A printer is a prime example. There is the generic concept of a printer, and there will be subclasses for laser printers, line printers, PostScript printers and so on. In using the example above to think about objects, we have unified our view of the many different entities to manage. The next step is to address distribution. Return to the example of the TV set.
Most modern TVs come with remote controls.
The remote control exposes the same interface as on the TV set, but it does not directly implement the functions. Rather, it transmits the requests to adjust the volume, for example, via infrared light. In other words, we manage the TV using a little device that invokes operations on the TV object. The same thing happens with a cable box, a CD player or a videocassette recorder. The annoying thing is to have to use four different remote controls.