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Radio
The radio was invented in 1895 by Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian electrical engineer. The radio was a revolutionary piece of technology, it was the most affordable form of entertainment for the common man and was different from what people were used to. The radio left a massive impact on media and entertainment, it breathed new life into what entertainment could be and inspired many modern day technologies. -
Television
The first live demonstration of the television was done in 1926 when John Logie Baird showcased an image transmission of a face in motion to scientists in London. After this, the television continued to evolve and began to see household use in the 1950's and 60's. Television has impacted our way of life, as it is one of the largest content consumers on the planet. Television is used to spread almost every type of media in existence and its importance is undeniable. -
Walkie-Talkie
The Walkie-Talkie was created by the Polish engineer Henryk Magnuski in 1935. The Walkie-Talkie was developed by the army and used in WWII but saw more commercial use in the 1970's. The Walkie-Talkie signified an evolution in radio technology as it now allowed for a 2-way transmission between people. This technology helped further telecommunications and is an important piece of history. -
War of the Worlds radio broadcast
The War of the Worlds is a Science-fiction novel written by author H.G. Wells. The radio broadcast acted as a radio drama in the style of an actual news report. This broadcast is famous for making some people actually believe that martians were invading the earth and incited minor panic. This piece of media is important because it was one of the first radio dramas ever released and shows that the radio was a very effective tool for spreading believable information to the public. -
Invention of the coloured television
During the early 1940s, Hungarian engineer Peter Goldman along with fellow engineers successfully created a system that was able to transmit an image of the primary colours. Although colour television was not released commercially until the 1950’s the creation of the colour television was a large step towards modern day media and technology. The colour television allowed for more creativity and design to appear on screen which made the television even more popular than it already was. -
The first computer
The first computer was built in England in 1943 by engineer Tommy Flowers. The computer, while crude, acted as a code breaker for encrypted German messages during WWII. The machine was used by the British and saw one more iteration before the end of the war. This is a very important moment in media history as it signified the beginning of a new age of media production and communication. -
Coloured television popularized
The coloured television was officially released in 1954 as the RCA system. It had a 12-inch screen and retailed for $1000. Although the technology was far superior to the black and white television, the steep price tag significantly impacted sales. The coloured TV did not see a profit until the 1960's. This event was significant as it allowed TV show producers to express themselves more through coloured television. -
The first hard disk drive was invented
The HDD was invented in 1954 when Reynold Johnson, an American inventor established a team at the IBM R&D laboratory in California. 2 years later in 1956 the first Hard disk drive was sold commercially. This event is significant because the HDD would play a big role in the computer's development and advancement years later. -
Spacewar!
Spacewar was a computer game developed for the DEC PDP-1 minicomputer at MIT. Spacewar became the first computer game to be played at multiple locations as the game had spread to other PDP-1 computers. Spacewar is an extremally important and influential game as it was one of the first video games in existence and became very popular in the small programming community at its release. Spacewar also became an inspiration for the first arcade video game machines. -
The Cassette Tape is invented
The cassette tape was developed between 1960-1963 by a Dutch team of inventors, mainly by Lou Ottens. The Cassette tape would continue to gain popularity during the 1960's but would become the pop-culture phenomenon during the 1970's and 80's. The cassette tape is an extremally important piece of media because it provided people with a way to record and listen to their favorite songs. This completely changed how music was listened to and marketed towards people. -
Invention of the Email
The Email was invented in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson. Tomlinson had used the US department of defense's ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) service to create electronic mail to be used for efficient communication for the government's services. Email is now the most used communications medium on the internet. The Email’s importance is almost unrivaled as it changed how people communicate forever and still impacts us today. -
Pong invented
Pong was released in 1972 by developer Atari. Pong was one of the first arcade video games ever made and is one of the most influential. Pong was created by Allan Alcorn and became the first commercially successful video game ever. Pong is very significant as it helped establish the video game industry prove that they could be profitable. -
The personal computer gains popularity
The personal Computer (PC) had become a reality in the late 1970's when multiple company's, including Apple, had released PC's to the open market. However, the rise of PC's began in the 1980's when company's like Apple and IBM consistently began releasing more powerful computers. The most notable PC from this era was Apple's Macintosh computer. This event is extremely important because as PC's became more popular, media began to take new forms as the age of technology swept the world. -
Many famous game consoles are released
During this time period, Video game consoles had become more affordable than ever before for the average person. With the influx of people wanting to purchase consoles, many important ones were released. These include the Gameboy, NES family computer and the Sega Genesis. This event is extremally important as it shows how video games began to take over as a major entertainment source in households across the world. -
Blockbuster is founded
Blockbuster was founded by David Cook, an American entrepreneur in Texas. During this time, most video rental stores were small businesses that operated independently. Blockbuster changed this as they offered a large selection of video rentals for a lower cost than competitors. Blockbuster expanded quickly and by the mid-90's had over 1000 stores across the world. Blockbuster was very important as it laid the groundwork for future company's like Netflix. -
Adobe Photoshop is released
Photoshop was developed by brothers Thomas and John knoll who sold it to Adobe systems in 1988. Adobe Photoshop was released in 1990 exclusively on the Apple Macintosh and became the new industry standard for photo editing and coloring. Today, Adobe photoshop is the most used photo editing software in the world. Photoshop is extremally important as it revolutionized photography and anything with remote resemblance to it. It is a staple for anything media-related. -
The internet gains popularity
Although the internet was invented in 1983, it did not see growth until the 1990's. British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the "World Wide Web"(WWW) in 1989 and was the foundation for every web browser to come later. The WWW allowed for users to access information while using the internet as a medium. The internet's importance in history is almost unrivaled. The internet brought a new age of media and innovation and is the most significant media advancement in history. -
Nintendo Wii is released
The Nintendo Wii was released in late 2006 and left a lasting impact on the video game industry. The Wii revolutionized household gaming and showed that video games were not just for hardcore-fans but could also be for the entire family. While it's computing power could not compete with Microsoft and Sony, it used innovative game mechanics to hook it's users. The Wii has a special place in history as it acted as a driving force that put more video game consoles into households across the world. -
The iPhone is released
While not the first smartphone, the Apple iPhone was the most impactful. The iPhones development began in 2004 under the title of "Project Purple" and was revealed to the world in early 2007. The iPhone shocked competitors at the time set new standards in the smartphone industry. The iPhone's importance is second to none, it revolutionized what a smartphone was supposed to be and allowed for a new age of technology and media to sweep the world. -
Social media and its rise
Social media had begun in the 2000's with myspace and facebook but did not see a major increase in popularity until the 2010's. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat were all founded during this time. Social media has also provided many new media outlets with artists, designers, news and many other professions given new ways to put their work out for the world to see. Overall, social media has completely changed how media is viewed and received. -
Digital lifestyle
The 2010's saw a major increase in digital lifestyles and people making a living off of the internet. Media has since evolved too. Every form of media, from news outlets to video games have become entirely dependent on internet for almost every resource. This shows how media has evolved over the past century, starting from the radio and newspaper and becoming completely digitalized. Media's advancement over the past century also represents humankinds technological and social advancements.