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Inventor of the TV Remote Control Dies
An anonymous reader writes "Yes, kids, you used to have to walk across the room to change the TV channel. That changed with the introduction of the 'Flash-Matic,' a revolutionary device that was 'Absolutely harmless to humans!' and could 'even shut off annoying commercials while the picture remains on the screen.' Eugene Polley, inventor of the now ubiquitous TV remote-control died Sunday of natural causes at age 96. In 1996 Polley received an Emmy for his invention, but during his 47-year career, he was awarded numerous patents and worked on projects ranging from advances in radar to push-button car radios."
Not sure if dumb or troll...
Do you think they've tried turning his batteries round and smacking him against the coffee table?
> this device was quite much copied from Nokia's symbian phones
Even though we have remote controls today, and clicking on the article link no longer requires you to get your ass out of your chair, you can still make a fool of yourself by being too lazy to read it and discover that the first remote control was invented in 1955, long before there was Symbian, or mobile phones.
but either way, it was penned by a fairly disappointing example of a person
I wish I hadn't used all my mod points this afternoon...
In 1996 Polley received an Emmy for his invention, but during his 47-year career, he was awarded numerous patents...
You hit one of Slashdot's trigger words. Expect a long and boring patent debate that accomplishes nothing to follow.
better, fucking spammer
Ok before anyone else has a retard moment, the device in the article was introduced in 1956, and while it was very possible to have a radio tune into a special station that patched into the phone network ... it required you to be a licensed ham radio operator, it was the size of a half cinderblock, and it was only half duplex
I think the '1996' in the article threw him off; actually this should be about the inventor of the wireless remote control, it's from 1955 (the one with the wire was from 1950 and was called the Zenith 'Lazy Bones')
I will get up and change the channel the old fashioned way for the rest of the day, when i was a kid there were no remote controls, my father's TV had two big giant channel knobs on it, the first one was VHF 2 thru 13 and a "U" between the 2 and the 13 and to get UHF you put the first knob on the "U" and then it activated the second channel knob for UHF channels
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
... I wonder what the MPAA / RIAA / The Bad Guys would say about muting their precious commercials?
I'm sure a "do not mute" flag would quickly appear in the DVB stream.
In the 1970s some remote controls used ultrasonics - ultra to humans, not to parrots... not sure if the bird was changing the channels on purpose or not, but it would make a whistle and the channel would change.
I can't believe this guy. He is so committed to getting in the current slashdot poll, that he's become the newest "Currently Dead Inventor".
I will create a post in the poll comments to record his memory forever - the inventor is dead! Long live the Inventor!
"I split coffee all over my wife's nightie
No, and I don't want to, so please don't post any photos of yourself.
To honor him, every channel should show him at the same time for 5 minutes straight. People will start using their remotes to change the channel, only to get nowhere. Only then will they truly understand the importance of the remote control.
Troll. You mean like your waistline?
My folks were in the TV sales business and I never encountered a remote like the article describes. The first remotes I saw in the 50s were wired: a big box with the channel and volume controls was connected by a thick cable to the TV. The channel tuning was mechanical (a cylinder in the set had a separate tuned circuit for each channel and channel changing required rotating the cylinder to switch in the correct one), so when you changed the channel, the tuner in the set would go *clunk* clunk* *clunk* until it got to the right one. The next ones I remember were Zenith wireless. The remote consisted of several metal cylinders that emitted a tone when struck by a mechanical pushbutton on the remote. Trouble with those was other household sounds would trigger the TV, like the metal tags on a pet's collar.
And I'll bet almost no one here has ever encountered a vertical or horizontal "hold" control. In those days, we had to establish picture sync ourselves, AND WE LIKED IT!
He will be respectfully tucked in between the cushions of a couch.
Actually, the first remote control was invented by Tesla in 1898 (U.S. Patent 613,809). He used it to remotely flash lights on a boat, amazing an audience. Eugene Polley specialized it to "for a TV". Sort of like many modern inventions consist of an earlier idea + "on the internet". (OK maybe not that simple but I thought I'd toss it in for a good troll...)
I don't think so, Nikola Tesla has been dead for 69 years.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. Emo Philips
I believe I've mentioned this on here before, but my grandfather had one of the early TVs with an ultrasonic remote up until the 90's.
The problem is certain sounds would cause it to change the channel -- particularly jingling keys or coins, flushing the toilet, or using a vacuum cleaner.
I suspect he enjoyed demoing that for people more than he liked watching TV.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
Tabatha Southey (Toronto Globe and Mail Columnist) suggests that it would be most appropriate for Mr. Polley to be buried under some couch cushions.
RIP and thank you for relieving the few calories of energy it took to get our fat asses up and over to the TV to change the channel.
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Show a little respect! I think we should all have 60 seconds of -mute- in his name.
I guess his batteries died. :-)
(sighs)
My wife, when a child, was her parent's remote control.
Even back in the 90's
Contrary to your understanding, time didn't begin only 20 years ago. It's been going a lot longer than that. For example, I've heard it said there was once a "1950s".
And it's always worth pointing out that Tesla was the greatest geek that ever lived.
This is one of those times where I actually felt better reading the bot's spam more than the reply it provoked.
Contrary to your understanding, time didn't begin only 20 years ago. It's been going a lot longer than that. For example, I've heard it said there was once a "1950s".
By my recollection time started some time in the late 1970s. You can not prove to me that anything existed before this. I therefore demand that you teach my alternate theory of time starting somewhere between 1975-1980 alongside this '1950s theory' of yours.
The greatest value of my invention will result from its effect upon warfare and armaments, for by reason of its certain and unlimited destructiveness it will tend to bring about and maintain permanent peace among nations. U.S. Pat. 613,809, p. 7, ll.107-112.
What actually happened was that the invention of the remote control resulted in certain and unlimited discord between husbands and wives, and among siblings.
Sort of like many modern inventions consist of an earlier idea + "on the internet". (OK maybe not that simple but I thought I'd toss it in for a good troll...)
You're behind the times... that's all done. Now it's the earlier idea, on the internet, *on a mobile device* (so you throw some location-based interactive stuff in with it). Ka-ching!
People are afraid of new things. You should have just taken an existing
product and put a clock on it or something.
-- Homer, on the baby translator, "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?"
The name of the person should be written in the 1st phrase, not just before the end
> this device was quite much copied from Nokia's symbian phones
Even though we have remote controls today, and clicking on the article link no longer requires you to get your ass out of your chair, you can still make a fool of yourself by being too lazy to read it and discover that the first remote control was invented in 1955, long before there was Symbian, or mobile phones.
He must be of the same intellectual quality as the persons that, back during mid '90-ies, carried a remote and mocked speaking on a mobile in an attempt to fool others into believing they owned one (granted, some early Ericsson models have had some resemblance).
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
Idiot. Everyone knows APPLE invented the remote control.
For example, I've heard it said there was once a "1950s".
Oh, there was, I assure you. I remember them very well, TYVM. NOW GET OF MY LAWN, YOU YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPER!
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or if you lose it, a 6' long broom stick works well enough to change the channel, adjust the volume, and turn of the TV from the comfort of your chair. Hint: tape a cotton ball to the end of the stick that hits the buttons, so you don't accidently break them when you miss your target. Put white masking tape on your buttons so they are more easily visible.
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FTA:
I do this all the time.
The flash-magic being invented for just this purpose is great for arguments*, it will help me to shut up the mute-haters once and for all !
*) todo: fact-check.
I also invented one. It's called a "long stick" or a pole that you bash the TV with.
It's funny see if the release of iTV makes people spin it "Apple was the one to invent HD digital television" or something, just like some people have claimed Apple to have invented the smartphone. ;)
Once upon a time someone would have had to walk across the hospital room to pull the plug. Now....
Do you or your partner snore? - Visit www.snoring.com.au
He doesn't use batteries, you insensitive clod! But be careful about running a vacuum cleaner near his grave or he'll start flipping over randomly. (If you're not old enough to know about clicker remotes and vacuum cleaners, GET OFF MY LAWN!)
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
... the explanation for death
he was gay? "Geek" = "nerd" + "gay"...
Good one - I wish I had mod points
That's... an oddly specific assurance.
...he may just need new batteries.
Proverbs 21:19
> Yes, kids, you used to have to walk across the room...
No, you didn't. You took a cushion off the sofa and laid on the floor next to the TV all night.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I'm old enough to remember wired remote controls, but I never ran into the vacuum problem. Is that good enough?
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
My dad invented one in 1962 called "Chuck"... as in "Chuck, get up and change the channel." "Chuck, get up and turn the volume down." "Chuck, get up and turn the God-damned boob-tube off and go out side!" (Yes, my dad calls it a "boob-tube" to this day... His favorite phrase back then was "Garbage in, garbage out!")
I don't have any trouble with TV remotes, but strangely enough a remote switchbox I bought just last year so that I could operate a plug-in lamp from across the room seems to turn off whenever I vacuum in that room.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
.. but the frequency range of birds hearing is even worse than that of humans. You can hear higher frequencies than your average parrot. It was probably just coincidence - the birds whistling happened to be on an audible frequency that also triggered the primitive badly filtered electronics in the TV.
Was that how he told you to take out the garbage?
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Isn't that kind of the point? Your argument could be used to claim that the telephone wasn't a real invention either, since it only added voice transmission to pretty much the same technology that carried telegraphy.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
A TV I bought in the 1980s did not have one, but 1990s did. They were an expensive option the early years. of course, in the early years you just had a half-dozen broadcast channels, so it wasnt as important to surf.
Sure you do.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The next turning point was when there were more buttons on the remote than on the TV. I was somewhat taken aback at some point to learn that a remote was no longer an accessory, but in fact a required item because you could not set up your TV (or VCR or whatever) properly without it. (And "universal" remotes often lacked the necessary functions as well.) But these days, I watch so little TV, I hardly care anymore.
Our TV used to do strange things when you jingled coins in your pocket. I think it used ultrasound. Haven't thought about that in years.
I'm not familiar with that particular problem. At a place I worked once the walkie talkies would drive the fax machine crazy though.
And now we wait the death of the man who invented needle nose pliers whose contributions to the television were just as important (for those not old enough this was the backup when the knobs broke :)
When they tried to bury him, apparently the coffin has broken - the lid has come off,
In his honour it has been sellotaped back on.