EOTO 1: WHAT I LEARNED

In our first EOTO session for our Media Law & Lit class, we took a deep dive into the development of communication technologies. While my topic was the Cassette Tape, there was another presentation that tackled the history and importance of television. This is what was talked about and what I learned.

Originally brought to light in 1884 as what would be a failed project, Paul Nipkow attempted using spinning disks to transmit images. It laid the ground work as a future successful successor of the telegraph and telephone. 

There is a debate on who is the true inventor of the television. Two main names pop up in the great debate: Russian inventor Vladimir Zworykin and American inventor Philo Farnsworth. They would eventually hook into a legal battle, but ultimately, Philo Farnsworth was credited as the one who had preliminary drawings, granting him the patent for the television.

The television has gone on to become one of the most influential inventions of the past century, as it has revolutionized the entertainment and information or news industry. People went from having only audio on radios to having access to motion picture (video) and audio in just a few years, and it only improved after that. It changed entertainment for the better.

The number of televisions had its biggest growth spurt in the US beginning in the 50's. Beginning in 1945, almost no households had a television. That number began rising steadily in the late 40's before rising exponentially in the 50's. By 1997, basically every household had a television in them.  As we hit the 21st century, there were a total of around 102 million households with televisions in them, a number that has risen to almost 125 million since then. 

The television has undoubtedly had a very large impact in American pop culture. It is hard to think where we would be without it today, and leaves a ton to the imagination for what could come in the next 25-50 years.