“A flash of magic light from across the room (no wires, no cords) turns set on, off or changes channels,” one ad says, “and you remain in your easy chair!”īorn in Chicago, Polley had a long career as an engineer at Zenith, where he worked his way up from the stockroom. In spite of its quirkiness, the Flash-Matic was a revolution, and the reason Polley was bestowed with humorous titles ranging from ‘the founding father of the couch potato’ to ‘the czar of zapping’ to ‘the beach boy of channel surfing.’ “Īnd an advertisement from that era underscores just how new this invention was. “Because the remote shined visible light, TVs could be confused by other light sources. Rosa Golijan from MSNBC writes that eccentricities always have been part of the remote control and its odd history: “The viewer used a highly directional flashlight to activate the four control functions, which turned the picture and sound on and off and changed channels by turning the tuner dial clockwise and counterclockwise,” Zenith says. In the 1950s, the mechanics of using a remote were a little clunky:
“It used a flashlight-like device to activate photocells on the television set to change channels,” the Zenith news release says. Polley, who died of “natural causes,” according to a news release, invented Zenith’s “Flash-Matic” wireless remote control, which was introduced in 1955 and was heralded as the first of its kind. “After all, which would you be more willing to give up – Facebook or your remote? … Thought so.” I’d stack Polley and his TV remote against all of them,” wrote David Lazarus at. “Gush all you want about Facebook, Twitter and other recent tech innovations. Adler also received the 1967 Inventor-of-the-Year award from George Washington University's Patent, Trademark and Copyright Research Institute and the IEEE's 1970 Consumer Electronics Outstanding Achievement Award.The inventor of the TV remote, Eugene Polley, died on Sunday at 96.Īfter his death was announced on Tuesday, the Internet paused – get it? – to remember the man and the wireless television remote control, which ushered in the era of channel surfing and couch potatoes. In 1997, Adler and Polley were honored with an Emmy award in connection with Zenith's launch of wireless remote control television sets 50 years earlier. He was an IEEE Fellow and recipient of the IEEE Edison Medal in 1980. He suggested the use of SAW (surface acoustic wave) filters in television IF amplifiers, a technology that was ultimately adopted in all television receivers and later became an important part of cellular telephone technology.Īdler rose through the ranks at Zenith, being named associate director in 1951, vice president in 1959 and vice president and director of research in 1963. (Prior to the Adler/Polley invention, remote control was available on some television receivers, but the control was tethered to the set via a multiconductor cable.)Īdler also contributed to the field of television engineering with work on gated-beam tubes, improvements in synchronizing circuitry and electromechanical filters. patents, but his contribution to consumer electronics with the "Space Command" TV wireless remote control became his most visible legacy.Īlong with another Zenith engineer, Eugene Polley, Adler perfected a remote control system based on the generation and reception of ultrasonic tones. Adler officially retired from Zenith in 1979, but remained as a consultant until 1999 and Zenith's merger with LG Electronics.Īdler received more than 180 U.S. In 1941, he began a career with the Zenith Electronics Corp. He was 93.īorn in Austria, Adler emigrated to the United States after receiving his Ph.D degree in physics at the University of Vienna in 1937.
Robert Adler, a prolific inventor in the field of television, but best known for his work with TV wireless remote control, died on Feb.
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