Colin D Gordon

Robert Adler

(Early TV Set: 1952:)

“In the good old days, anyone who wanted to change the channel on their television was obliged to get up to press the appropriate buttons on the apparatus”. That era, as “wired.com” has pointed out, came to an abrupt end when, in the mid-’60’s, the Austrian-American inventor and Director of Research at the Zenith Corporation, Robert Adler, created the modern remote control. In doing so, as “wired” has also noted, he not only transformed television viewing forever but furthermore inadvertently instigated a contest within many homes as who decides which programmes will be watched and when. The American romantic novelist, Julie Garwood, concurs with “wired” that this struggle exists even more today and considers that “whoever controls the remote, runs the household”.

The “science.howstuffworks”website depicts these devices as “the most ubiquitous symbols of our modern technologies” and surmises that while “serious electronics connoisseurs” are likely to have a dozen or more of them scattered around their coffee tables, even those people not in that category will probably nonetheless have a handful of remotes at their disposal to operate everything from their TVs and air conditioners to car door locks.

It also acknowledges that there are negative aspects to the proliferation of these gadgets, especially regarding the number of “chronic television viewers” who adopt a sedentary lifestyle and “remain glued to their chairs and sofas for hours on end”. The most terrifying nightmare for these “Couch Potatoes”, according to the American journalist and beekeeper Jack Mingo in his “Guide to Prolonged Televsion Viewing” is either not being able to find their remote, or if they do manage locate it, then discovering that the batteries are dead, hence it doesn’t function anymore.

It’s not only such “laid-back individuals”, though, who encounter this problem. On 3^rd October, the Metro newspaper published statistics indicating that remotes are among the most commonly misplaced domestic possessions. A study of Global Remote Control Trends conducted by the Logitech company, reported by its

(Logitech Harmony Universal Remote Control).

Dog chewing remote control while owner looks for it down the back of the sofa.

digital commentator, Scott Harrington, has estimated that nearly half of all living rooms around the world have four or more remotes, thus “it’s easy to forget where we put them or to blame others when they disappear”. Their investigation revealed that 49% of remotes were eventually found in the couch, 8% in the bathroom, 8% in a dresser drawer, 4% in the fridge or freezer and 2% somewhere outside or in the car. Logitech has recommended replacing all these multiple appliances with their own single “Harmony Universal Remote”.

(Wooden Holder for Remote Controls).

(Remote Control with wrist strap).

The Metro article suggests that a “foolproof way” of never losing a remote is to glue it to a piece of string which should then be fastened to your sofa or chair. The “Greying With Grace” website, catering for the older generation, agrees this is one possible option, but also proposes several other alternatives. Among them are: Putting the control in a conspicuous place where you’ll always remember where to look; Using a special holder fixed to a wall, a piece of furniture or the armrest of “your favourite recliner”; Labelling each remote so you know which device it operates and putting them all in the same box or tray; Making sure you have a spare remote in case you lose the original one; Painting it with a fluorescent yellow, orange or pink pen; Getting one with a wrist strap, an arrangement reputed to be particularly popular with “senior citizens”

(Searching for missing items in the sofa, under the bed, in the cabinet, closet, book shelf, fridge, drawer, dustbin, storeroom, garbage bin).

Chipolo.net emphasises that although the TV remote occupies the top spot on the list of missing items in the US , with more than 71% of Americans mislaying it at least once a month, in the UK first place goes to keys, while remotes only feature at number five. It’s not difficult, commiserates Chipolo, to lose your keys, wallet or phone, since they accompany us wherever we go. A survey undertaken on behalf of Esure Home Insurance, cited by the Daily Mail, has concluded that we spend ten minutes every day (3,680 hours during an average lifetime) searching for misplaced objects, such as books, phones, car keys and even the vehicles themselves in car parks and town centres. Moreover, 50% of the adults questioned admitted that the majority of these generally turn up somewhere obvious, 40% of couples argue about who is responsible and a third of wives blame their husbands.

Mobile phones are the personal effects which apparently go astray most frequently, followed by house and car keys, paperwork, sunglasses / spectacles, purses or wallets, lip balm, hair brushes, gloves, clothing, umbrellas, books, bank cards, train or bus tickets, coats, diaries, sun hats and laptops. Most people in Britain, declares Nick Sellers, head of Home Insurance at Esure, tend to attribute such mishaps to sheer bad luck or their hectic lifestyles. However, the obvious solution, in his view, is for them to carry less around with them, thereby avoiding the risk of losing anything important or valuable.

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