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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
David Bauder

Ode to the remote control, that tiny box that lets you channel your desires without ever getting up

America 250 Objects Remote Control - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

If the TV remote hadn’t been invented, channel surfers and couch potatoes would have to argue about something else. Come to think of it, those surfers and potatoes might not even exist.

It may be difficult for anyone under 40 to understand, but there was a time when changing a channel meant getting up, walking over to the “television set” and turning a “dial.”

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