Gizmodo has an interesting article on the evolution of the TiVo remote from basic prototype to its various forms over the years.

“There were a lot of jokes about the shape. Not just the obvious ones,” said Newby. “I can remember some referencing to an earlobe, or the shape of the lower back/butt area.”

I think part of what makes the TiVo remote so successful is that it is a three dimensional shape unlike the vast majority of remotes which are mostly flat. The remote sits in your hand with gentle curves longitudinally and latitudinally but curves giving it depth as well. As weird as it must have been, those jokes should have been flags that the designers were on the right track. Evoking human emotions while using a technology product is really difficult. By reminding users of body parts it made the remotes seem more alive, comfortable and likely to be accepted by the public at large.

I haven’t put my hands on a Series 3 or TiVoHD remote and compared it to the Series 2 remotes that I’m used to, but I hope they solved the one issue I had with the Series 2 remote: it was easy to grab the remote in the dark and not realize you had it pointed the wrong direction since it was nearly symmetrical front to back, minus the gentle weight of the batteries.