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First radio broadcast
KDKA broadcasted the first radio message in 1920 announcing live returns of the Presidential election between Warren G. Harding and James Cox. -
First movie with sound
“The Jazz Singer” is the first feature length film to include synchronized audio with dialogue. -
Walkie Talkie
The walkie-talkie was first invented in 1937 by the Canadian Don Hings. This device enabled people to be able to talk to each other from greater distances. -
FM radio
The predecessor of AM radio which offered better audio quality with the downsides being it doesn’t reach as great of lengths as the AM radio and the FM radio signal can be physically blocked. This device essentially enabled the user to be able to hear audio clearly at shorter distances. -
Morse code
Morse code was a way of secretly communicating with other people during WWII. Nowadays morse code still exists but just isn't used that much anymore due to it not being so secret anymore. -
Colour TV is created
Although colour TV was created in the 1940s it wasn’t widely used till the 60s. Transition to colour TV started in the 1950s. -
Telephones
Telephones were beginning to become more popular but could only make local calls and you needed to be connected to the other person your calling manually by having a operator connect the two lines. Telephones made it easier for people to communicate with one an other. -
Protest music
“In the 1950s, black artists began making music with roots in gospel music, blues, and jazz that became the soul movement, which was positioned in direct response to the injustices of the civil rights era.” - (vox.com) -
Transistor Radio (first portable radio)
Portable radio which allowed people to listen to the radio on the go. -
Television becomes popular
Throughout the 1960s television was a big way of communication and in this century is when colour TV becomes popular. -
First PC released
The Kenback-1 is one of the earliest personal computers to release. It taught it's users code and eventually after many iterations of various PC's users would be able to communicate with one another through their PC. -
Email is released
The emailing protocol is released and only a couple 100 users are using it at this time. Email allowed users to communicate with one another on the internet. -
First mobile phone
Motorola offered the very first mobile phone, that being the DynaTAC 8000X. The mobile phone offered the ability to use a phone while on the go, weighed over a pound and only offered around 30 minutes of battery life. -
CD's are released
CD’s changed how consumers listened to music and also offered another data format for consumers to hold various types of digital media on. -
First smartphone
IBM made the very first smartphone which was called the Simon Personal Communicator (SPC). The very first smartphone offered features such as email, fax, calendar/planner, address book, and other features. -
First digitally released movie
“The Last Broadcast” is the first movie to have a digital release. Additionally, this would be the start of digital releases of moves and slowly would change where consumers would watch their media (physical copies like DVD to watch on streaming platforms like netflix). -
The Tor Browser
A private type of network that can only be specifically accessed by browsers that support the Tor networking protocol. This type of network is extremely private and is often used by journalists in countries that try to suppress them or criminals who may be watched. -
The iPhone
First fully touchscreen smartphone device released, which forever changed how smartphones were to be made in the future and changed how consumers used their phones. -
Social Media in general (2010s)
Instagram and Snapchat both released in the 2010s and changed how mainly younger people communicate with each other. -
Apple Watch
First popular smartwatch that offered the majority of the features of the iPhone but on a watch. This changed how people made texts or calls to each other. -
Meta Quest / Apple Vision Pro (2020s)
The Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro are VR headsets that have changed how consumers can play video games, watch movies/TV, and consume other media content. -
ChatGPT / AI
ChatGPT is the first commercial chatbot which has changed how consumers find answers to their problems but it has also caused the problem of misinformation in the media with ChatGPT spitting out false information.