If someone asked you to name the coolest appliance or electronic device in your house, you probably wouldn’t even think about your TV remote controls. In all honesty, you might not even think about them as separate entities without their corresponding TV sets. But television remote controls are actually pretty cool, and considering that we use remotes so much in our everyday lives, the following facts might be of some interest to you!
Fact: The average TV watcher will spend about two weeks, throughout one lifetime, searching for lost television remote controls. And yes, this fact is brought to you by Science.
It might seem like a weird study — figuring how much time we waste just looking for TV remote controls (before, of course, entirely giving up and buying replacement remote controls), but it raises a very valid point: think of all the time you could be saving if you found a way to keep track of those disappearing remotes.
Fact: The first TV remote was called “Lazy Bones.” It was created in 1950 by a company called Zenith, and it was attached to the TV with a very long cable. We aren’t sure how the name “Lazy Bones” was erased from the picture, but we aren’t going to lie — we’re pretty glad. Nothing like a good ol’ condescending TV remote to ruin your day.
But rather than focusing on the name, TV watchers in the 1950s were more concerned about the cables that had to attach to the TV sets (in all likelihood, these cables were to blame for more than a few serious and embarrassing injuries). By 1955, new replacement remotes for TVs were rolled out, and these offered cable-free controls.
Fact: There are an estimated 115.9 million TV sets in the U.S. today. Think about it for a minute — the average household has about two or three different TVs, each TV comes with its own remote, and each extra electronic device (DVD player, stereo, etc.) probably comes with another remote too. There are, quite literally, millions of remote controls floating around the U.S. today.
Now it’s up to you — what weird fact do you happen to know about remote controls? Share your knowledge with us and our readers in the comments section! Find more.
