It then gave me step-by-step text instructions on how to use the OCR feature in Microsoft Word to import text from a picture, and admitted in step 3 that the function doesn’t exist. There were 6 steps.

Wasn’t Inky the driver?

That’s insightful, thanks. Not knowing the subtleties of it, I imagined they would just need to make sure the thing has an IR receiver and is programmable, which they can test with whatever remotes and associated devices they have around. Then I could program the finished thing with my remote at home.

Hey, wow this blew up! I should turn notifications on. I want a programmable IR volume knob. Just a big, chunky knob to set on the table or couch to control my home theater receiver. No Bluetooth or Wifi or zigbee or anything like that. That’s all.

Oh, look. Richmond’s still alive.

Do I hate the answer-my-own-question format of explaining things? Passionately

That is my experience, as well. That’s not workable, since it would take an extremely long time to change the volume by a meaningful amount. I guess I’ll need to keep my receiver remote out for volume control.