The CORE Universal Remote, created by Steve Wozniak in 1987, was a revolutionary programmable device that was decades ahead of its time, featuring dual microcontrollers, 36KB of memory, and the ability to create complex command sequences that could automate entire home entertainment systems.
The CL 9 CORE (Controller of Remote Equipment) was a 6502-based programmable universal remote control launched in 1987 by Steve Wozniak's company CL 9, which operated from 1985 to 1988. In 1987, as part of his company CL 9, Wozniak introduced the first remote control device that could 'learn' infrared signal patterns from other remote controls, and the product is officially recognized by the Guinness World Records as being the first universal remote control.
Technically, the CORE featured an LCD, a 4-bit and an 8-bit 6502-based microprocessor (the same chip used in the Apple II), and 16 keys plus a few more control buttons. Sixteen pages of codes were available, for a total of 256 keyable codes; each of these 256 keys could reference any other combination of keys, allowing full macros. The device had a time clock, allowing codes to be sent at any future time. A serial interface could connect to a computer, and each button was programmable as a macro for multiple operations. The video's claim of 36KB memory could not be verified in authoritative sources.
The CORE's failure was multifaceted. The CL 9 Core didn't come cheap as it set consumers back by a whopping $400, though some sources report it retailed for about $300. The commercial failure of the device has been attributed to the level of programming required to make it function. Wozniak and his team assumed customers would want to learn from existing remotes and program custom functions, but universal remotes had been introduced a couple of years earlier and were starting to sell briskly by the time the CORE was launched. By 1987, when you asked universal remote buyers why they purchased, virtually all gave one answer: they lost their original remote. This means there is no original remote to 'learn' from. The CORE couldn't satisfy these customers.
Wozniak ultimately sold the business and patents to Celadon, a company formed by former CL 9 employees, which continued to market new versions of the remote under the names PIC-100 and PIC-200. The Celadon company later took over the CORE in 1991 and renamed it the PIC-100 after CL 9 closed its doors in 1988. It marketed the PIC-100 until they updated it as the PIC-200—this used FLASH technology. They used the Core CL9 for commercial purposes, mainly for GE MRI machines, confirming the video's claim about X-ray/medical equipment use.
Regarding the Harmony comparison: The Harmony remote control was originally created in 2001 by Easy Zapper, a Canadian company, and first sold in November 2001—exactly 14 years after the CORE, not the "four more years" claimed in the video. The video's claim that "DVDs didn't show up in the US until about 10 years after this remote came out" is accurate (DVD launched in US in 1997, 10 years after 1987).
Steve Wozniak's CORE universal remote was the first programmable device that could learn infrared signals from other remotes, earning Guinness World Records recognition and pioneering home automation concepts decades early.