Remote controls are a clever invention that enable you to control electronic equipment from your armchair. They work by sending a beam of information to the piece of equipment you are controlling. You do this by pressing the button that corresponds with the function you want.

Nowadays you can get many different pieces of electrical equipment with remote controls: televisions, videos, hi-fi's, computers, etc. This has led to a strange phenomenon.

Remote controls have a strange tendency to go missing just when you need them. You're happily sitting down on your comfy chair when you decide you want to set the video to record a programme. You look to where you placed the remote control but it's not there anymore. You need the remote control to set the video, as there are no controls on the video itself for setting it. You look down the side of the chair, you look under the chair, you tear the room apart but you can't find the remote control you want. You can find fifty other remote controls but not the one you want. Finally you are forced to admit defeat and miss the programme you wanted to record. You sit there sulking. Then just after the programme has finished you glance down to your side and see the remote control nestling in the side of the chair.