I don't think it is on purpose to get people on their phone. Most people just don't use the keyboard much, I would guess. I never do, except for signing up for new apps.
So I would agree with their design decision: make an elegant remote, use voice dictation for search and the like, if you need a keyboard, use your iPhone, and if you are not happy with that, get a dedicated keyboard. If you are not happy with THAT, well ...
I am spending way more energy on this thread than is healthy :D
But I can understand where you're coming from, I am just very frustrated that this user-interface-design-genius trillion dollar company can not change the input mechanism of one of their most used product from the:
a b c d e [f] g h i j k etc... Backspace
model with only <-> movement and no way to make an input correction other than backspace, to something like:
a b c d Backspace
e f [g] h forward
i j k l backward
m n o p
Which is the way almost all other TV-centered apps I use function and works much better.
So I would agree with their design decision: make an elegant remote, use voice dictation for search and the like, if you need a keyboard, use your iPhone, and if you are not happy with that, get a dedicated keyboard. If you are not happy with THAT, well ...