I know I have supporters here and I know I'm not going to make myself any friends at EZ for this, but I'm going to get up on my soapbox for a minute and vent.

I'm really starting to get pissed off waiting for this non existant documentation to start showing up. I know doumenation is not the most glamours activity you guys are doing, but it needs to get done to support the units you have already sold. Many people have been waiting patiently, myself included, since the units were released to get enough documentation to really start making some kick ass configurations. I have been able to get the unit 98% of the way there, but there are still some nagging issues that I would love to solve myself if I had accedd to the tools and documentation to do so.

If that were not enough, the web interface is cool and convienient so poeple don't always loose thier configurations, but the novitly wears off quickly when the site is unavalibe or acting wierd. Every time the web site is down your customers are not being served and the devices are loosing value. At least if all the documentation were released users would not be quite so dependant on your website to fulfill the devices basic needs. The constant slowdowns on the site are not helping either.

Cable listings from your provider are still often wrong or incomplete especially with digital channels. I know you don't have any control over that, but you ( we ) are all paying for the service one way or another. If they cannot provide accurate service drop them.

Another thing that has gotten me in the past that can be very agrivating is changes to the layout or device operation without notice. When the device went from scrolling to paging on all channel listing it really sucked and still does because the paging mechanism is often confusing for myself and other members of my household. A simple checkbox with a description of what was going to happen would have been nice.

Ok, I'm done.

I have this post saved to my HD and will repost if necessary.

I'll have to agree.

Whoa there. Eric, I can understand your frustration. But I implore you, as an early beta tester myself, to remember that things have been happening pretty fast for EZ, and that originally they had hoped that all documentation could simply be online. The accidental early distribution of the remotes caught them off guard, and so did the overwhelming response from the public.

More to the point, perhaps, is that they opened up the XML side of things in response to continual requests from users on rc.com, something that they didn't really think would be appropriate just yet. The reason is exactly because of what's happening now: people are demanding more information and better access. Perhaps they should have waited, but this is a company that really, really wants to make a product that the People want, not what the Board of Directors THINK the People want.

I've seen an incredible amount of Help material added to the website in the last couple of months, and that is on top of a lot of the extra tools that they have provided to help us users get more and more out of the Harmony itself. These guys are working around the clock to make us happy, and there are dozens of things on their ToDo List that they just haven't gotten to yet.

I know for a fact that they are working on getting a complete set of Documentation prepared, but remember that ongoing development of the tools has also caused a delay in a "firm finish" date for content. In other words, it's hard to write about something that is still developing.

I think it is pretty incredible what they have managed to accomplish in a short timespan. I'm hangin' in there... ... .Mike

In regards to incomplete TV stations: what's interesting is I use Guide Plus for my computer, and it picks every channel available in my area -- including digital -- except for four... Toronto Star TV, Shopping Network, TNN and Food (these are the only two I care about), which thanks to Harmony, I now know DO have guide information available. But the Harmony's listing required about 25 additions.

How can the accidentialy release a product early?


If you could point out those early discussions where they didn't want to release XML point me to it, this whole thing would make more sense. Ever since I recieved the unit there has been a promise of more documentation soon. I would check in with them every week or so until they told me just to use this forum to contact them.


I'm just skeptical until a firm date come along or the documentation suddenly appears. Actually I was givin a date of after CES or by the end of january, so I have been patient. Personally I believe they should be support their existing customer base before attempting jumping into another large unknown for them by producing "Harmony" profiles for other universal remotes. Those of use who finaced this possibility with thier purchase now have to wait till they are done.


You don't see me in the other forums yet... do you. But until they can get their act together I cannot suggest to anyone else looking for a recomendation to buy their product.

I cannot comment directly on what Mike said, but I am sure they must have gotten a big demand for beta remotes (just from the threads at the time)
plus some retailers might have started asking for them (AVSmarts started advertising it almost as soon as the announcement
(moving from beta to production) came along. So I would assume that Mike means that conditions forced them to move into production
faster then they felt comfortable. I know I noticed pressure and that I noticed that rumors of a new remote on this site increases the demand on the
company to come out with it considerably, so I can imagine the pressure if we know it is in beta mode.


Do a search in the universal remote forum. You will notice a lot of activity before this forum was created.

Anthony: thanks for that. Mind sending me your e-mail address?

Eric: Anthony is right: their was a lot of excitement about the Harmony and Easy Zapper employed a fascinating Beta program to ensure that the remote would be full of what customers really want. This unfortunately had a few negative repercussions: One, people pooh-poohed them for charging 1/2 price for a Beta product. Well, the truth is that the hardware works just dandy; always has... it is really the soft and firmware that they wanted to continue engineering. So what we all got for 1/2 price is a fully working, solid remote control... that continues to get upgraded for free.

Two, because they were already in production (her comes the answer to your question of "how can you accidentally release a product"), a major retailer managed to mistakenly get a pile of them through distribution channels, and started selling them. So, through an accident, EasyZapper found they were already required to support a product that they weren't quite ready to dish out.

Three, because the Beta remotes were in the hands of a good number of people, and because the EasyZapper support and development teams are really gung-ho and anxious to make this Device a truly satisfying experience, they spent a lot of time answering customer calls and e-mails, and making "on-the-fly" changes... when they really were supposed to be working on other priorities.... like some paper documentation. So then people started pooh-poohing them for putting out bad product.

They can't win, can they?

Finally, as Anthony points out, a search will indeed present you with numerous discussions and requests for getting into the XML by users... which ultimately led to people like you being "pissed off", if only because they hadn't had time to fully come to terms with all the varying requirements of an XML customer experience.

Now I have to say, having spent a good deal of time going through the Wizards and the information at the EasyZapper website, that frankly I can't see where anyone would want to complain. There is tons of excellent information on that site, dealing with all the areas you talk about. There are notes that are in direct response to requests.... and there are paragraphs and pages of good, solid support information provided to help people through the "Advanced" processes.... information that EasyZapper prepared themselves to help fill the gaps while they continue to advance through this very large project of theirs. I really don't see a whole lot missing.

I'd also like to point out that the price we are paying, the cash price, for the Harmony, is not exactly supporting their research. EasyZapper, like many other startups, relies on private funding to get going, and the "in-the-red" period for startups lasts anywhere from 2 to 5 years on average. So the cash coming in from sales of remotes at this point could hardly be classed as "financing".

Since you say that you are 98% of the way there. I can tell you for an absolute fact that the lads at EasyZapper are very happy because by struggling through some of these issues yourself, you and others like you have been very helpful to them, allowing them to plan for the future content of the Harmony, and possibly other remotes they might come up with down the road.

Whew... ... Mike

Hello All,

First off, thanks for all the supportive responses.

However, Eric has every right to be upset. We promised him (and everyone else) documentation after CES, he has been patient, and we haven't delivered.

We have learnt a few lessons from this:
1) Don't go to trade shows and be hugely successful ;-)
2) We need a little more 'process' involved in creating and communicating our road map.
3) We need to hire even more people so we can keep up with demand.

You will all be pleased to know that we have at least part of the advanced documentation up on the web site. You can view it at:
[Link: harmonyremote.tzo.com]

The link is accessible from the 'Advanced' page.

Big Picture: The Simple Modifier allows you to make pretty much any change to your configuration. For example, you can add new menu systems, add button bindings, add menu items to existing menus, or rename menu items. To give you an idea, the 'System Options' menu on your harmony (including the full screen graphical icon) is created using a SimpleModifier, and you can view the XML for it to see an example.

Enjoy,

The Harmony Remote Team.

Bravo!

Mike: I tried writing to you at the e-mail in your profile, but I got my message back


Here is my e-mail Anthony.Philippoussis@alcan.com

Thankyou for responding.

Like I said I hav't given up, I was just upset. Looks like I'll be able to do some more with the simple modifiers. Mabye I'll get some time this weekend to go over them and start making a new config.