TV: Pause to remember the man behind the remote, Robert Adler, dead at 93

ap on San Diego Union - Tribune ^ | 2/16/07 | Shannon Dininny - ap

[Eclectica]

It sure beat a notched piece of PVC pipe.

[oh8eleven]

Ahh, the good old days...

[NormsRevenge]

Rumor has it , he also did early research on the 'mouse'.

My batteries should last as long as his did. -)

[randog]

He was best known for his 1956 Zenith Space Command remote control...

Hmmmm....my parents were pretty good at hiding modern technology from me. I was still standing at the set turning the tuner and adjusting the rabbit ears in the 70's. It wasn't a major chore, considering there were only 3 channels back then.

[docbnj]

That is a Mesocricetus auratus, a hampster.

It cannot act as a mouse, but is a good storage device. (That's an inside joke for people who know hamster behavior.)

[freebird5850]

My grandparents had one of those. It made a clicking sound. I tried to replicate the sound with a plastic comb and it would not stop changing channels until I turned it off!

[NormsRevenge]

probably why early results were so poor. . Oh well. ;-)

[mtbopfuyn]

To think he might have made it to 100 if he'd just gotten a bit of exercise getting off the couch and walking 6 steps.

[xcamel]

More:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1786181/posts

[NormsRevenge]

couch potatoes come in many different packages..

[mtbopfuyn]

LOL!

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks!

[xcamel]

I wish I could get some you regular posters to help with pointing out the obvious dupes and downright stupid postings -- although ZOT!'s are fun.
Some of these people have no clue how many times the same story gets posted - because they never search (ego damage if they do).
Obviously the mods are/have been swamped (or have given up)

Just my $.02 --
JSC

[NormsRevenge]

I always search , usually do OK and not miss an earlier post,, and try to not pop a dupe thread and will pull one if I have to..

If it's a new source including a wire one that may not have been been posted, up it goes.

I don't see it as a form of spam, tho depending on the topic at hand, it might to some.

[JRios1968]

That was already posted before...

[SamAdams76]

When I was growing up in the 1960s, my parents had a Zenith and the remote control weighed about two pounds. All it did was change channels. You still had to get off the couch to adjust the volume or turn it off. I think it took like four size D batteries.

Nevertheless it put my parents on the cutting edge at the time and raised their social pecking order in the neighborhood.

[xcamel]

the earliest one I remember was "ultrasonic" - I think it was a zenith also

[Tijeras_Slim]

To think he might have made it to 100 if he'd just gotten a bit of exercise getting off the couch and walking 6 steps.

He had the thumb of an 18 year old.

[elkfersupper]

My grandparents had one of those. It made a clicking sound. I tried to replicate the sound with a plastic comb and it would not stop changing channels until I turned it off!

I could accomplish the same effect by jangling my key ring.