FrontRow Mac remotes-- why are they IR?
I was thinking about how the Mac remotes use IR. Why do they? Most Macs have Bluetooth. You'd think it would at least be as cheap to not have to incorporate in an additional hardware component. That, and IR sucks because of line of sight. Hopefully they make it Bluetooth some time in the near future, before I pick up the second rev. of the Macbook.
Comments
Originally posted by Aquatic
I was thinking about how the Mac remotes use IR. Why do they?
I much prefer remotes to be IR. You can then use learning remotes.
Also, the line of sight thing isn't always true. Normally, I find the only restriction is that remote and device need to be in the same room, which isn't much of a problem, right? If the remote is powerful enough and the receiver sensitive enough, you can point an IR remote pretty much anywhere and the signal will bounce off walls etc., and eventually reach the receiver.
oh yeah, and IR is cheaper and lower power.
Originally posted by Aquatic
You'd think it would at least be as cheap to not have to incorporate in an additional hardware component.
Even if it would be cheaper, it would still come with the huge drawback in terms of battery life. Bluetooth sucks the heck out of remotes.
Thanks to IR, the remote only needs a very light, small and simple battery that will hardly ever need replacement.
stu