The television is the most commonly used telecommunication medium. According to http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/average-american-watches-5-hours-tv-day-article-1.1711954 reports shows that the average american watches 5 hours of Television per day. It is safe to say that few inventions have had as dramatic of an effect on society as television. But where did this device come from? In 1929 Philo Taylor Farnsworth, at the age of 21 was known as the farm boy who invented a device known as the kinescope. This cathode-ray tube scanned images with a beam of electrons which is now considered the direct ancestor of the television, according to https://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/History%20of%20Television%20page.htm. But, as intelligent as Farnsworth was this young innovator did not come with the idea on his own. He owes much of his success to the many scientist before him.
In 1831 scientists Joseph Henry and Michael Faraday began working diligently within the field of electronics with hopes of one day using this science to improve the human way of living. By 1862 Italian physicist Abbe Giovanna Caselli invented the pan-telegraph, also know as the Universal Telegraph or “all-purpose telegraph”. This device was able to transfer an image through wires allowing Caselli to become the first person to transmit a still image through use of wires. According to http://www.softschools.com/timelines/television_timeline/31/ many years later Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison invented the Photo-phone which was able to transfer sound electronically. These inventions along with many other are what lead us to the design of the modern television.
Since the development of the television many communication researchers have identified theories surrounding the ideas of how we, the general public, conceive this median and apply it to the way live and even more so the way we think. Closely related to the mean world syndrome, Cultivation theory, developed by professor of communication George Gerbner and philosopher of communication theory and a public intellectual Herbert Marshall Mcluhan explains how the long-term effects of watching television could lead one to believe what is displayed to them on television is also the real world.
Agenda setting theory is based on a thought that the media tell the public “not what to think, but what to think about”. When thinking of this theory ask yourself when was the last time you have come across a news report regarding the outbreak of Ebola. This heavily covered topic has simply up and vanished within the last few weeks…strange. Lastly, you have theories like Media ecology which simply hypothesizes that individuals are shaped by their interaction with media and that the media profoundly affect how the individual view and interact in their environment.
So is the invention of the television a good or a bad thing? Personally, I feel that depends on the person watching it. My goal is not to make the thought of having a television in your home a bad thing for it is one of the most effective ways for us to communicate with one another. I challenge all who read this to identify what role the television plays in your family. If you are not satisfied with its role then simply change the station to something better suited for your views and lifestyle.
