sits with my folks and they go through the TV listsing.
- My sister uses the simple remote to tell the TV to tune to certain stations at certain times, i.e. at 7PM on Friday tune to channel 5 for 3 hours (Red Sox game), then on Saturday at 2PM tune to channel 7 for 2 hours (BC football).
4) When the TV is turned on, it goes to any programmed times/stations by default.
5) You can use the remote to channel surf, but at any time you can press a particularly big green button tthat puts you back on course -- takes you to the programmed channel if there is such.
I did a little searching, but didn't find anything that came close to this "TV-only" design. Would any of the newer external HDTV tuners provide this kind of function. I could live with some sort of external box so long as the complexity was completely hidden from the programmers (sister) and (end-users). The issue being that with various visual and other challenges, my folks can be in a state where they *think* the Red Sox are on (and they are right!) but they can't get the )*(&%^*% TV to the right channel.
Growing old. It ain't for sissies.
_________________________
Jim
'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.
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#303047 - 15/10/2007 05:22
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: jimhogan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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Quote:
There are no external boxes, cables or secondary controls, al la Tivo..
I wish you hadn't said that. Would you perhaps reconsider?
The nice thing about TiVo is that you don't have to deal with TV listings and setting up to record certain stations at certain times.
Do a one time setup of your Season Passes, and TiVo will do the rest, including selecting similar programs on a trial basis.
After that, all your parents have to do is press the "List" button on the TiVo remote and then select which program they want to watch.
I can't imagine how it could get much simpler than that.
tanstaafl.
_________________________
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#303048 - 15/10/2007 11:12
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Agreed. If you get a single-tuner Series 2 Tivo, then whenever your program comes on to record it'll switch the tuner to that channel (so you don't have to worry about your parents trying to figure out how to switch between tuners). That's the only way I can think of to make it automatically switch to the channel at the right time. Well, other than buying a Philips Pronto, which can be set up with timers to carry out macros (I used to use mine as an alarm). But then the remote has to always be pointing at the screen.
I think Tivo is the way to go. My mom is a total technophobe, but she was able to master the Tivo in less than a couple weeks. She's not getting as old as it sounds like your parents are, but if she were I think she'd still get along well with the Tivo.
_________________________
Matt
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#303049 - 15/10/2007 13:33
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: Dignan]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
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One other plus of Tivo is online programming - that way you can add programs for them if need be.
-Zeke
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WWFSMD?
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#303050 - 15/10/2007 14:09
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
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The dual tuner versions like the Series 3 can be run in single tuner mode by disabling one of the tuners.
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Glenn
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#303051 - 15/10/2007 14:20
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: jimhogan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
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I understand this desire. Tivo may not be a good choice.
My parents are never going to get it. (and Don't want to deal with it)
When the prompt to change channels pops up they don't know why or what do do about it.
Then, they get upset when the channel changes and the show they were watching goes bye bye. Even when it's changing to a show they might have preferred.
_________________________
Glenn
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#303052 - 15/10/2007 14:37
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: jimhogan]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 25/08/2000
Posts: 2413
Loc: NH USA
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Won't help with your oxymoronic 'simple programming' feature, but simple remotes exist. Here's one at Amazon.-Zeke
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WWFSMD?
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#303053 - 15/10/2007 18:07
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: gbeer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
I understand this desire. Tivo may not be a good choice.
My parents are never going to get it. (and Don't want to deal with it)
When the prompt to change channels pops up they don't know why or what do do about it.
Then, they get upset when the channel changes and the show they were watching goes bye bye. Even when it's changing to a show they might have preferred.
While this is understandable, we were addressing Jim's question, which states that this is exactly how he wants it to act. So all he has to tell them is that when that message comes up, just don't do anything.
I had forgotten that you can tell it to not use one of the tuners. Good point.
_________________________
Matt
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#303054 - 16/10/2007 00:03
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/12/2000
Posts: 2665
Loc: Manteca, California
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Quote:
While this is understandable, we were addressing Jim's question, which states that this is exactly how he wants it to act. So all he has to tell them is that when that message comes up, just don't do anything.
Sorry my friend. I didn't mean to dis Tivo. I like them and would have no other type DVR.
It's just that I have some experience seeing my "Old Folks" attempting to deal with a Tivo. Their youth predates things like the ballpoint pen, computers, and television.
Basically anything with a multi level menu system is going to fail the "Magic TV" challenge.
_________________________
Glenn
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#303055 - 16/10/2007 00:29
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: gbeer]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
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Quote:
Quote:
While this is understandable, we were addressing Jim's question, which states that this is exactly how he wants it to act. So all he has to tell them is that when that message comes up, just don't do anything.
Sorry my friend. I didn't mean to dis Tivo. I like them and would have no other type DVR.
It's just that I have some experience seeing my "Old Folks" attempting to deal with a Tivo. Their youth predates things like the ballpoint pen, computers, and television.
Basically anything with a multi level menu system is going to fail the "Magic TV" challenge.
Yeah, not sure the Magic TV exists. I have had a Tivo and liked it, but I sold it when I decided to reduce my cable subscription to the $13 Seattle basic (broadcast channels, CBC and Discovery Channel essentially).
Add to the Old Folks factor the fact that one of them is losing vision to the point that he can hardly make out a digital clock with 2-inch-high digits a foot away and the other has gotten to where she has almost zilch short-term memory -- might not know if it is 7AM or 7PM. So I call and am sad to hear that they *think* the Red Sox are on, but can't find it. Need big green button.
My very dear sister is willing to try new things, but even then I wonder whether she could hack programming a Tivo. Also, to Doug's points about Tivo "Season Pass" features, my experience was that the Pass features weren't too fine-grained -- might give them *all* the baseball.
It might seem silly, but I am actually going to talk with my sister about paying extra to have one of the facility's staff drop by 5-6 times a week to turn on Red Sox, Patriots, BC, golf, etc.
_________________________
Jim
'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.
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#303056 - 16/10/2007 10:48
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: jimhogan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14496
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
It might seem silly, but I am actually going to talk with my sister about paying extra to have one of the facility's staff drop by 5-6 times a week to turn on Red Sox, Patriots, BC, golf, etc.
What a shame. That will probably add up to $200-$300 weekly, which is more than enough to pay some college undergrad to produce a customized MythTV menu set for this specific purpose, along with programming a remote of your choice (one with a big button which can be painted green if need be) to operate exactly as you want it.
Cheers
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#303057 - 16/10/2007 12:09
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: jimhogan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
Also, to Doug's points about Tivo "Season Pass" features, my experience was that the Pass features weren't too fine-grained -- might give them *all* the baseball.
I haven't tried it, but I would be surprised if you couldn't nail it down to Sox games with the WishList feature.
The point of using the TiVo is that they don't even need to push a button. When the Sox come on, it tunes to it. The only situation is when they're watching something else and the TiVo asks if it can change the channel to record something else. If the Sox Wishlist is the only recording that they have set up (make sure to turn off the autorecording of suggestions), you can tell them that that's asking if they want to watch the game.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk
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#303058 - 16/10/2007 22:36
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
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Quote:
The point of using the TiVo is that they don't even need to push a button. When the Sox come on, it tunes to it. The only situation is when they're watching something else and the TiVo asks if it can change the channel to record something else.
No, no, no! You're missing the point here. With TiVo installed, they will never watch television again. All they will watch is TiVo recordings.
TiVo is completely transparent. The TV set is permanently set to TiVo as the input, and when they want to watch TV they press the "List" button on the TiVo remote, they see the list of programs that have been recorded, they select the one they want to see and press the "Play" button. That's it in its entirety. They will never be asked to change channels, they will never have to know if/when something is scheduled, they will never have to arrange their lives around the television schedule, they will never have to deal with complicated boxes or multiple remotes. They just point the TiVo remote at the TV set to power it on, press the List button to see what's available to watch, scroll down to that program and press the play button.
The TiVo interface is extremely simple at the top level which is where the folks will be using it. Yet, it is extremely powerful and versatile underneath. Whoever sets up the wishlists/seasonpasses can definitely program it to pick up all the Red Sox baseball games and no other, or every baseball game, or just about anything in between. Once it's set up (a 30 minute job at most) it's done and need not be changed. Ever.
I state this without fear of contradiction: If television is even a little bit important to them then TiVo will change their life!
tanstaafl.
_________________________
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
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#303059 - 16/10/2007 23:23
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
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I agree with your assessment 100%, but now that Jim has mentioned the bad eyesight, I'm not entirely confident in the suggestion. That's the only obstacle I see - that they won't be able to see the List.
Otherwise, I'm with you on all counts. I'm just not sure that there's a "big green button" out there that will do all these things and do it reliably.
_________________________
Matt
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#303060 - 17/10/2007 00:29
Re: Wanted: Magic Television
[Re: tanstaafl.]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 06/10/1999
Posts: 2591
Loc: Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
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Quote:
I state this without fear of contradiction: If television is even a little bit important to them then TiVo will change their life!
I don't want to stray too far into Melancholia-ville, but this case of trying to remotely care (somewhat) for 89 and 90-year-old parents 2600 miles away is an interesting study, I think.
I am not sure, at this point, that anything is going to change their life, and recent ups and downs in medical conditions tells me that the window for life changes is getting smaller every day. We had a bash for their 60th anniversary. My sibs and I are not thinking there will be a 70th.
Is TV even a bit important? Left to their own devices, they might just throw their frustrating remote in the trash and take a nap. But we know that their interest can *still* be picqued by the World Series or a BC game on a brisk Fall Saturday. Now, since it seems like the Magic Television doesn't exist, I may start looking for the Magic Radio. For my dad this might be just as good. Remote controls can be a pain in the ass. How about a radio with a big, fat tuning knob? That might be the ticket.
Mark, it might seem bizarre to pay somebody to knock on their door and tune their TV 5 or 6 times a week, but the more I think about it, the more I think it might have to recommend it. A social call from one of the nice aides at this assisted-living facility.
It's ironic. I want to solve the problem with technology but I don't want to solve the problem with technology.
_________________________
Jim
'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.
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