Audio post: Thoughts on awful cable box UI

MG Siegler | March 14th, 2008



MG Siegler shares his thoughts on how awful most big media cable box UIs (user interfaces) are — even when compared to something like a grocery store cash register screen. With companies like TiVo, Apple and others pushing for better user experiences through their nice UIs, the cable companies had best get their act together or risk losing customers for their boxes in the future.



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  1. May 9th, 2008
    11:09 am

    c67fb3751048 said:

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3 Comments

  1. March 15th, 2008
    6:24 am

    Christoph Jaggi said:

    I couldn’t agree more: The UI on cable boxes (at least those I’ve seen) is completely underwhelming. Unfortunately it doesn’t stop there. In a digital set-top box environment (cable or satellite) in which the set-top box outputs an HDMI signal for the TV, all primary image and sound processing needs to be done on the set-top box. Unfortunately the set-top boxes tend to have a lot less functionality than the TV, so that a reasonable performance is only provided for HDTV signals. This doesn’t bode well in a market that will take a long time to transition from standard definition to high-definition.
    The cable companies would indeed be in a fantastic position, as they can easily provide a mix of cable TV and IPTV (including IP-based VOD). Putting all that functionality into a powerful box with a decent UI could boost cable companies beyond their wildest dreams.
    While I would love to have an improved AppleTV (which would include a fully capable cable tuner, DVR-functionality and advanced scaling options), Apple would need to fix some core software components such as QuickTime and the DVD Player in order to be standards compliant. Without support for anamorphic 16:9 format, Apple with have a tough time convincing people that its box can really be the set-top box we are all dreaming of.

  2. March 15th, 2008
    10:04 am

    MG Siegler said:

    @Christoph - thanks for the comment! I definitely agree with everything you are saying as well. I’m sure you saw the report a couple days ago suggesting the Apple TV could ignite a multi-billion dollar industry if it simply included a DVR. Recent patents suggest Apple is working on just that, but there is plenty they still need to improve.

  3. March 16th, 2008
    5:22 am

    Christoph Jaggi said:

    @ MG Siegler - thanks. Just adding a DVR to a device that is entirely dependent on getting the videos over the Internet is unlikely to ignite a multi-billion dollar industry, at least not within the next couple of years. It really needs more than that, such as modular DVB-S2 and DVB-C2 tuners and full support for the standard video formats. AppleTV is extremely US/NTSC-centric and fails to support core PAL standards.

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