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Until the last few seconds where he found the price had shot up. But if you search for that product (Hotech Voice Me) you will also find others like it.
I spent too many years relying on teenagers to take care of household technology. (and keeping track of where I park but that's another topic)
So my kneejerk reaction is - keep a teenager on speed dial. Not working for me too well so my somewhat egotistical can-figure-out-anything other half deals with it now. I don't watch a lot of TV anyway so it's not really an issue.
They have cell phones for seniors, why can't they invent a universal remote for seniors? With just large buttons for power, volume and channel? I think there is a market for it. For my MIL we used to use blue masking tape to cover over all the buttons she shouldn't touch. It was a clunky solution but it worked, sort of. Most, but not all, of the "dangerous" buttons were in the taped over rows. As she has aged, my 88 year old MIL has gotten more and more unable to manage technology. Everything from the washing machine to the oven are now digital and require multiple buttons to be pushed to achieve the desired effect. She often can't remember her address or phone number, how is she going to remember all the buttons to do laundry or operate the stereo? We try to buy the simplest and most basic model of anything we buy for her apartment and post large print, step by step instructions and tape them up next to the item. I think there is a real market for some entrepreneur who is willing to go after this market, especially as all the boomers start to age and develop memory issues/dementia.
other than physical limitations, I think some people are just afraid to touch anything with buttons. And I hate that most are female. I was an electronics technician in the air force, but I tinkered with all kinds of things before that.
My sisters are weird that if something goes wrong with their remote or anything else, they want a MAN to fix it. I've even told them - YOU had KIDS - you should be able to do anything and be afraid of NOTHING!
All it takes is hands on practice, practice, practice.
One even worked for years as an admin type at the local school but was afraid to use Microsoft Word. I wondered what she did all those years! Sheesh - now I know why our schools are so bad - hire friends and family is their main goal. But that's another story - lol.
I have Directv and to me, the remote is pretty simple. I can even work the buttons with my eyes closed.
You can set up your channels to only those you want to watch. You can control other equipment also. The only thing I can't do is set the timer on my tv. I live it on when I go to bed, so I have to keep the old remote for that.
What's even more ironic is you can hand one of these new-fangled gadgets to a five-year-old and they can work it like a pro. It's almost as though the younger generations are born with the technology instinct.
Most [normal] children have an innate ability to learn, and learn quickly, it's what they do for the first years of their lives. It's not just 'technology', it's everything- language skills, manipulation (ever see how quickly a young child picks up on the use of a 'bad' word, and begins using it to elicit reactions from adults?), etc.
Mrs. Z used to be afraid of technology, but now she handles it like a pro- we have multiple receivers, multiple recorders (from VHS cassettes, to combo VHS/DVD, DVD only and combo DVD/HDD DVRs), some are tied into each other and all are routed into an A/V receiver/distribution system, nearly a dozen different remotes just in one room. She learned to operate them all, and knows the systems better than I do, and I'm the one who put it all together.
She can record 6 or 8 programs at once and has legal pads with cryptic notes on what has been recorded where, dubs whole series to DVD off [multiple] hard drives, DVDs and VHS tapes.
Don't give up. Barring medical issues (Alzheimer's, etc.) it *can* be done.
ad this to the mix, I use Century Link, every time they do a software update, I have to reset all my personal settings, favorites, on screen display, language etc etc, what a pain
Comcast/Xfinity in this area has voice activated remotes that light up when you pick them up. It seems to like my husband's voice more than mine. Misogynist!
What's even more ironic is you can hand one of these new-fangled gadgets to a five-year-old and they can work it like a pro. It's almost as though the younger generations are born with the technology instinct.
I'm just grateful I haven't gotten to the point yet where I pick it up and try to call somebody on it!
I really laughed at the bolded line.
I have one TV, one TV remote and one DVR player with one DVR remote. Any more than that and I'd have to give up.
Whenever I have visited younger relatives and there are several remotes laying on the coffee table, if they go out and I am alone with the TV, I have to read a book. Never can figure out how to put on "regular" TV.
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