Dubai: "Has anybody seen the remote control?"
Stop for a moment, or pause if you prefer, to comprehend the true import of these words.
Mankind should take time off to focus on the usefulness of this device which was invented by Eugene Polley, who died at the age of 96 on Wednesday.
Say your novenas to the man who invented the wireless TV remote control. A number of personification and manifestations later, this instrument dominates almost every facet of our existence — from the TV, to the force of the water jets in bidets.
Little did Polley realise that his invention would give birth to the ‘couch potato', a term which gives laziness an added dimension. As someone said, "it is no accident that we surfed channels much before we surfed the web".
Rewind to circa 1955.
Prior to Polley's invention changing channels involved taking a few steps from the sofa to the TV, bending down and turning the knob to settle for a programme of our choice (though Polley did create an early version of the remote called ‘lazy bones' because it had a long cable which was attached to the TV set.)
Too much physical exertion…
…The Zenith TV with Flash-Matic tuning was the answer to everyone's woes. The TV came with a green ray gun-shaped contraption fitted with a red trigger. The advertising for the contraption promised, above everything else, ‘TV miracles'.
The flash tuner was "absolutely harmless to humans'. Intriguingly, "it could shut off annoying commercials while the picture remained on the screen."
The Flash-Matic cost a staggering $149.95 (Dh550) then and resembled a modern-day hair dryer. The Flash-Matic pointed a beam of light at photo cells in the corners of the television screen. Each corner activated a different function, turning the picture and sound off and on, and changing the channels.
Thus the remote control brought the entire world at our fingertips. Can you imagine manually trying to scroll through your channels today? The remote control also has the power of uniting and disintegrating families. The idea that by changing channels, you could actually change the world sounds ridiculous, but with the remote control it has a basis in reality.
Fast forward to 2012.
The prediction by experts that someday remote controls will control almost every device has come true. It has changed the lives of almost everybody in varying degrees. There are still some, however, who subscribe to its utilitarian value but secretly wish for more.
Like Dubai business woman Tara Rogers, who expertly juggles being a homemaker and mother of two sprightly teenagers. Rogers admits that she doesn't need a remote for the TV since, "I simply don't watch it and therefore don't know how to use it. The one that interests me most is the remote for the garage door. But I will be thrilled if they made one to do the ironing."
According to Rogers, her son Jack, is the expert at home. "He's the only one who knows how to use the remote — switching channels, playing the DVD, or the PlayStation. The remotes that irritate me the most are the ones in hotel rooms that do everything, from opening the curtains, to requesting that your shoes get cleaned. You need a degree just to operate it," Rogers said.
Professional photographer Siddharth Siva is a busy man. For him a picture is worth more than a thousand words. Sometimes having a remote simply helps in that economy of action. Siva captures images of people, places, instances and the fascinating changes currently taking place in the life of his three-month old son Ishaan.
A proud and possessive dad, Siva wants to be in every frame with his boy and swears that having a remote "is a great way to take self portraits of me and my family. Essentially you get your camera up, sit and hit the button and you have a picture. Professionally, when I don't want to cause camera blur for long exposures you get the cam on a tri-pod set the remote and fire it."
Not shy of pushing the boundaries, Siva now wants to configure his Blackberry to work as a remote on his Mac Book. "I am trying to find a way to do that."
Perhaps the greatest ode to Polley's creation came from Dubai-based couple Sugam and Marina Bhasin. Sugam summed up its significance saying, "With the wedding right around the corner, we found ourselves diligently going about our personal contribution to bettering the global economy through hefty purchases that would transform a bachelor pad into a stable home.
"As unabashed ‘mac-heads', the then new Apple TV would have to be the centrepiece of our digital paradise. There would be no bickering over the remote, no ‘accidental' channel swaps that amazingly landed on ESPN every time. This device came with a delightful little remote control. About the size of a pack of gum and with just a couple of buttons, this would be the harbinger of perpetual harmony.
"Four years on and many marital lessons later, our centrepiece lies gathering dust; turns out that technologies come and go but human frailties endure. The fabled remote, so cherished, so revered, miraculously vanished about a week in and took with it, our dream of enduring bliss."
Little did Polley imagine that the remote is like life. It comes with its share of ups and downs, but it helps to have it around.
