Monday, July 22, 2013

I have two DVR machines from Charter Communications.  I know this isn't an issue with just one, but both.

For some unknown reason, they updated the software remotely on both machines so that you can no longer press 0-3-2 to go to channel 32, but rather you MUST press 3-2-ENTER instead.  Before, you could do it both ways.  Now, you must do it the latter way.

I'm going to be honest, this is an annoyance with me.  Worse, I cannot for the life of me figure out WHY they did it, except to piss me the hell off.  It's not like it makes it easier.  The 0 button is with all the other number buttons, right next to each other.  The enter key is six inches away, far enough that unless you're using the remote two-handed, it'll often go to that channel on its own.

The only thing I can think of is the QWERTY excuse.  Most of our keyboard placement comes from a typewriter design created by a guy named Christopher Sholes who deliberately arranged the letters in such a way as to slow down the typists and eliminate or reduce key jamming.  Similarly, my guess is that they do this to slow down channel surfing, though they still have the channel up-down button.  Shrug.  Okay, I admit, I don't get it.  I really really don't.

- Jim

Update:  You can type 0-3-2 to change the channels you're watching, just not when you're changing channels in the channel guide which makes even less sense than it did before.