Thanks for the thoughtful response. I'm a professional usability engineer and user experience designer, so I totally understand the "people do not read" issue. Something about the opt in, and kernel "messing" ;) aspects of the Kernel Extension Wizard's dialog made this particular user WANT to read before proceeding. Perhaps my context of use had something to do with it - I want my new Home Theater iMac set-up to be as clean and reliable as possible now that its playing the role of TV/Radio/DVD player. The quirks, reboots, noodling, error messages, hangs, conflicts, kernel panics, etc that are all part of the game when a computer is being used as a computer suddenly become unacceptable when a computer is a "dumb" TV - even the slightest hiccup from the OS running the show can totally ruin "lean back" experience of passive home entertainment. The proper role for computers in the living room is still being worked out - so more kudos for being a pioneer.
P.S. Yes, you may quote me at will, but please do a spell check for me!!! ;)
From: Felix <remotebuddy_forum.reply.11.8338.11006.5920004f1cb7ef73@forums..iospirit.net>
Sent: Apr 30, 2007 7:28 AM
To: eric@muehlmatt.com
Subject: [remotebuddy_forum] Re: Re: Kernel Extensions unable to be uninstalled or upgraded
Hello Eric,
thanks for the input.
Hi Felix,
I'd like to echo Rob's confusion. In my case, if the wizard's
feature list made any sense to me, I wouldn't need to ask what the
Kernel Extension does.
â? fix for Apple® Remote driver problems in OS X 10.4.9
It'd be nice to know what's broken, and if I'm experiencing it, in
order to determine if a "fix" is necessary.
The "double press" issue where Front Row and/or other system actions
open up uncontrolled. So, something that those affected do notice for
sure. There's more info on this in previous threads.
â? enabling of all features of built-in IR receivers
What features? Don't know if I want or need them unless I know what
they are.
Arbitrary length Menu and Play button presses and instant reactions
to them, if the hold status is unmapped. Both things are otherwise
not available, so that the length of button presses can only be zero
seconds and hold states can't be skipped either. I do think that's a
worthwhile improvement, especially with the new virtual keyboard
where holding a key is often quite useful.
â? the emulation of a virtual Apple® Remote
Define "emulation" Does this mean an on-screen virtual remote? Why
is that a good thing?
Remote Buddy emulates a virtual Apple® Remote. So that, for example,
you can now use iAlertU side by side with Remote Buddy and fully
control it with any remote control.
â? support for Bluetooth® remotes and external
Cool on this one, except agian, if I don't have aBluetooth remote,
then this feature also doens't give me a clear indication whether
the risks of messing with the kernel are worth the undefined benefits.
Messing requires a mess. My code isn't, though ;-). It uses only
fully documented and supported APIs.
Speaking for myself here, the Wizard does indeed list "features",
but it does not do a sufficient job of letting this User understand
the benefits of those features, and thereby make an informed
decision about whether or not I need them. And considering you want
to sell this to us non-technophiles, we need to know EXACTLY what's
involved if your product is going to suck us into messing with the
"kernel".
Two problems with this:
1) There's not more space available for a longer explaination.
2) Many people don't read it. And the chances of it not being read
increase even further with longer explainations. Which, in turn,
leads to more support inquiries.
That said, your product has allowed our household to replace 4
peices of home theater eqipment with a signle iMac. Thank you.
Great product and great work and kudos for allowing yourself to be
so accessible.
Thanks for sharing! May I use that quote of you for the raves &
reviews page?
Best regards,
Felix
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