Remote Control

Imagine this. You’re snuggled deep into the comfiest spot on the couch, wrapped in a warm blanket. The perfect movie is playing, but the sound is just a little too quiet. Or maybe the show is over and you want to see what’s on the next channel. What do you do. Do you get up, leave your cozy nest, and walk all the way over to the television. Of course not. You just reach out, pick up a little plastic box full of buttons, and point. With a simple press, you can command your television from across the room. It feels like a little bit of magic, doesn’t it. For years, I’ve been your secret helper, your magic wand for entertainment. I am the thing that lets you pause, play, and explore whole new worlds without ever leaving your seat. I give you the power to control things from a distance, like an invisible friend who does exactly what you ask. Can you guess who I am. I am the Remote Control.

My life didn’t start with televisions, though. My very first ancestor was created for something completely different. Can you imagine a world without me. You have to travel all the way back to the year 1898. A brilliant inventor named Nikola Tesla was showing off a brand new toy at a big exhibition in New York City. It was a small boat that he could steer across a pond without touching it. He used invisible radio waves to send his commands, and people were amazed. They thought it was magic. That was the very first time one of my relatives appeared. But it took many years for me to find my way into your home. In the 1950s, televisions were the most exciting new invention. An inventor named Eugene Polley created my first TV version in 1950. He called me the 'Lazy Bones'. But I had a big, clumsy problem. I was attached to the TV by a long, thick wire. People were always tripping over my cord, and you couldn't move very far with me. I felt more like a leash than a magic wand.

I dreamed of being free from that annoying cord. Finally, in 1955, I got my wish. A new version of me called the 'Flash-Matic' was born. I looked like a little ray gun and I worked by shooting a beam of light at the television. It was so cool to be wireless. But I had a silly secret weakness. The television couldn’t tell the difference between my light beam and any other light. If the sun shone on the TV just right, it would sometimes change the channel all by itself. Whoops. The real breakthrough came just one year later, on June 8th, 1956. An amazing inventor named Dr. Robert Adler created the 'Zenith Space Command'. I didn't use wires or light. Instead, when you pressed one of my buttons, I made a special high-pitched sound that people couldn't hear, but the television could. Each button made a tiny metal bar inside me ring like a bell, making a very satisfying click sound. Best of all, I didn't even need batteries. I was finally free, and I worked perfectly.

For a long time, I was the king of clicking. But my next big change came in the early 1980s. That’s when I started using something called infrared light. It’s a type of light that your eyes can’t see, which meant I could finally have lots and lots of buttons to do all sorts of new things. This is when I really started to look like the remote control you know today. I wasn't just for changing channels and volume anymore. Suddenly, I could control VCRs, DVD players, and sound systems. Today, my job is bigger than ever. I help you play video games, fly tiny drone helicopters through the air, change the color of the lights in your room, and even talk to smart speakers to ask them questions. I put the power to control your world right at your fingertips. From a clumsy box on a wire to a sleek wand that commands almost anything, I’ve had quite an adventure. I wonder what new and amazing things you'll ask me to do in the future.