The history of the remote control

Here's an interesting bit of history about the remote control: Steve Wozniak formed a company to make a universal remote.

Wozniak's high-powered, 20-button remote, released in 1987 with a thick user's manual and its own programming language, was far too complicated for the mainstream consumer. His idea split the remote-control market into its two long-standing constituencies—the hackers and the loungers. Now the former had a device that was just for them, a remote that could be loaded up with macros and reprogrammed. (Its descendants live on today.)

The CL9 Core Remote.

http://www.ktronicslc.com/core.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/design/2012/06/the_history_of_the_remote_control_why_are_they_so_awful_.2.html