Channel Buttons
| Field |
| Watching TV |
| Went Obsolete |
| When Remote Controls became standard accessories ~1980s |
| Made Obsolete By |
| Remote Controls |
| Knowledge Assumed |
| TV Channels still exist and haven't been obsoleted by Video Downloads |
| When useful |
| When you lose the remote control |
The steps to changing the TV channel without a remote are fairly easy, but often forgotten:
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Stand Up. This is done by placing both feet on the floor and hoisting yourself out of your seated position on the couch or other comfort device.
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Walk. It is personal choice as to whether to start with the left foot or the right foot, but once chosen pick it off the ground and place it in the air in front of you just off the floor. Lean forward until you fall slightly forward and that foot comes in contact with the ground. Alternate with the other foot until you've reached the TV.
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Change the channel. Many TVs no longer having channel changing buttons and hopefully yours does. If not, you've just wasted valuable energy. If the buttons are not marked then press ones at random until the desired effect has occurred: the channel changes. Stay in front of the TV until a suitable show has been found and only afterwards should you walk back to the couch to resume your less-vertical position.
Note that an alternate method with acoustic remote controlled televisions (prior to infrared remotes) is to cough in your upper register. Many of them would hear a barking cough as a command. While it doesn't require you to get off the couch, learning the particular cough is still an obsolete skill.
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Note about older TVs: If the Television is old enough it may not have buttons and instead it will have either one or two dials. If it has one dial each click that it is rotated through will yield another channel. If it has two, one will be for channels 2-13 and the other for UHF. To tune to a UHF channel you will need to turn the first dial to the UHF setting which will allow the second dial to be used for channel selection.
Cunning users of rotary dial tuned TVs would develop various props to minimise the need for standing and walking, which invariably compromised one's spot on the couch or upset the peanuts. One of these was a curtain rod modified at the end to engage with the dial. By holding the rod up between your toes, you could use the rod to change channels or turn the volume down during the ads.
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2008-03-14 23:01:19 Getting up and pushing a button is not a skill —64.214.53.2
