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Before the 1950's, if you wanted to watch TV, you had to suffer through commercials. And you better make sure what you wanted to watch before you sat down. Of course, if you had a youngster, you could make them change the channel or volume.
In 1952, Zenith Electronics Corporation came out with the first remote control. It was called "Lazy Bones". Zenith made this remote to save their customers from tiresome commercials. The
"Lazy Bones" remote had a thick cable that connected to the TV on one end, and a little box with buttons on the other end. Now the consumer was free to channel surf the day away, though there were few channels at the time to choose from. Customers did not care for the bulky cable, so Zenith went back to work.
In 1955, Engineer Eugene Polley came up with the "Flashmatic" remote control. This remote was little more than a flashlight. A photo cell was placed in each of the 4 corners of the cabinet surrounding the TV screen. Every cell had a different function, one for power on & off, one to change channels, one to change volume, and one to mute it altogether. The remote had a beam of light that you directed at one cell or another. The problem with this was sunlight, or even your living room lamp could change the channel.
Again, Zenith went to work to make the television watching experience better than ever. In 1957, Zenith came out with the
"Space Command" remote control. Dr. Robert Adler had invented the remote that would be used in homes for the next 25 years.
The "Space Command" was an ultrasonic remote that used high frequency sounds to communicate with the TV. These sounds sometimes bothered dogs, and jiggling a set of keys in front of the TV was known to change the channel. It wasn't a perfect system, but it was better than the
"Lazy Bones".
Over nine million ultrasonic remotes were sold, even though they had significantly raised the price of a TV. If you wanted a TV with a remote control, you paid about a third more.
Ultrasonic remotes finally gave way to InfraRed remotes in the early 1980's. Since then, remotes have spread throughout our homes.
In 1991, getting an original replacement remote control became a lot easier. 1-800-REMOTES began serving customers by providing original replacement remotes and owner's manuals for any brand sold in the USA.
Customer Service is the guiding principle at 1-800-REMOTES. If we can help the customer fix or revive their old remote, we are very happy to do so. If they need a new one, we'll send it to them quickly.
1-800-REMOTES stocks thousands of InfraRed Remotes, Ultrasonic remotes, Radio Frequency remotes, and even wired remotes.In addition, we stock owner's manuals, camcorder batteries, and just about any accessory a customer would need.
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