design

weird & wonderful tv remote controls

without tv remote controls the world would probably be less than perfect. imagine having to get up off the couch every time you wanted to rapidly skip between 2 equally decent programmes that have been broadcast at exactly the same time - watching 2 channels at once would quickly become painful and stressful.

in order to celebrate tv remotes, here are some interesting, bizarre, sometimes ridiculous examples of a gadget used on a daily basis by most of the people reading this blog (it’s a safe generalisation. don’t start feverishly typing abuse just because a few of you don’t have a tv).

1. garod tele-zoom

manufacturer: garod

one of the first tv remote controls ever seen by the unsuspecting public was the 1948 garod tele-zoom: a small, round, heavily varnished, single button remote which was connected to the tv by a 20 foot cable. rather than enabling lazy viewers to do something useful like switch channels or adjust the volume, a press of the button would simply crop the image on screen and zoom in - a feature i’m sure most people were pining for.

2. zenith lazy bones

manufacturer: zenith

the first ever tv remote control that could actually change channels was the zenith lazy bones, released in 1955. as with the garod tele-zoom, the lazy bones was attached to the tv by way of a long cable, perfect for tripping up relatives and causing frustration due to entanglement. as the advert says, ‘it’s like something out of the arabian nights!’.

3. zenith flash-matic

manufacturer: zenith

created by engineer eugene polley (above) in 1955, the zenith flash-matic was the world’s first wireless tv remote control and looked a lot like a flashlight. a beam of light had to be aimed accurately at one of the 4 corners of the tv set for it to work, the remote enabling you to either turn the tv on/off, change channels or mute the sound. the flash-matic system was pretty frustrating in the daytime due to the fact that the sun had more chance of hitting the sensors than the remote-holding human and would cause the tv to sporadically change channel.

4. zenith space commander 200

manufacturer: zenith

no, this isn’t an old games console cartridge - it’s the world’s first ever functional wireless tv remote control that wasn’t affected by sunlight and was designed by ‘the godfather or remotes’, the late robert adler, in 1956. the available options for the viewer were simply ‘channel up’ & ‘mute’ and the system worked using ultrasound. depending on which button the user pressed, the control emitted a frequency which was detected by the tv set.

5. art lebedev pultius

designer: art lebedev

with a baffling but brilliant length of 20″, the art lebedev pultius would be the longest tv remote control in the world (no fact source needed as i refuse to believe there’s a longer one) if produced - at the moment it’s just a concept. much of the remote’s body is covered with buttons numbered 1-99 meaning you would hardly ever need to press a combination of buttons to get your desired channel. also, running out of battery power would never cause a problem as you could probably prod the relevant buttons on the tv set from quite a distance.

6. pogo ezpower universal remote control

manufacturer: pogo

one of my pet peeves is the death of the remote’s batteries at a crucial time. many times during ad breaks i’ve found myself rolling duracells in my hands, putting them in the fridge, licking the ends (i possibly confused a couple of tips) - all just to get a couple more hours from the remote. the environmentally friendly ezpower remote doesn’t require batteries to work and can control up to 6 devices. all you need to do is wind it up and a full charge will power the remote for 7 days.

7. bang & olufsen beo5

manufacturer: bang & olufsen

welcome to the mother of all remote controls. obviously, this ‘remote control’ isn’t just for your tv - it’s programmed to order and can control your tv, stereo, dvd player, security system and even air-conditioning. it’s probably got more processing power than my pc and at around £350 is definitely more expensive. as of yet i’m unsure whether it comes with a remote control.

8. invoca voice activated remote control

manufacturer: brookstone

if, like me, you’re tired of having to either reach for the remote or use finger and wrist power to change channels whilst lazing around on the couch, this product could be for you. it can learn up to 25 commands, chosen by you, which will subsequently be carried out as you bark orders from your seat. it also sits in a charging station which means as long as you pay your electricity bill on time, the power won’t run out.

9. innovage jumbo universal remote

manufacturer: innovage

the innovage jumbo remote is possibly the best remote control on earth. just look at it and try not to smile. intended for those with impaired vision or dexterity (but extremely muscular arms) and measuring 11″ x 5″, this beast would also be suitable for humans with very beefy fingertips or paw bearing, tv watching animals such as yogi bear or scooby doo.

10. curitel pt-l1800 mobile phone remote

manufacturer: curitel

the curitel pt-l1800 is a south korean mobile phone and the reason it’s featured is because utterly bone-idle owners of the device are supplied with a remote control for video playback. surely, with a screen that small (unless you have the eyesight of a superhero) you will always be sitting close enough to the phone to either turn up the volume or change channel?

bonus product…

multimedia remote control wrangler

designer: rodd miller

to finish, i’d like to draw your attention to a remote control accessory known as the ‘remote wrangler’, an invention that’ll probably cause you to kick yourself in the face for not thinking of it first.

the next time you misplace the remote and then scratch your head in bemusement you’ll instantly solve your problem. the good news is, the wrangler can also hold mp3 players, meaning you have an excuse to wear this sexy device outdoors.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

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