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Ode to the remote control, that tiny box that lets you channel your desires without ever getting up
From Lazy Bone to voice controls, the remote reshaped channel surfing and forced networks to fight harder for viewers, historians said.
- Zenith scientists Eugene Polley and Robert Adler pioneered wireless remote technology, introducing the "Lazy Bone" as the first TV remote put on the market in 1950. Polley once claimed the device's importance rivaled that of other essential life experiences.
- Networks prioritized program flow to prevent channel changing; CBS' Saturday night schedule from "All in the Family" through "The Carol Burnett Show" exemplified this masterpiece strategy. Viewers had no incentive to switch channels.
- The "Flash-Matic" wireless remote appeared five years after the "Lazy Bone," using light signals. Zenith's "Space Command" later adopted sound waves, and button presses produced clicking sounds, hence the enduring term "clicker."
- NPR's "Fresh Air" critic David Bianculli of Rowan University in New Jersey says losing the remote became as frantic as losing a phone is today. Early cable television spawned the "surfer" constantly scanning channels.
- As appliances now listen, remotes may eventually fade away. This piece is part of "American Objects," a recurring series marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, written by David Bauder after 30 years covering television for The Associated Press.
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Associated Press News+11 Reposted by 11 other sources
Ode to the remote control, that tiny box that lets you channel your desires without ever getting up
If the TV remote hadn’t been invented, channel surfers and couch potatoes would have to argue about something else.
·New York, United States
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Total News Sources12
Leaning Left8Leaning Right0Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Left
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources lean Left
67% Left
L 67%
C 33%
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