Another idea might be to expand the use and capabilities of the remote. For example when the NRST window is opened current behavior is:
The up/down arrow buttons scroll the list up and down, (however, it would be nice if the highlight would change to the top airport in the visible list while scrolling.)
The left/right button cycles through the buttons at the bottom.
The OK selects the highlighted button.
The rest of the buttons still control the things they're labeled to control. What would be nice is if while a window is open, these buttons would control options within that window.
The "Plane" button could exit us out of the window and back to the map, or act as a "Back" button to exit to the previous window in the case of being deep into a menu structure.
The "INST" button could select "Filters" on this page.
The "INFO" button could change which airport is highlighted by moving the highlight up through the list.
The "BRIGHT down" button would move the highlight down through the list.
The "ZOOM +" button would select the red triangle/ ! in the upper right hand corner.
The "MAP" & "ZOOM -" would move a highlighted selection option left/right within the highlighted airport.
The "BRIGHT up" button would be the "Enter" button for accessing the item selected by the button use immediately above.
Ideally the buttons would be similarly reassigned for each different window that could be opened in flight. I find it much easier to use the remote in turbulence than the touch screen. The permanent buttons on the bottom are much easier to touch and activate, as they're larger, permanently located, and near the edge which makes it easier to brace your hand a bit. Although, currently I mostly use the remote to acknowledge the many messages that pop up on the screen, and re-center the map on the plane icon after I've scrolled it elsewhere it seems it'd be nice to be able to use it more extensively. It is FAR easier to hit the desired buttons on the remote during turbulence, than it is to hit the desired spots on the screen.