The world’s first remote control debuted in the 1950s. Eugene Polley, of the television giant Zenith, invented it as television was gaining popularity as the ultimate entertainment system. His was the first wireless remote controller that flashed a light beam at photocells located in the TV, comparable to how modern remotes work today.
In the 1960s, RCA gave television viewers the Wireless Wizard remote, which promised outstanding “on chair convenience, and luxurious styling” that made couch potatoes’ dreams come true. Not getting up from the couch each time you wanted a channel changed was a treat — hence RCA’s remote revolutionized users’ television-watching experience, and how they absorbed content. This utmost achievement in electronic engineering enabled users to surf through the channels with the seven functions located on the golden brick-like device. The color-TV companion even gave users the option to change the volume and the color’s tint, brightness, and saturation. The remote even had its own compartment in the wooden part of the television for easy storage. This is how the remote was presented in a 1961 commercial:
The way that the first model of the remote was presented, as the “greatest advance in television since color television itself,” seems so simplistic to technology veterans today, but in the 1960s, the RCA remote was absolutely a state-of-the-art appliance. The commercial inspired the same awe that we now feel when watching commercials that unveil the latest Apple products. The commercial was part of a huge marketing campaign that resulted in spellbinding sales of the Wizard, proving how powerfully a commercial could target the public’s spending on electronics.
The Wireless Wizard was actually magical for its time, since it was one of the first remote controllers ever. RCA’s invention was possible from intense scientific research; the television contained an amplifier that could communicae with the Wizard remote.
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