Remote Controls

Back in the dark ages -- the mid-20th Century, to be precise -- a glorious light came in where there had only been sound; we called them televisions. That early television set was black and white, it had rabbit ears, and we had to get up and walk over to that TV set to change the channel. These were difficult years, but the consumer electronics age had dawned, and change came quickly.

Television sets soon showed color. Then, in a great evolutionary leap forward, the TV remote control was invented, and with it, the couch potato was born. TV remote controls made it possible to exercise our eyes without exercising our legs!

In the final years of the Century, the home theater system became available, each unit having remote controls of their own. The couch potato, by now unaccustomed to movement or thought was bewildered by this wealth of television techno-gadgetry. Which remote control was the TV remote? Which one ran the VCR? Which one ran the stereo? Which one switched cable channels? It was more consumer electronics than some couch potatoes could consume.

Fortunately, conservation-minded television executives, eager to save the couch potato from extinction, created new, simpler, universal remote controls. This new universal remote came just in time -- before satellite TV, the DVD recorder VCR combo and HD television could overwhelm the fragile home theater ecosystem. In addition to being a TV remote control, the universal remote control restored the balance of nature between the couch potato and his environment.

Today, thanks to the universal remote controls and other electronics accessories they buy from Overstock.com (as well as the couches from Overstock's furniture store), the couch potato (and its principal subspecies, the sports addict and the movie buff) live in techno-harmony with their home theater systems.