Soldato
- Joined
- 29 Sep 2003
- Posts
- 5,834
- Location
- Newcastle upon Tyne
Hi all
So today I've just been around to set up a DVD player for someone who is in their early 70s. This is her first DVD player.
She has a brand new Toshiba TV and a BT YouView box. Whenever she first turns on her TV (she completely turns it off at the socket when not in use), the TV comes on on HDMI1 and 'normal' TV is shown. She turned the TV volume to 100% and solely used the BT YouView remote to control everything.
Now I've added the DVD player to the mix, it's highlighted to me just how complex this setup has got for something that should be simple. She's now had to retrieve the Toshiba TV remote from out of a drawer as she has to change the TV source to 'EXT1' when she wants to watch a DVD. She also now has to change the volume using the TV remote when she's playing a DVD as she clearly doesn't want that to be set to 100% all the time. She also has to use a third remote to control the DVD player itself. On top of that, I had to explain to her that DVDs tend not to just play when you put them in and instead take you to a menu that you have to navigate using the remote. These menus can often be very obtuse and are completely different visually and operationally from one DVD to the next.
It creeps up on you when you are enveloped in this world all the time, and it becomes second nature to navigate your way around this stuff, but when you stop and think about it, it makes you wonder who the **** designed this stuff. This poor lady basically has no chance of ever watching a DVD as she's unlikely to remember or understand the myriad of steps she needs to take to simply watch something.
With that in mind, does anyone have any recommendations as to how I could make this setup easier for her? She's currently heavily reliant on the TV for entertainment at the minute due to health reasons so I'd like to help her if I can.
Many thanks
M.
So today I've just been around to set up a DVD player for someone who is in their early 70s. This is her first DVD player.
She has a brand new Toshiba TV and a BT YouView box. Whenever she first turns on her TV (she completely turns it off at the socket when not in use), the TV comes on on HDMI1 and 'normal' TV is shown. She turned the TV volume to 100% and solely used the BT YouView remote to control everything.
Now I've added the DVD player to the mix, it's highlighted to me just how complex this setup has got for something that should be simple. She's now had to retrieve the Toshiba TV remote from out of a drawer as she has to change the TV source to 'EXT1' when she wants to watch a DVD. She also now has to change the volume using the TV remote when she's playing a DVD as she clearly doesn't want that to be set to 100% all the time. She also has to use a third remote to control the DVD player itself. On top of that, I had to explain to her that DVDs tend not to just play when you put them in and instead take you to a menu that you have to navigate using the remote. These menus can often be very obtuse and are completely different visually and operationally from one DVD to the next.
It creeps up on you when you are enveloped in this world all the time, and it becomes second nature to navigate your way around this stuff, but when you stop and think about it, it makes you wonder who the **** designed this stuff. This poor lady basically has no chance of ever watching a DVD as she's unlikely to remember or understand the myriad of steps she needs to take to simply watch something.
With that in mind, does anyone have any recommendations as to how I could make this setup easier for her? She's currently heavily reliant on the TV for entertainment at the minute due to health reasons so I'd like to help her if I can.
Many thanks
M.