It's hard to believe, but the invention of the television and the invention of the remote control did not happen simultaneously, or even that close together in technological history. Modern televisions date from the 1930s or so; the remote control, according to this biopic on inventor Robert Adler, who died last month at age 93, didn't become a wireless reality until 1956. Given the success of his device (the article points out that 99 percent of televisions now sell with a remote), not to mention the inventions that have built on top of it (WebTV and DVR, for example), I wonder how successful television would be today if people had to get up and down to change the channel, raise and lower the volume, record and watch their favorite shows, etc. We'd probably be a much less visually-oriented society as a result and I probably wouldn't be writing this post to you right now.