Logitech’s Harmony remotes changed how people interacted with their living rooms. In Lauren’s words, “I know it’s nerdy, but I set all this stuff up to not have to be a nerd, you know?” Logitech Enters, And Exits A Broadlink IR blaster was brought in to connect some dots that could easily be connected on their own (infrared light has its limitations) and a separate tablet is used to play shows from dedicated UK-based streaming apps, but overall, the living room experience works - as long as you have her remote. Lauren’s system isn’t perfect, of course. Yes, she could use a separate remote or controller to manage her TV, and the receiver, Xbox, and more hiding in a living room closet, but why do that when you can get basically everything going with one Logitech Harmony 665 Advance Remote Control? Her setup has evolved since to accommodate the variety of old and new tech she’s accrued over the years, but building it out has proven to be a welcome side project. Lauren’s home theater setup started as a way to incorporate a speaker system she inherited from her father, one that might not offer multiroom audio like Sonos, but is a lot simpler to use. One reason why? “The Sonos app just makes me feel like a boomer,” Lauren Petto tells Inverse over Zoom. Companies are still making universal remotes, and the faithful are miraculously still buying them. The universal remote, with its programmable buttons and routines, was the savior of complicated setups, but one that, thanks to streaming boxes, the rise of streaming services, and the mass adoption of smart TVs, doesn’t really have much of a place in most homes in 2023.īut hangers-on exist even if remotes have been replaced with casting protocols and pack-in flingers with paid product placement buttons. TVs used to ship with more than one physical switch or button, you frequently needed a receiver if you wanted to use multiple home theater appliances at once, and juggling all of the various components of your living room usually fell to a remote. The living room was a very different place before apps.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |