Bad Design

When we were outfitting our place in Maine we wanted to add a second small TV upstairs.  The most viable option was an Apple TV.  We enjoy the TV but the remote is a disaster.  Like many Apple products it looks sleek and cool but it is dysfunctional in so many ways.

First up is its size.  Measuring 1.5 inches wide, 4.75 inches long, very thin and light weight it is very easy to misplace or for someone to walk off with it.  That's a common problem with remotes but even more so with this because of its size and weight.  These photos give you some idea of the problem.  The last compares the Apple remote to a relatively small traditional remote.

Next are the controls.  What is this???  The semi-labeled ones are counter-intuitive and the touchpad is a nightmare.  The problem is compounded because Apple TV offers so many options it is very difficult to navigate among them using these controls and one often makes several errors before figuring out the correct path.  It's worse if one of your options is cable (which we have) with many channel choices since you cannot select a specific channel because, as you have no doubt noticed, there are no number buttons!

Just an awful piece of equipment.