Charter’s Paul Allen and the rejected remote

“A few years ago, billionaire Paul Allen instructed the design team at Digeo, his Seattle-based digital video recorder company, to come up with a TV remote that was like a cell phone, according to a well-placed source.

Allen felt there had to be a better way to control a digital video recorder than the traditional cable remote, with its dozens of buttons. He’s known to be hands-on with many of his investments, including Charter Communications.

So the Digeo designers spent well over $100,000 developing a remote that literally looked like a mobile phone, this source said — it even flipped open like a Motorola Razr.

But when they presented the device to Allen, he took one look at it said, “I didn’t mean it had to look like a cell phone. I just meant it had to be as easy to use.” The project was subsequently abandoned, according to the source.”

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Tags: Chater Communication, Linkedin, Paul Allen