Robert Alder, who co-created the remote control at Zenith in 1956 — and by extension, helped name this website — has died at the age of 93. You could argue the remote (history) brought the biggest technological change in television’s history until DVRs and the internet came along. Much like today’s new technology, it empowered viewers to control their own experience — they flipped channels at will instead of watching the same channel for an extended period of time, which had a profound impact on programming and promotion. In fact, the remote has influenced the industry more than the change from black and white to color or film to video — just like DVRs and the internet today are having a much bigger impact than the switch from standard def to high definition.
Adds Safran in comments: “Alas, our website’s spiritual Godfather…. Adler was the first disruptor. He allowed us to say ‘screw you’ when the TV people said ‘don’t touch that dial’ during intrusive commercial breaks. Thank you, sir. We have lost our remote ancestor.”