History of Television

The television has become such an integral part of homes in the modern world that it is hard to
imagine life without television. The boob tube, as television is also referred to, provides
entertainment to people of all ages. Not just for entertainment value, but TV is also a valuable
resource for advertising and different kinds of programming.
Timeline of TV History
Different experiments by various people, in the field of electricity and radio, led to the
development of basic technologies and ideas that laid the foundation for the invention of
television.
In the late 1800s, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, a student in Germany, developed the first ever
mechanical module of television. He succeeded in sending images through wires with the help of
a rotating metal disk. This technology was called the ‗electric telescope‘ that had 18 lines of
resolution.
Around 1907, two separate inventors, A.A. Campbell-Swinton from England and Russian
scientist Boris Rosing, used the cathode ray tube in addition to the mechanical scanner system, to
create a new television system.
From the experiments of Nipkow and Rosing, two types of television systems came into
existence: mechanical television and electronic television.
Mechanical Television History
In 1923, an American inventor called Charles Jenkins used the disk idea of Nipkow to invent the
first ever practical mechanical television system. By 1931, his Radiovisor Model 100 was being
sold in a complete kit as a mechanical television.
In 1926, just a little after Jenkins, a British inventor known as John Logie Baird, was the first
person to have succeeded in transmitting moving pictures through the mechanical disk system
started by Nipkow. He also started the first ever TV studio.
From 1926 till 1931, the mechanical television system saw many innovations. Although the
discoveries of these men in the department of mechanical television were very innovative, by
1934, all television systems had converted into the electronic system, which is what is being used
even today.
Electronic Television History
The experiments of Swinton in 1907, with the cathode ray tube for electronic television held
great potential but were not converted into reality. Finally, in 1927, Philo Taylor Farnsworth was
able to invent a working model of electronic television that was based on Swinton‘s ideas.
His experiments had started when he was just a little boy of 14 years. By the time he became 21,
Philo had created the first electronic television system, which did away with the rotating disks
and other mechanical aspects of mechanical television. Thus was born the television system
which is the basis of all modern TVs.All the early television systems were black and white,
with color television being invented much later on. Since the early invention of television in the
beginning of the 1900s, history has seen many firsts in the area of television.
Communication in the age of electronic media
Communication has an incredible effect on our lives. It is how we interact with each other, gain
information, and learn new things. Communication takes many forms and mediums throughout
history; from oral histories and stories, to cave paintings, to town criers and newsboys shouting
―Extra, extra, read all about it on‖ street corners, to twenty-four hour news cycles. We just can‘t
seem to get enough communication. In today‘s digital age, it is easier than ever to find
information, but what impact has this new-found accessibility had on our perceptions, our culture
and the way we manage business?
―Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men
communicate than by the content of the communication. The alphabet, for instance, is a
technology that is absorbed by the very young child in a completely unconscious manner, by
osmosis so to speak. Words and the meaning of words predispose the child to think and act
automatically in certain ways. Electric technology fosters and encourages unification and
involvement. It is impossible to understand social and cultural changes without a knowledge of
the workings of media.‖
The Digital Age Has Changed Everything
To understand the workings of media one must also understand that the format, the medium, and
the shape of the way we project, communicate, or demonstrate our ideas shapes the message
itself. Today‘s digital devices demand our constant attention, completely changing the ways we
interact, advertise, work, entertain, gain knowledge, conduct business, create, communicate and
so much more.
Now, you can talk to anyone at any time. Ideas can flow quickly and are often quite explosive.
Managers are finding they need to communicate with younger employees in a whole new
manner. Businesses that do not understand the explosive nature of the digital communication
network can often find themselves struggling to catch up with a negative storyline. If McLuhan
conjectured that ―The goose quill put an end to talk,‖2 should we also ask ourselves, ―The internet put an end to what?‖ The digital revolution has given us the ability to easily copy and replicate things. While this maybe helpful in championing a product on the digital highway, it also means managers will need to work harder to protect their original ideas, product innovations, and copyrighted insights. Culturally, digital has changed the way we identify with one another and form communities. While 20th century consumers bonded in tight-knit neighborhoods, today‘s target demographics gather together in far-flung global communities. They can easily gather in chat rooms, YouTube communities, and online forums to share personal stories or provide advice. Business managers will need to do more to ferret out these new communities in order to find advocates and influencers who can help them build a brand message. As a result of photography‘s, perpetuated by digitization, impact, we have become a much more visual society. Images and photography have become an integral part of our culture and understanding. In fact, Maria Popova took Susan Sontag‘s On Photography and applied it to today‘s media obsessed culture in ―The Susan Sontag Guide to Photography in the Age of Digital Culture.‖3 While Sontag observed that there are a great number of images grabbing for our attention, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe,‘‖4 Popova concludes that events only happen now to be photographed and put on our ―timeline‖ or ―profile,‖ saying they were filled with notable moments.5 ―‗Ultimately, having an experience becomes identical with taking a photograph of it, and participating in a public event comes more and more to be equivalent to looking at it in photographed form.‘‖ Now we are overrun with images, meaning that businesses will need to work even harder to stand out in a world of visual overload. Imagery and photographs used in communication and marketing must be clear, precise and meaningful. They need to add to the storylines that consumers are creating for themselves. Digital Has Changed the Way we Communicate The dynamics of communication change in cyberspace; people are more open and do not use as many filters as they would in face-to-face communications. ―‗Sometimes people share very personal things about themselves. […] [On the other hand] out spills rude language, harsh criticisms, anger, hatred, even threats.‘‖7This feeling of over-familiarity confers undue credulity and equality on even the most pedestrian of bloggers. ―No one knows your credentials or lack thereof, so you are taken as seriously as everyone else.‖8 How can businesses stand out in what is now considered to be an equal playing field where everyone and anyone can create a website or blog, and say what they want? Perhaps they can take a lesson from the way today‘s celebrities, who are learning to interact with their fans in a whole new way. ―Prior to computers, magazines and cinema were the sole outlets influencing your perception of beauty.‖Now, lives are chronicled on a daily basis thanks to Twitter, blogs, online magazines and other easily attainable media, creating an almost intimate relationship between the public and the stars.‖10 While stars and celebrity fan sites may be focused on perceptions of gossip, beauty and popularity, business managers can use these very same outlets to build similar, almost intimate relationships with the consuming public. Our Sense of Self-Identity is Changing Online capabilities allow people to take on virtually any personality or body form. There are ―Avatar representations of who you ‗are,‘ but you can change them as you wish.‖11 This flexibility of personality makes it possible for celebrities to occupy multiple identities at once (such as Beyonce/Sasha Fierce), and for multiple people and graphics to occupy the same identity or role/function, similar to the Lara Croft, the pope, and kings.12 This blurring of the individual, cultural, and societal lines makes managing and marketing even more challenging in the 21st century. ―McLuhan recognized how our society had changed radically with the introduction of the visual language of writing and the further widespread impact following the introduction of the printing press.‖13 Recently, we have faced another revolution of communication, the digital age. But even he might have difficulty formulating an effective approach to today‘s employees, business colleagues and consumers. Building upon the evolution from quill pen and printing press to cyberspace, what is today‘s business managers to do to maneuver this revolution of technology, communication, and identity in order to appeal to their target audience? They could rely on the skills of anthropologists and ethnographers to help them understand the cultural changes in society, and their business sensibilities, advising them accordingly to adapt