Yes I was thinking about this when I wrote it. All the set top boxes I've seen are crap with terrible UI latency and are slow to load new data. I'll admit that maybe it's possible to make it slightly less crap. But there's no way in hell typing out something on a remote with left-left-left-left-left-left-left-down click right-right-right-right-right-up click down-down-left click up-left-left-left-left click is remotely (ha) a good experience compared to a phone keyboard. And if I'm gonna have a device with a whole damn keyboard on it... it might as well be my phone.
It's a shame that Harmony has left the remote business. Sofabaton is the closest to what my Harmony's can provide but they have a screen on the remote which I'd really rather do without. If my Harmony Hubs died today I'd probably get an X1 (though I actually like the design of the U2 way more) but I'm really hoping that I can ride the Harmony wave a little longer until a real spiritual successor comes out.
I couldn't disagree more. Non-touchscreen remotes (RIP Harmony hub) are far superior as is browsing on the TV. I like the separation of concerns, others in the room can see what I'm doing on the screen, and I'm never scrambling to open an app to pause/rewind/etc.
My pet theory is that people who feel this way have only used low-end set-top boxes (or ones built into the TV which are low-end) and/or have used crappy remotes.