Comments on: Eugene Polley, inventor of the TV remote, RIP

By: Red Pill Junkie

Red Pill Junkie — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:48:00 +0000

It was out of the deluge of complaint letters from angry housewives who kept scolding the hubbies for removing their hair driers from the bathroom ;)

By: Culturedropout

Culturedropout — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:46:00 +0000

Thank you. One day I hope to be two of them.

I remember being about 10 years old, laying on the floor taking apart an old alarm clock. I made it “ring” after I had removed the bell, and the vibration of the striker was apparently close enough for that TV. It came blaring on and changing channels. Scared the crap out of my mother and me…

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:40:00 +0000

May have been a slightly different model then. Either way, it made a cheerful plink and commenced moving on its own.

And you, sir, are the world’s biggest packrat. I salute!

By: Culturedropout

Culturedropout — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:28:00 +0000

Actually, the volume was “On loud Louder LOUDER Off” so one button did it. (I still have the remote from that set.)

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Thu, 24 May 2012 02:35:00 +0000

My uncle (a TV repairman) had one of those sets. It was totally awesome. That was way before electronic tuning so there was a little motor attached to the mechanical tuner. Clang the chime and it would start spinning on its own. By the way, it was a three button unit because volume has to go down as well as up. Channels only went in one direction.

By: lava

lava — Wed, 23 May 2012 23:27:00 +0000

Really, who was the genius that said, “no more rayguns, lets make our remotes look like a calculator”, because I owe this guy a punch in the throat.

By: Paul Renault

Paul Renault — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:51:00 +0000

The oldest/earlist remote I ever saw was a Zenith two-button unit – one for volume, the other channel.

When you pressed a button, the mechanism thwacked a metal rod. The resulting sound was picked up by a microphone in the TV.

It, unlike so many TV remotes, had the great advantage of not needing to be pointed at the why-do-they-put-the-friggin-IR-sensor-at-the-bottom-of-the-frame TV.

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:49:00 +0000

Whose idea was it to stop making remote controls look like ray-guns? I mean, seriously?

By: morcheeba

morcheeba — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:26:00 +0000

I’m going to add “Absolutely harmless to humans!” to the description of all ad copy I write….

By: BonzoDog1

BonzoDog1 — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:59:00 +0000

Our early Sixties Motorola has an ultrasound remote and you could change channels by jangling a set of keys.

By: Matthew Petty

Matthew Petty — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:43:00 +0000

“Annoying commercials”? Sounds like this Polley chap was a thief! (if you asked Jamie Kellner)

By: mtdna

mtdna — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:20:00 +0000

Farewell Mr. Polley. Couch potatoes ’round the world would salute you, sir, if only it didn’t involve standing up.