Television Revisited

How did people ever go without television? Forget the radio, just kidding, but seriously I kind of consider myself spoiled compared to my parents and their parents. I guess that’s why the elderly say my generation is getting dumber because people watch too much television these days. It has come a great deal since its creation. The tube itself has changed significantly along with its accessories. Look at the image to the right. This television set was one of the first of its kind. It is more speakers and switches than screen. That’s like a computer screen to contemporary standards if that. The television was still not in color but I really think that’s a bonus. Some movies and shows wouldn't be the same if they were in color. Imagine To Kill a Mockingbird or I Love Lucy in color. It would not be the same.

A lot has certainly changed from the old tube from above. The big, flat screen TV is almost the same size as the older version above. It hardly takes up any room because it is flat. There is plenty of more screen then speakers; more than likely the speakers on the flat screen work better. Also, the flat screen is in color. It is weird because my family still has the original television sets but only as a decoration. We actually have our newer, bigger TV sitting on top of it.

I remember watching a scene from Back to the Future II when they were in Hillsdale in 1955. Marty was eating dinner with his mom's family watching The Honeymooners. During the start Marty says that he has seen this episode but he doesn't realize that the first ever showing was on that day. He says it’s a re-run and the family asks him what that was. I can't imagine never watching re-runs. Back then in 1955, if an individual missed watching an episode, he or she probably would not have seen it again for years. Now we have TiVo for that. If I miss something it will come on again if I did not set it to record to my TiVo box. What a blessing.

Currently, companies are in the works to making television 3D. There will be more to come after that and after that. Sooner or later it might just be inside people's brains will some microchip. It wouldn't bother me. Less energy bills.