AUGUST 1958: 'Remote' TV control might catch on
A Sydney man has labelled an experiment with a television “remote control” as a “cautious success”.
Mr Brian Couchmaster was chosen by the Australian Institute of Enhanced Living to test the new-fangled device, which, astonishingly, allows a television watcher to change channels without actually having to walk over to the TV receiving set.
“I’m not sure if this gadget, cute though it is, has a role in the future Australian lounge room, Mr Couchmaster told The Bladder. “I mean, it was definitely a pleasant experience for me to be able to change channels, from the football to the horse racing and back, by clicking that one huge black button, but I can see problems.”
Mr Couchmaster said his family was bemused by the cable linking the remote control to the TV receiver. Slightly thicker than a vacuum cleaner hose, and weighing 13 stone (80 kg), the cable comes in one-size to extend across a very large room, so its coils ended up filling almost all of the available floor space in the Couchmaster residence.
“Worse, the remote control itself, being somewhat larger than a family-sized suitcase, takes up a lot of space on the table beside the settee,” he complained.
However, these grouches aside, Mr Couchmaster was enthusiastic about the latest television invention.
“Oh, I think it is marvellous, physical limitations aside. The way I could push that button and suddenly be watching the football was brilliant.
“I am concerned that the players involved in such televised matches will need to come to terms with the technology, however. To suddenly have horses racing through the middle of their game came as quite a shock to them, I could tell. How this is going to be in summer, when people are switching between cricket and golf and tennis, is anybody’s guess. There will be balls flying in all directions.”
Professor Poindexter from the Ponds Institute, which houses the Australian Institute of Enhanced Living, admitted there were “glitches” to be ironed out in the new technology.
