The man who started the media revolution

I’m fond of saying that the most important invention in media was not the printing press but the remote control, for it gave us control of our media. OK, so it’s a tad hyperbolic. But still, when the remote control passed 50 percent penetration on American couches in the mid-80s — at the same time that use of the cable box and VCR also grew — we took over our control of the consumption of media and media changed forever. It got better. And that is a straight line to the internet, which let us take over control of the creation of media.

I say all this as a tribute to Robert Alder, the coinventor of the TV remote control, who just passed away.