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The story of a remote control
‘Lazy Bones’ was the trade name of the first remote
control in the world. It was developed by the US corporation Zenith in 1950.
The company founder, president Eugene McDonald, came up with the idea for the
invention because he thought viewers would appreciate being able to
‘tune out annoying commercials’. Unfortunately, the first remote
control wasn’t so remote because it was connected to the TV by a long
wire – not a very comfortable thing if someone wanted to change channels
from the kitchen – and, what’s more, potentially dangerous if
someone went away for a while and tripped over it on return.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Television_remote_control.jpg
The first wireless remote control was produced in 1955. The
invention was based on the idea of using photo cells to operate a TV set. The
four gauges were installed in the corners of a television, and the remote
itself was a kind of a flashlight called Flash-Matic. Its disadvantages became
clear on sunny days, when daylight decided what to view and how high the volume
should be set. Radio controls didn’t appear to be a good idea either
because a stronger signal could change the channel in a neighbour’s
flat!
The first idea that seemed to have none of the earlier disadvantages
was conceived by a company engineer named Robert Adler and was called the Space
Commander 400. This remote control used ultrasonic waves inaudible to humans
and could change channels up and down, increase or decrease the sound volume,
and also turn the power on and off. In its design, the Space Commander was in
fact a little piano. Aluminium rods used to operate the control simply inducted
sounds mechanically through miniature hammers. This idea even looks impressive
nowadays when you consider the fact that no batteries were needed and, in order
to change a channel, the remote didn’t have to be pointed at the
television! Zenith patented the invention in 1956 and introduced the new
product to the market. TV sets sold with this option cost up to 30% more but
this didn’t scare the customers. It was then that the sociological
phenomenon called the ‘couch potato’ started.
Before the 1980s, when the first remotes using infrared technology
appeared, Zenith and other companies sold more than 9 million TV sets using
Adler’s invention.
Robert Adler story
Zenith
webpage devoted to Robert Adler
Space Commander 400 patent documents
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