On May 20, 2012, at the age of 96, the famous engineer Eugene Polly, the inventor of the world's first wireless television remote control, passed away. Polly worked for Zenith Electronics for 47 years and made a huge contribution to the development of television technology.
Instructions
Step 1
Eugene Polly invented the world's first television remote control in 1955. The distinguished engineer worked for Zenith Radio since 1935 and patented a total of 18 of his own inventions, but the remote control became the most famous of them. The remote was called the Flash-matic and was a wireless device that looks like a hair dryer or a toy gun and uses visible light rays. The light beam had to be directed to the photosensitive elements located in the corners of the TV screen.
Step 2
Flash-matic allowed switching channels, as well as turning on and off the TV, the creator assured that it could even "drown out annoying ads" with its help. In the first year of its existence, about 30,000 of these remotes were sold. However, the Flash-matic proved to be inconvenient and unreliable, since it could function only in good light conditions. In addition, users were annoyed with the need to remember which function each corner of the screen was responsible for. Therefore, the device needed to be improved. Soon, consoles using sound signals came to the market, and later - working on radio waves. It was only in the 80s that remote controls appeared, which are still used today, with infrared radiation.
Step 3
Polly was inspired to create the remote control by a burning hatred of advertising. However, with the advent of the invention, advertisers simply changed the way they create and place advertisements. This soon led to the birth of such a phenomenon as "Zapping". Zapping - frequent switching of TV channels. According to psychologists, zapping can indicate both distracted attention and an obsessive state.
Step 4
In 1997, Polly and fellow Zenith Electronics colleague Robert Adler received the prestigious Emmy of the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
