Co-Inventor of the TV remote dies
02-16-07, 04:14 PM
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Co-Inventor of the TV remote dies
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070216/...remote_control
I wonder if he made millions from his patent?
Chris
By SHANNON DININNY, Associated Press Writer
23 minutes ago
BOISE, Idaho - Hit the mute button for a moment of silence: The co-inventor of the TV remote has died.
Robert Adler, who won an Emmy Award along with fellow engineer Eugene Polley for the device that made couch potatoship possible, died Thursday of heart failure at a Boise nursing home at 93, Zenith Electronics Corp. said Friday.
In his six-decade career with Zenith, Adler was a prolific inventor, earning more than 180 U.S. patents. He was best known for his 1956 Zenith Space Command remote control, which helped make TV a truly sedentary pastime.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded Adler and co-inventor Polley, another Zenith engineer, an Emmy in 1997 for the landmark invention.
Adler joined Zenith's research division in 1941 after earning a doctorate in physics from the University of Vienna. He retired as research vice president in 1979, and served as a technical consultant until 1999, when Zenith merged with LG Electronics Inc.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published his most recent patent application, for advances in touch screen technology, on Feb. 1.
Adler is survived by his wife, Ingrid.
23 minutes ago
BOISE, Idaho - Hit the mute button for a moment of silence: The co-inventor of the TV remote has died.
Robert Adler, who won an Emmy Award along with fellow engineer Eugene Polley for the device that made couch potatoship possible, died Thursday of heart failure at a Boise nursing home at 93, Zenith Electronics Corp. said Friday.
In his six-decade career with Zenith, Adler was a prolific inventor, earning more than 180 U.S. patents. He was best known for his 1956 Zenith Space Command remote control, which helped make TV a truly sedentary pastime.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded Adler and co-inventor Polley, another Zenith engineer, an Emmy in 1997 for the landmark invention.
Adler joined Zenith's research division in 1941 after earning a doctorate in physics from the University of Vienna. He retired as research vice president in 1979, and served as a technical consultant until 1999, when Zenith merged with LG Electronics Inc.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published his most recent patent application, for advances in touch screen technology, on Feb. 1.
Adler is survived by his wife, Ingrid.
I wonder if he made millions from his patent?
Chris
02-16-07, 04:36 PM
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Well, I guess Ingrid will finally get to use the remote!
P.S. I do remember well when TVs had knobs, and you had to get up to change the channel. Or rather, I had to get up to change the channel for my dad.
P.S. I do remember well when TVs had knobs, and you had to get up to change the channel. Or rather, I had to get up to change the channel for my dad.
02-16-07, 04:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Altimus Prime
P.S. I do remember well when TVs had knobs, and you had to get up to change the channel. Or rather, I had to get up to change the channel for my dad.
02-16-07, 07:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Altimus Prime
P.S. I do remember well when TVs had knobs, and you had to get up to change the channel. Or rather, I had to get up to change the channel for my dad.
02-17-07, 11:31 AM
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Originally Posted by rw2516
Yep, a whopping big 3 channels to pick from too.
There were two knobs.
AND I remember when the idea of cable wasn't to get hundreds of channels, just the same few with a clearer picture. And, maybe, HBO.
02-17-07, 12:58 PM
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Originally Posted by rw2516
Yep, a whopping big 3 channels to pick from too.
02-18-07, 02:52 AM
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Originally Posted by mrpayroll
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070216/...remote_control
I wonder if he made millions from his patent?
Chris
I wonder if he made millions from his patent?
Chris
The guy made a million dollars
02-18-07, 03:04 AM
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Originally Posted by mrpayroll
I wonder if he made millions from his patent?
02-18-07, 06:10 AM
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His co-creator Eugene Polly created the first wireless "remote" by placing 4 photosensors on the TV, one in each corner. The "remote" was a tight beam flashlight that you pointed at each corner to turn the TV on/off, mute or tune the channel up and down. Of course any bright light might have your TV going out of control.
As the OP's article says Adler himself developed the "Space Commander" which used ultrasonic frequencies to control the TV. Like the Flash-matic the remote itself was rather simple, the buttons struck aluminum rods which vibrated to produce the ultrasonic sound (while the vibrations weren't audible, the click of the strike was, hence the nickname "the clicker"). It was the electronics in the TV that detected and processed the remote's sounds which added 30% to the cost of the unit.
As the OP's article says Adler himself developed the "Space Commander" which used ultrasonic frequencies to control the TV. Like the Flash-matic the remote itself was rather simple, the buttons struck aluminum rods which vibrated to produce the ultrasonic sound (while the vibrations weren't audible, the click of the strike was, hence the nickname "the clicker"). It was the electronics in the TV that detected and processed the remote's sounds which added 30% to the cost of the unit.
02-19-07, 11:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Count Dooku
I think that if you are working in a company's research dept, then they get the money from the things you invent.
Chris
