Creative thoughts…?

wired remote control rc lazy train product design dvd player

This friday I went home by train,once again….as almost every weekend. I’ve never thought much about remote controls before but this changed a lot during the journey.

Usually there isn’t that much to say about using a rc as you usually sit about 2 meters away from every device that’s got one, when using it. This is my guess at least. I’ve always felt lazy when using my rc for the tv which is on the footend of my bed, but even then i’ve got at least 2 meteres distance!

But now have a look at the following pic:

this guy was using his rc! he held it in his right hand (from the spot where it is on the pic) when using, and when not using he put it on the place which is marked with the red circle. Sad thing that I only had my cellphone-cam with me, so I only have this pic at very low quality with so little contrast that you can hardly see the rc :-/

But anyways…. point is… do we REALLY have to use a remote control from 10 cm distance because the mobile dvdplayer has such a bad interface? or is it because "we"’re that much used to it? I can’t believe it makes any difference even if you’re lazy. So why? any hint? please let me know… this is driving me crazy, but I guess you should keep such things in mind as product designer… a wired "remote control" seems to regain sense.