We arrived in Harlech to find our view (see the photo behind this blog) hadn’t changed, but our viewing had.

Someone had eaten, stolen or thrown away the blipper (remote control, thingummy, whatyoucall) that operates the television. It was nowhere to be found.

Being a brand, spanking new machine (I bought it as recently as 2004) there are no controls on the set itself and is entirely dependent on its remote control. We had to get an All In One remote which managed to turn the TV on and adjust the volume, but that was about it.

This morning I went to the tip, as is my wont, and as I was loading the kitchen floor into the skip I spotted my Philips television — well, exactly the same model as mine — looking rather derelict and sad for itself. Somebody had dumped my TV, which I always thought was cutting edge. So I asked the men if the remote had been dumped as well. One of them went over to the office and returned with — my identical remote!

I brought it home, washed it (people are SO yucky) and it works perfectly.

Result!

It set me to thinking, as well. All these blippers perform a number of functions, but they’re all basically the same. Yet some are far easier to use than others. This is down to one simple factor — design.

So I have a great idea for a fascinating book: Remote Control Design. We could illustrate remotes from the earliest times to the present day, and provide inspiration and incentives to tomorrow’s designers.

It’s an unstudied field. Everyone has one, nobody thinks about them.

So, fotoLibra members, please start photographing all the remote controls you can find. Cutout, face on, against a white background for cutout, please. Please remember the 18% Grey Rule to ensure your whites are actually white. Please add to your metadata the make, model and type of device the remote operates — I have a remote control for my MacBook Pro, and it’s really useful, so Apple tells me. It’s still wrapped in its protective sheath.

Publishers, please line up right here.

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