Give me a Technology Connections (@[email protected]) video on it
That was literally my first thought when I saw the article.
God, I love that man
“I’m about to talk about Christmas lights for an 70 minutes.”
“Hell yeah, bro!”
“This goofy fridge has a really clever design. It’s also kinda terrible.”
63 minutes long, and still super enjoyable.
Oh, I so want that!
This was mentioned a couple of weeks ago on the Vergecast. I was wondering if someone was going to get assigned the article, and here it is!
Our first tv with a remote control that wasn’t me or my sibling using small vise grip on channel knob had a telephone included in the tv.
Like this was in 1982 so not a modem … just a tv with a land line phone built in that you have to use the remote to make or receive a call.
Yes! Those channel knobs were so easily broken. I thought we were the only ones turning channels with pair of vice-grips clamped on the nub.
Never seen or heard from anyone using tape to mask their remotes. Is this really a thing?
Never seen or heard from anyone using tape to mask their remotes. Is this really a thing?
Not this exactly, but my grandparents had a guide taped to the backside of their remotes to make it easier to use.
The tape strategy has some appeal, though, mainly in that I use maybe 5 buttons 95% of the time.
I like the sounds of the tines! It’s basically just a tuning fork, so wild.
I had a Heathkit TV that used a variation of this design! If you held it really close to your ear then you could actually hear it emitting.
@igalmarino In my childhood our remote worked by emitting electronically generated ultrasonic sounds. It looked like that one: kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/tel…
Those don’t take batteries and your click generates the electricity for the signal. Right? Like a wind up radio.
No, it’s a tuning fork that produces 4 seperate tones, one for each “button.” The TV had a microphone listening for tones and would respond accordingly. You didn’t actually have to point the remote at the TV, which later became a problem, as the mic on the TV was technically always listening for a tone.
Neat. I knew I could Cunningham Law this instead of doing research.
Unfortunately, you violated the law slightly by asking a question!
Cunningham’s Law states “the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it’s to post the wrong answer.”
You can always count on fucking nerds to get excited about explaining something.
