From TIM HUNKIN
I read Harold Thimbleby’s article on the inconvenience of video recorder
controls with interest because my video has many of the same irritating
features as he described (‘Can anyone work the video?’, 23 February). I
recently asked some engineers at Philips about it and they admitted the
situation was pretty bad.
However, for all future models, they put their faith in incorporating
teletext (enabling the timer to be set by simply identifying the programme
on the screen), because the cost of the additional electronics is becoming
small. This cuts the number of buttons necessary.
But one of the main problems is that all the buttons are so similar.
Having different types of switches for different aspects of the machine
obviously helps to reduce confusion. The engineers in one American nuclear
power station resorted to fixing beer pump handles to the most important
controls to make them stand out. These might be a bit large to stick on
a video remote control unit, but it ought to be quite simple to apply the
same sort of idea.
Tim Hunkin Halesworth Suffolk
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