Few inventions revolutionized the way human beings communicated, received entertainment, and created culture. Etymologically the origin of television saw a series of ingenious innovations during the 19th and early 20th century come to light. A voyage of mechanical spinning discs to advanced electronic systems manifests the unquenching thirst of man to improve upon and innovate on things. (History.com)
The Invention and History of Television:
The story of television is inextricably tied to a series of technological breakthroughs first occurring in the 19th century, the telegraph-its first patent by Samuel Morse in the 1830s-allowed for the transmission of coded messages over large distances-and the invention of the telephone in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell allowed for the transmission of voices. These two early breakthroughs spawned the development of a device that could send images in conjunction with sound. The German inventor Paul Nipkow made the first concrete step in 1884: an "electric telescope"-that is, a mechanical device with rotating disks to effect the transfer of images. Revolutionary in one sense, this system was not good enough to enable smooth transmissions of images. By the beginning of the 20th century, mechanical systems gave place to the electronic ones and the cathode ray tube took the basis of modern television. That is when the Russian physicist Boris Rosing and independently the Scottish engineer Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton initiated the workings of the systems using CRTs. Two towering inventors defined electronic television: Vladimir Zworykin and Philo Farnsworth. This Russian-American engineer, Zworykin, had patented the Iconoscope, an extremely important camera tube in electronic television, all the way back in 1923. Already in Utah, Philo Farnsworth had succeeded in developing the first completely electronic television system as far back as 1927. This precocious young man was only 21 when, with his image dissector system, he was successful in showing the process of scanning an image, line by line, electrically. Television went public in the 1930s. In 1936, regular broadcasting by BBC began while in 1939, RCA introduced the device into America during New York World Fair. By the mid-20th century, the television set became a piece of furniture that decorated the rooms of the people, and an era of fast innovation along with cultural transformation began. (History.com)
The Impact of Television:
It revolutionized the medium of communication, and the way people viewed the world just brought real events right into people's homes, so creating some kind of shared cultural experience. Such moments in history as the moon landing and big sports events became a kind of collective memory of humankind worldwide. It democratized entertainment, and films, educational programs, and news reached the masses. It bridges socio-economic gaps and gives every man a window to the world. Its role in politics is also great because televised debates mold public opinion. On the other hand, however, not all of the effects wrought by television have been positive in nature. For years one has been concerned about behavioral influences, especially with regard to children. Prolonged exposure to televised violence worsens the condition of aggression. It was these that sparked debates over the regulation of content and parental guidance. Despite abuses and problems, television has become a cornerstone of modern life. It holds the connective power, information value, and facility for entertainment that is unequaled by other mediums-it lends easily to streaming and high-definition displays (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Conclusion
In fact, the birth of television was really one long-drawn, collaborative, innovative process right from the first mechanical spinning disks to sophisticated electronic systems. The impact it has had on society is simply vast revolutionized the mode of communication and manner of consuming information, apart from the sharing of experiences regarding culture. It has its own set of problems, admittedly, but has played its part in molding modernity.
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