Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge:

Even over half a decade after its introduction, it stands as one of the most reviled pieces of hardware around.

The failings of the Apple TV remote don’t just stem from a bad touchpad (and don’t get me wrong: it is bad) but from a larger misunderstanding on Apple’s part of what makes a good remote and the fundamental purpose of those devices.

Amazing to me that Apple has stuck with this design after all this time. I do appreciate the elegance of the solution, but the functionality continues to fall short and fail, both in its accidental upsidedownness, and in the frequent miscues of the touchpad.

With the explosive growth of new streaming services, I’m finding problems with the remote growing proportionately, as different services offer their own special spin on interacting with the remote. This is especially problematic watching shows that force ads into a stream, where an accidental wrong remote press can force you to endure a replay of a non-skippable full minute of ads.

I really hope there’s a new Apple TV in the works, and a redesigned remote along with it.