It seems we are at the crux of a major breakthrough in TV interaction. I have just uncovered a major conspiracy set forth between hardware manufacturers, interactive design companies, and the MSOs and CE companies. They have been hard at work making absolutely sure that all TV UI is without a “down state”. Only after exhaustive investigation have we been able to determine such a conspiracy exists for such reasons as bold as “The consumer will never know”, and the good ole, “It will save us some time”.

(Fife and drum melody playing lightly in the background, voice in somber tone)
I recall a day when PC interactive was down stateless. Users were confused “did I click?”. Will the event fire when I click or when I release? This UI is out to get me…

(Strengthening tone)
This leads us to ask ourselves, are Television UI users not deserving of such interaction feedback?

Are they discounting our interaction experience with something that is “good enough”?

Are pixels and memory footprint so important that we just simply remove such an informative button state!?

Do our remotes and IR input hardware even support such a thing?

(Perplexed yelling)
What is next? No difference between “press” state and “release state”?!!!!

(Bold yet inviting)
Well there is hope. I decree that starting from this day forward, that everyone from the hardware engineers to the UX and design teams to the interactive developers can now consider the down state in every way. Production folks get your selection tools warmed up, flex that pointer finger with glee and create that PSD layer with confidence that your work will no longer go ignored.

From this day forward let it be known that TV UI has a downstate and that all are free to use it for all that it is worth. Let me be so bold to state that we dare go so far to not only switch out a visual state but also trigger an audio cue as well. Don’t just stop with a simple image swap, use an animation for press AND release states. Release the down state for once and for all!!! (cheers heard echoing and fading)

But seriously folks, TV UI and its legacy should not bridle its future, please make sure you understand the technology and its capabilities before ruling out interactive fundamentals. Put the “fun” back in fundamentals and build beautiful HD cinematic UI and break away from legacy hardware and DVD interaction constraints. The users deserve it…