Disappearing
Acts
Once
upon a time not that long ago there was the wonderful developing technology
where you could throw your voice to anywhere in the world (the telephone). Not every household in the USA had one
because of cost or even accessibility. Telephones
were connected by wires that had to stretch over “telephone/electrical” poles
all over the land. If you lived out in
the country, you would be required to pay a high cost (somewhere in the
thousands depending on distance) to run the lines to your property from the
nearest phone pole.
For
the multitudes that couldn’t afford a telephone at home, there came the
payphone. So interwoven was the payphone
booth into our society that even Superman used the phone booth in the storyline
every time that he had to change from Clark Kent to Superman.
About
the same time the television technology was emerging (black and white at
first). Horrible reception in the
beginning, more snow than content. Transmission
capability (towers) were limited at first and most prevalent in areas of dense
population (cities) where you could reach the most people with the least number
of transmitting towers. Initially there
was only 3 major television networks competing for viewership. Programing was also minimal for the number of
hours of broadcast.
While
there was progress being made on all fronts of technology, new emerging
technologies were coming to the forefront.
Imagine being able to send documents across the country within minutes
to complete transactions that required your signature. The fax and fax machine slowly worked into
every one’s life and eventually would become indispensable. At the start of this phenomenon you would go
to a central location to send and receive faxes. Eventually the more affluent (businesses to
be sure) would acquire their own fax transmitting machines.
Audio
recording media has gone from vinyl to 4, and 8 track cartridges, cassettes, CD’s.
and now digital with the leap to the latest (streaming). Video rentals have pretty much disappeared because
you can now rent DVD’s out of a red box or better yet stream from Netflix,
Hulu, Amazon Video or iTunes.
But
wait! There’s more; the latest rumor is that televisions sets will be the next
to disappear from your retail shopping.
The best way to catch your favorite movies at present and on the run is
iPad, Tablet, your PC or your cellphone.
It wasn’t that long ago that everyone was striving to outdo the Joneses
to the largest television screen possible.
I presently have a Home Theater projector for up to 100 inches and
more. The best is yet to come……….
No comments:
Post a Comment