Marantz has produced a poorly-designed remote control that must be one of the leaders in a crowded field. It has an ON button, an OFF button, and an ON-OFF button. The pictures show the unprecedented duplication of universal symbols and basic functions; the tiny, identically-coloured switches for different functions; and the crowded, busy layout; but they cannot convey the unpleasant physical feedback of small, rubbery switches which wobble when pressed.
This item is full of peculiarities that do not distinguish it from many other poorly-designed remote controls, but the three power buttons are notably bad design. For the simple purpose of switching components on or off, or switching between them, it is a fiendish combination of the non-intuitive and the tricky.The device controls a Marantz Digital Sound Processor for a home entertainment system. That it makes the most basic operations complex is enough to show its failure as a design. Imagine that the DSP is switched off. You wish to watch satellite or cable television. To switch on the DSP, press [AMP] twice: not once, as reason and intuition expect, but twice in succession rapid enough for the remote control to recognise what you are asking of it. Then press [ON], avoiding the larger and more tempting [ON/OFF - SOURCE] button. Press [DSS] not once, but twice. You may now watch The Simpsons.
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