The co-inventor of the TV remote has died

[The Straight Story]

Pause to remember the man behind the remote, Robert Adler, dead at 93

By Shannon Dininny
ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:41 p.m. February 16, 2007

BOISE, Idaho – Hit the mute button for a moment of silence: The co-inventor of the TV remote has died.

Robert Adler, who won an Emmy Award along with fellow engineer Eugene Polley for the device that made couch potatoship possible, died Thursday of heart failure at a Boise nursing home at 93, Zenith Electronics Corp. said Friday.

In his six-decade career with Zenith, Adler was a prolific inventor, earning more than 180 U.S. patents. He was best known for his 1956 Zenith Space Command remote control, which helped make TV a truly sedentary pastime.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded Adler and co-inventor Polley, another Zenith engineer, an Emmy in 1997 for the landmark invention.

Adler joined Zenith's research division in 1941 after earning a doctorate in physics from the University of Vienna. He retired as research vice president in 1979, and served as a technical consultant until 1999, when Zenith merged with LG Electronics Inc.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published his most recent patent application, for advances in touch screen technology, on Feb. 1.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070216-1341-obit-remotecontrol.html

My remote weeps.

[Burma Jones]

1. Pause - That's good

RIP to a great engineer

[Forkboy]

2. Apparently God built one first

[skids]

3. Hrm, well on the one hand...

...he enabled a generation of couch potatoes.

On the other hand certain people were destined to be couch potatoes anyway, and at least he brought them additional discretion in choosing what they viewed instead of just watching whatever came on.

So I guess that invention was a wash. His other inventions are much more interesting/groundbreaking to those in the field, though.

In any case it is always sad to see a great technical pioneer leave us. He will be missed by many, I am sure.

[The Straight Story]

5. Think of all the handicapped and people in hospitals helped by remotes though

It certainly has made life easier for em :)

[CrazyOrangeCat]

4. A teary-eyed Homer Simpson . . .

. . . cracks open a bottle o' Duff's in his honor.:beer:

[tridim]

6. We've come a long way..

1956:
2007:

[Algorem]

7. Probably cracked his circuitboard,poor bastard.You know there's no

hope after that happens.

Or could have got dropped really hard right on that bulb thingy.Like on a hardwood floor.That can do it too,don't kid yourself.Tragic loss.He'll be hard to replace,except for one of those really good universal ones.