This paper discusses the remote control as an every-day, and yet frequently overlooked technology. The remote control and the resulting possibility of zapping may be seen as a widespread and consequential cultural technology which decisively influences viewers’ behavior and action. In accordance, this paper will aim to demonstrate the socio-logic of the remote control. Initially, it will show what controversial image of the zapping recipient exists in the academic Literature: he is partly demonized, partly idealized. Furthermore, it will allow insight into the sometimes awkward methods employed in analyzing zapping. Subsequently the paper will show: remote controls have special button configurations which crucially affect the order in which the various channels are viewed; they lead to specific signatures of channel-changing. The paper closes with considerations on whether the remote control may count as an obsolete technology and the zapping TV-viewer as a species facing extinction.