Consumers Get in Touch With New Technology

If you're like most people, I'm sure you've seen at least one episode of DuckTales. In the first episode, Scrooge McDuck's Number One Dime is stolen from his money bin- a story that gets repeated throughout the series. You might have also seen some other pieces of technology from the 1950s- and we'll tell you about them in this week's blog post!

Whether it's an alarm clock or a telephone, these are all things that wouldn't be considered new technology by today's standards! But for those living in the 1950s, these inventions were new to them and made their lives much easier than they had been before.

The telephone is a great example of this. The first working telephone was developed in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell, but it was pretty much just an invention that scientists showed off to one another. It wasn't until the late 1940s/early 1950s that telephones became more and more commonplace around the world. This made life easier for people living during this time period because they didn't have to travel long distances to talk to someone else- all they had to do was pick up a receiver and call them!

Another example is the alarm clock. People had been using clocks for centuries, but alarm clocks were a new invention. The alarm clock was developed by the Frenchman Philippe Wale in 1787. It wasn't really popularized until later on, though.

In Japan, people were building robots all throughout the 1950s, too! The first one was built in 1954 by Masahiro Mori and his colleagues. The robot was called "Tantor" and it could even perform simple tasks such as walking and picking up objects.

So, do you think the 1950s was an exciting time to live in? If you think these inventions of the 1950s were exciting, just wait until we tell you about some of the new technology that we have today! Check out our blog every Thursday for a new post on technology from the past and present!

information courtesy of The History Channel: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/consumers-get-in-touch-with-new-technology

The History Channel. (2013). Consumers Get in Touch With New Technology. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/consumers-get-in-touch-with-new-technology

title: First Mobile Phones and the Invention of the Cell Tower

title: The Cellphone – No Longer a Statistic in Developing Countries

information courtesy of http://www.sciencelearninghub.co.nz/index.php/Sci_Links_skipToContent

title: Second World War

information courtesy of http://www.sciencelearninghub.co.nz/index.php/Sci_Links_skipToContent

Invention of television was on December 25, 1926 by Philo Farnsworth and was made in San Francisco, CA. The first regular broadcasts began in 1928 between New York and Washington D.C., and the BBC began transmitting television programmes in 1936 (1). Television technology had been invented earlier (in 1895 by Paul Nipkow) but the technology changed greatly after 1925 with help from competition to create better televisions (1).

The first programming was sponsored by food (1), and news broadcasts were done by the National Broadcasting Company, which was the company started when RCA purchased the National Broadcasting Corporation (1). Both of these companies existed in order to sell television sets to viewers. During this time period however, the televisions were extremely large and heavy. The first commercial sets weighed over 300 pounds due to their tube systems (2). There were no remote controls at this time, because they hadn’t yet been invented and operated by an engineer who sat next to the screen and adjusted it manually (3).

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was considered a leader in foreign television broadcasting, and BBC became the first television channel to broadcast live programming at its Alexandra Palace studio, London (1). It was also the first channel to transmit a major sports event. These broadcasts were sent on September 30, 1938 from Wembley Stadium which was considered the “backbone of British television broadcasting” (1).

In 1950, CBS purchased an experimental station in New York City (which is where CBS had its origins) and renamed it WCBS-TV. This experimental station attracted a lot of attention with its live programming and broadcasting sports events. The station was later renamed WCBS-TV (1)

United States Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was created after the federal government Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was merged with the National Educational Television and Radio Center established in 1953 (1). This channel is still in existence today! The first programs broadcast on PBS were called “Sesame Street” and “Nova”. These channels continue to exist today and are both broadcast internationally!

The first television networks were ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. ABC began broadcasting over a pilot studio in New York City in 1939; it is now the second oldest network (1). All of the networks had their start within ten years of each other.

Although there have been a lot of advances in technology, the concept of television is still based on the same principles as it was then. There have been a few advancements in television broadcasting that people really didn’t notice, like what kind of video they use and how they get it programmed into the system. However, in terms of consumerism, more people are using their televisions to watch movies and shows that they want to see. There are also a lot more channels available for news and sports programming due to advancement in technology too. The approach that television takes towards delivery is no longer broadcast; instead it is sent through cable and satellite systems.

Conclusion

The invention of television was on December 25, 1926 by Philo Farnsworth and was made in San Francisco, CA. The first regular broadcasts began in 1928 between New York and Washington D.C., and the BBC began transmitting television programmes in 1936 (1). Television technology had been invented earlier (in 1895 by Paul Nipkow) but the technology changed greatly after 1925 with help from competition to create better televisions (1).

The first programming was sponsored by food, and news broadcasts were done by the National Broadcasting Company, which was the company started when RCA purchased the National Broadcasting Corporation (1). Both of these companies existed in order to sell television sets to viewers.