A moment of silence in remembrance of the man who helped make the world couch potatoes - the co-inventor of the wireless remote control for television, Dr. Robert Adler.
Dr. Adler died last Thursday in Boise, ID at the age of 93. A native of Austria, Dr. Adler emigrated to the United States just before the outbreak of World War II. He landed a job with the Zenith Electronics Corporation in 1941 and worked on a number of communication projects for the U.S. Armed Forces during the war.
After the war, his research work with Zenith included a number of projects for the Zenith primarily in communications. But it didn't include working on a remote control.
History shows that in 1955, Eugene Polley devised a wireless remote control for Zenith called the "Flashback". The remote used photo cell flashes that a receiver in the television would pick up and change channels, mute the volume and turn the television on or off.
Zenith marketed the remote television system and it was a big hit - selling over 30,000 units. But it had a big problem - it didn't work well in sunny or well-lit rooms. And it was battery powered and people thought their televisions were malfunctioning when the batteries got weak.
Dr. 
Adler, who had been working on high-frequency signal technology for Zenith and the federal government, took on Polly's project and devised a remote control that used high-pitched tones to change the functions. The remote worked by the pressing of a button activating an aluminum rod that sent a tone the television would recognize. Thus, the invention of the Zenith Space Command remote control.
The cost of the remote control function added about a third to the price of televisions, but it was an immediate hit. And the unique thing about the original Space Command control was that it used no batteries.
Still, the Space Command had some problems - simple sounds such as keys rattling would cause the set to change channels or turn off.
Dr. Adler worked on projects that refined the Space Command control in the 60's, introducing a unit that used ultrasonic frequency tones instead of the much lower frequency tones. The rest, as they say, is history.
For years, a few historians believed that Dr. Adler got a lot of unwarranted credit for being the first designer of the remote control. Polley's Flashback device had been on the market for a year before the Space Command became part of the American culture.
Polley (left) went through life privately stewing about the perceived slight he was receiving for not getting the full credit for the invention of the wireless remote control. A lot of AV aficionados don't recognize Polly's name when the history of the remote control is brought up. In fact, Zenith only pays tribute to Dr. Adler and not to Polley on their web site. Polley does get a small mention in the story of the history of the remote, but that's all.
For Polley's efforts with the Flashback, he was paid $1000 dollars. Polley once said, “Not only did I not get credit for doing anything, I got a kick in the rear end.”
Through all of this, Dr. Adler remained stoic about his accomplishments. He realizes that history has embraced his name as the father of the remote control, but he'd been uneasy about the recognition.
“I don't believe (the remote control) has a single father,” Dr. Adler said one time. "But the general public wants one name to attach to something.”
For his efforts, it should be noted that Polley's use of photo cells was way ahead of it's time. Most remote controls today use low-level infrared signals to control televisions, DVD players, CD players and a number of other consumer electronics.
When Zenith was given a lifetime achievement Emmy Award in 1997 for the invention of the remote control, the company directed that co-awards be given to both Dr. Adler and Polley.
In all, Dr. Adler had 180 patents on a number of inventions, the last was published just a couple weeks before his death on advances in touchscreen technology. His wife, Ingrid, said the remote control probably wasn't even his favorite invention. In fact, he didn't watch much television.
"He was more of a reader," she said last week.
Still, Dr. Adler was a true pioneer in the development of a device that is now considered a necessity in the control of electronic products - including non-audio and video units - in the modern home. I just couldn't let his passing go by without paying some sort of homage to the man.
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