The History Of The Television Remote Control. While I was watching football yesterday, I was switching back and forth between CBS, Fox, and the NFL Network Red Zone channels. I was comfortably ensconced in my recliner, cigar in one hand, and TV remote control in the other. As I lazily pushed buttons on the remote to switch channels during the commercials, it occurred to me I was still not using my tech to its maximum potential. My set would respond to my voice, using Google Assistant, and could tell it what to do. But, I decided that I am old school, and enjoyed the physical pushing of buttons on a remote. It feels like control. And, as everyone knows, we have little control over very much these days. Then, it occurred to me to flash back to my youth, when we watched Roy Rogers, and Mickey Mouse Club, and the Lone Ranger on tiny black and white console TVs. If we wanted to change channels we had to get up off the floor and walk to the set, turning a big plastic knob that clicked each channel into place. The only saving grace was that there were only 3 channels, so channel surfing was not a challenge. Then, in 1955, a TV executive gave a task to his engineers. He hated listening to the sound on commercials, and wanted them to invent a device that would mute the sound from his chair. Voila, the TV remote control was born. I wonder if we will live to see the day when we control our TV watching with our minds. 