Fresh Produce Discussion Blog

Created by The Packer's National Editor Tom Karst

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Where's the remote?

The guy that made possible the couch potato has died in Idaho. It sounds too ironic to be true, but this story asks us to "hit the mute button for a moment of silence: the co-inventor of the TV remote has died."

Robert Adler was best known for his 1956 Zenith Space Command remote control, which helped make TV a truly sedentary pastime. In a May 2004 interview with the Associated Press, Adler recalled being among two dozen engineers at Zenith given the mission to find a new way for television viewers to change channels without getting out of their chairs or tripping over a cable.
But he downplayed his role when asked if he felt his invention helped raise a new generation of couch potatoes. "People ask me all the time - 'Don't you feel guilty for it?' And I say that's ridiculous," he said. "It seems reasonable and rational to control the TV from where you normally sit and watch television."

TK: Adler's work was not done; he never solved the problem of the remote disappearing between couch cushions, did he?

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home