The Evolution of Televisions
Who doesn’t love T.V., Television is one of the most fascinating innovations ever as it finally allowed books and radio shows where you had to use your imagination to picture what was happening to be brought to life right in front of your eyes, and the best part? The television sets were designed for your living room. no longer was the theatre the only place to see a moving picture.
The first TV sold commercially was the Baird Televisor, names after Scottish Engineer John Logie Baird who created the first working TV in 1924. The Baird Televisor was not a very practical TV however because the viewing screen was only about the size of a postage stamp and was quickly made irrelevant due to Philo Farnsworth’s electric television which, much like modern TV trends, came with a bigger screen.
The first generation of TV’s were not exactly affordable though with set such as the Marconi 702 being viewed as a luxury item and retailing for $130 which was a lot of money in the 1930s. Television sets were not very popular until the late 1940s and early 1950’s when a large spike in popularity was seen due to price drops which made TV’s affordable for those outside of the upper class.
Even though TV’s were now commonly found throughout America there were not many channels to watch. In 1950’s there were only four networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, and DuMont) that had broadcasting the whole week.
Come the 1960’s did not improve the physical TV’s much and instead introduced daytime programming such as The Today Show and soap operas which allowed house wives to watch bit and pieces of TV while doing housework.
The 1970’s are often referred to as a time of change in many peoples lives. This can be said about Television too. The 1970’s brought about a myriad of change in the TV landscape. The biggest change from the 70’s was the invention of color TV sets and the growth of the numeber of news channels just in time to provide extensive coverage major events of the 70’s such as the Vietnam War.
By the 1980s-1990’s T’V’s had gone from only being available to the rich as was seen in the 1930s-1940s to now being a common place item in most homes which is how they are more known in today’s modern society.
While TV’s were super common in American homes by the early 2000’s they were still big and heavy for the screen sizes thar they had. The Solution? Liquid Crystal Display also known as LCD. LCD is what many American’s have to thank for TV’s getting lighter and bigger from the 2000’s-2010’s.
The 2010’s can be described with one simple word: Flat. Flatscreen TV’s were a staple in the 2010’s and allowed TV’s to become the biggest they have ever been. when you think of TV’s in 80 years they went from a screen the size of a postage stamp as well as being scarcely found in homes to being a staple in American homes and screen sizes being bigger than some walls.
The 2010’s not only saw screens become flatter, they as saw TV’s as a whole become thinner as well as lighter. No longer did people have to worry about if the spot they wanted their was deep enough to actually fit said TV. not only did people no longer need deep spaces for a TV, they need space at all thank to TV’s becoming so thin and light that they are now able to mounted onto walls.
With how much TV’s have changed in the last 30 years the question becomes what do the next 30 bring?