Landsteiner posted:"Lionel will also end remote production at some point. "
I doubt if it will occur in my lifetime (give or take 10-20 years with any luck). Ryan Kunkle stated so in the Notch 6 podcast. The universal remote and the LionChief remotes are dirt cheap and very simple and reliable. The key item will be a TMCC/Legacy to LionChief bridge for those using those systems and a LC to TMCC/Legacy bridge for those who want to use their LC or universal remote to talk to the occasional Legacy loco. It appears this is feasible.
Personally, I very much prefer physical remotes for TVs, cable, Bose radios and would prefer them for video games if I played them. Even cars with gigantic touchscreens maintain some physical controls for exactly the reasons people have mentioned for the MTH remote. I prefer a mouse and keyboard for computers to touchscreens, which is another area where us older folks tend to like the tactile utility of non-virtual technology.
You are correct in the sense they are taking a chance. However, not sure if you own, or have used, the DCS mini commander but it comes off like a tv remote from the late 80s. Given that starter sets are seemingly aimed at entry level hobbyists which includes younger people to a large extent, I have a different perspective on the risk (e.g., how many folks don't have a smartphone).
Also, from a business perspective I can understand why MTH does not want to invest in hardware technology that is in large respects obsolete. My sense is Lionel is going in the same direction and that is why you are seeing expansion in Lionchief plus - it is an inexpensive remote built with off the shelf widely available components and it can be transitioned to an app easily. It is stuck with Legacy on the high end, but at least in that segment the users will pay the premium for the remote and keep that afloat for a while. Remember Lionel had the same issue with Legacy remotes a number of years ago - the had to re-engineer the internals and they were unavailable for several years. Then they made a big batch and my guess is that the big batch is what is still feeding the inventory given the low volume of users relative to train hobbyists.
In any event, always an interesting exchange of views here. Have a good day.
