A Flash of Light

I was browsing old newspapers the other day and some of the ads led me down a rabbit hole of reading about this bizarre invention I stumbled upon. I love history… and the future, but reading about what people of the past thought the future would be like is one of my favorite things.

Retrofuturism.

Well this invention actually worked and was a terrific dream for the future… and it even changed the way we live our lives, but the way they achieved its function at the time is just plain fun!

Let's travel back to the 1950s and explore a really weird invention—Zenith's Flash-matic remote control. Back then, changing TV channels meant standing up and turning a knob. Eugene Polley, wanted to make this easier.

In those days, not many channels were available, so some folks didn't see the need for a remote. But Polley had a different idea. He created the Flash-matic, a remote that used a big flashlight-like beam to change channels.

Imagine families pointing the Flash-matic at their TVs, like kids using a light saber that wields the power to to change channels with a beam of light. It seems like a story from outer space, mixing science fiction with home gadgets.

The Flash-matic didn't need any cords, and you could control the TV from anywhere in the room. Even though people didn't fully understand why they needed it, Polley was thinking ahead.

One cool thing about the reason the Flash-matic was invented is that it’s main use was to mute commercials. Almost 75 years ago, and at the beginning of television, people still had the same thought as us today: I wish I could silence those annoying ads.