This is No “Universal” Remote

Often in a society of excess, (or depression, as it were,) the tendency is to provide as much precise detail in look and control as possible. Brian Garret Schuur has created a television remote that’s just the opposite. Schuur has reduced the channel, volume, pause, play, record, and power into one control button with his frankly titled “Single Button Remote.”

Brian Garret Schuur, designer of this Single Button Remote, speaks the following: “During the first semester of the Master Design track I designed and build a new kind of remote for digital television. The design is a protest against the remotes that are currently produced and on the market. A simple to use single button remote control, which allows the user to change channel, volume, pause, play, record and switch the television on and off.”

Is there a good reason to protest? Is there a better solution for this perceived problem? I can think of at least one alternative, [a certain white colored remote,] that does the job with two buttons: is that just terrible?

Designer: Brian Garret Schuur