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del.icio.usWe’ve gone from seeing movies at grand, one-screen palaces to renting them to downloading them into our two-inch iPod so we can watch them on the subway. Things change quickly in the world of technology, so GO Brooklyn took a moment to look back at inventions that, though antiques by today’s standards, were cutting edge in their time. — Juliana Bunim
1906: RCA Victor’s “Victrola” model record player uses cylindrical records made of pressed wax.
1926: Scotsman John Logie Baird invents the “Televisor,” the first TV. Its screen was postcard sized and showed black-and-pink — not black-and-white — images.
1933: The first drive-in movie theater. The big screen, and teenage dating, would never be the same.
1939: Black-and-white television takes the world by storm at the World’s Fair.
1954: RCA Victor makes the first color TV. The model CT-100 had a 12-inch screen, and a suggested retail price of $1,000.
1963: Compact stereo tape cassettes and players are developed, paving the way for the mixed tape, a format no iPod playlist could ever beat.
1965: Bill Lear, he of the Learjet, introduces the 8-track tape this year, and convinced Ford to include a player in its 1966 models.
1972: Atari debuts “Pong” — the first electronic computer arcade game — and opposable thumbs are finally useful!
1975: The Betamax video recorder and tapes are introduced.
1976: VHS cassettes and players are released, but unattainable. The first VHS-format VCR is only in Japan, and for a whopping $885.
1978: Pioneer unveils the LaserDisc.
1982: Remember long boxes? The first compact discs, in their environmentally unfriendly packaging, are released.
1996: VCRs begin their long day’s journey into night: DVD players are introduced.
1999: TiVO, the first digital video recorder (DVR), is unveiled. Finally, we can pause live TV.
1999: Netflix is founded, much to the chagrin of college mailroom workers worldwide.
©2007 The Brooklyn Paper
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