The impossible dream of the universal remote

You don’t really ever have to explain why a universal remote is a good idea. You have a bunch of stuff that needs controlling; this thing controls them all. Many companies have set out to build a product worthy of this idea, and one product came much closer than most. It was called the Harmony, and for many years it was the best universal remote on the market. Maybe the only one that mattered. And still, even the Harmony couldn’t make it work.

On this episode of Version History, we tell the story of the Harmony. The Verge’s David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and John Higgins are joined by Matt Rogers, the CEO of Mill and former co-founder of Nest, to reckon with two decades of buttons and touchscreens. The product begins as the Easy Zapper, takes off, sells to Logitech, expands like crazy for a number of years… and then begins to fade. Sure, you could argue smart TVs and integrated entertainment systems just made the whole idea irrelevant. But there’s something about the universal remote that feels as enticing as ever. So we try to figure out why.

This is the first episode of the fourth season of Version History. (We are so back.) For the next several weeks, we’re telling a bunch of stories about the smart home, from Hue lights to Keurig coffee to the viral sensation that was The Clapper. Here’s how to get every episode, and all our other fun stuff, as soon as it drops:

If you want to know more about the history and legacy of the Harmony, here are a few links to get you started: