The man who was unknowingly loved by couch potatoes the world over has sadly died. Robert Adler, co-inventor of the TV remote control, died age 93 in a Boise nursing home after heart failure.

Adler, alongside Eugene Polley, was an engineer at Zenith Electronics Corporation given the task of finding a new way for TV viewers to switch channels without getting off their backsides to do so. In 1955, Polley came up with the 'Flashmatic', which used light to transmit information to a TV, a  precursor to infrared now used in many remote controls, not just for TV but many other gadgets.

A year later, Adler invented the Zenith Space Command remote control using high-frequency sounds to switch channels, making the task of flipping channels easier.

Ten years ago, Adler and Polley were given an Emmy to mark their work on the remote control. In Adler career, he managed to notch up over 180 US patents with the last as recent as 1^st February this year for advances in touch screen technology. He also pioneered advances in surface acoustic waves, a precursor to technology used in the iPhone.

He also made significant contributions to electronics and invented a number of gadgets and gizmos as well as more sophisticated communications equipment.

According to the Guardian newspaper, Adler's wife Ingrid said the remote control wasn't his favourite invention, he much preferred curling up with a good book or trying to solve problems.

Of course, the zapper has come a long way since 1955 and, if the Wii is anything to go by, you can use the Wiimote to turn off the telly permanently.