Well, "98% of Americans have one, 38.7% of kids from the ages of 2-17 have one in their room (I confess…
I’m guilty), and 1 in every 4 Americans has been on it"…yep I’m talking about the TV. The radio’s number one competitor, the television has been our go to for news information, prime time entertainment, sports games, blockbuster movies, and even music. It's such a vital source of our life. And since we have it on for nearly 7 hrs a day, I figured I’d share the history behind it.
I’m guilty), and 1 in every 4 Americans has been on it"…yep I’m talking about the TV. The radio’s number one competitor, the television has been our go to for news information, prime time entertainment, sports games, blockbuster movies, and even music. It's such a vital source of our life. And since we have it on for nearly 7 hrs a day, I figured I’d share the history behind it.
All inventions start from a vision. A series of Victorian aged trade cards (from the 1890s) showed the future of technology. The cards were mainly used for advertising, but you could say they predicted the future. Check this out.
Instead of going to the opera, one could experience ...or at least see what’s happening in the comforts of one’s own home. I don’t think they realized that a projector only shows pictures and not the sound, but pretty visionary for over 100yrs ago.
You might call them crazy: flying tennis …really? But their imagination gave way to some of the inventions we have today. Check these out!
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| Early motorcycle by chance? |
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| Flying bus..or Aeroplane? |
At any rate, the word “television” was first used at the Paris exhibition in 1900. And by 1926, a Scotsman, John Logie Baird, had developed the world’s first mechanical TV. set to be mass produced to the public. As you can image it was mad expensive: $58 back then…which today is valued at $738.22. And TV. then was nothing like today. It was basically a big box which by the mechanics of a spinning disk and a neon bulb, projected images the size of a business card. It’s like buying a flipbook for several hundred dollars...totally redic! But if you were rich, it was totally awesome! What's not awesome,however, was the scary make-up actors had to wear, just so you could make out their image.
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| *cringes with fear* that is Bat U-G-L-Y! |
Who knew a farm boy, by the name of Philo Farnsworth, would’ve invented the key to which all TV images are shown, even today. By engraving lines on the field with his tractor, 14yr old Farnsworth realized that a “beam of electrons could paint a picture, faster and finer than a spinning disk.” Basically, we should thank the cathode ray tube for projecting such fine images of movie stars, singers, and live events into our living rooms.
Like any great invention, there’s always competition. Farnsworth had a patent battle with Russian inventor, Vladimir Zworykin, who was in cahoots with the RCA director of patents. So basically, Zworykin visited Farnsworth’s lab, and stole some of his trademark inventions for the TV. They duked it out in court, and Farnsworth won. Unfortunately, after WWII, Farnsworth’s patents had expired and his name was since erased from the history books. Zworykin is credited with the invention of the television.
Like any great invention, there’s always competition. Farnsworth had a patent battle with Russian inventor, Vladimir Zworykin, who was in cahoots with the RCA director of patents. So basically, Zworykin visited Farnsworth’s lab, and stole some of his trademark inventions for the TV. They duked it out in court, and Farnsworth won. Unfortunately, after WWII, Farnsworth’s patents had expired and his name was since erased from the history books. Zworykin is credited with the invention of the television. But it wasn’t until then, after the war, that TV made its debut into the home of nearly every American, bringing with it an era of network competition; sitcom shows, variety shows, cartoons (betty boop, felix the cat),talk shows (Yea! Oprah didn’t invent the game, but she sure made it famous!), comedy shows… the list goes on and on.
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| Felix the Cat was the first cartoon shown on TV. |
In the 1950's color TV came along, with a host of reality shows, satirical cartoons(the Simpsons), HBO and other movie channels, and the whole slew of censorship, and the “V-chip” debate.
Soon enough, with the advent of the world wide web, television saw itself in big trouble as the big 1990’s boom of the internet, threatened its existence. Now, you can access Facebook and Youtube from your TV. Well only if you have Verizon Fios(subliminal messaging guys!).
So from imagination in the 1890’s, to its not too shabby production in the late 1920’s, to its mass craze in the 1940’s, to well, now- the era of HD, flat &large screened TVs- Television has been evolving and will continue to evolve as time changes.
Sources:
"History of TV." Television History - The First 75 Years. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. http://www.tvhistory.tv/History%20of%20TV.htm.
"Facts & Stats: The Television | Fun Facts." Stumblerz - Fun Stuff Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. http://www.stumblerz.com/facts-stats-the-television/.
"Television History - The First 75 Years." Television History - The First 75 Years. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. <http://www.tvhistory.tv/index.
Helpful video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGzFz2Nrq6s&feature=related
Great read, and while I'd love to have verizon fios, I'd prefer saving money. On a slightly off tangent rant, the internet verizon fios once claimed that it would increace UL speeds. For those with no knowledge of what DL and UL is, DL is the speed at which you download something. UL is when you would want to upload something. Generally, you would want more downloading if you're a casual user/PC gamer. You would want more upload if you were running a private server, or uploading a lot of stuff to the internet.
ReplyDeleteEasier way to remember: DL = Consumer UL = Producer
Wow! I never learned soo much about the history about television before viewing your blog. It amazes me to see just how fast technology is changing over the years. At a time when television was an invention from the future shown on cards from the 1890’s, but is now a dream come true. In fact my own parents didn’t have a TV in their house until much later in their life. I thought it was really interesting how you mentioned the different types of television that we had up until now. It makes me appreciate my flatscreen, color, HD TV even more. lol. Our TV’s are so much more vibrant, loud and better looking than the TV’s from a hundred years ago. I would hate to have to watch blurry, small screened or even black and white color TV. We have more channels, with almost anything available to watch. You don’t even need cable. What amazes me the most is how we can even connect the computer to our TV. For example, view twitter and facebook by just turning on our television. I was also taken aback to see that someone tried to steal an American invention. But I guess I’m not surprised that this guy was Russian, since America and the Soviet Union were competing at the time. I also really liked how you displayed many pictures to prove your point. The pictures certainly made your blog more entertaining to view and read. I think you should keep up the good work.
ReplyDelete@ Dummy. thanks! I definitely agree with you on saving money. Your info concerning fios was very interesting. It seems as though their product should be marketed to the producers, not the general consumers. Guess it's just one of those things where, we as consumers have to educate ourselves before we buy the "next great thing," for who knows if it will be beneficial to us.
ReplyDelete@ Lamisa, Im also very happy that I was born in one of the coolest eras ever, where TV is AWESOME! lol At any rate, I'm glad you learned some cools facts from my post. Thanks for the support.