The History of the Remote Control:
The Downfall of Western Civilization
History of Technology
Research Paper
The typical American family has on average four remote controls in their household. Look around the room and count how many you have in your house. I count five in just this room alone, not including the wireless mouse and keyboard I am using right now to type this paper. Everyone has seen remote controls for televisions, VCRs, and stereos. However, can you imagine a remote control that can also control lights, the temperature, drapes, and even the front door lock! Remote controls have come along way since their first uses mainly for military purposes during WWI and WWII. There have been many different types of remote controls invented, some, which have helped society develop, and others that have led to our demise. Throughout this paper, you will learn about how the many different uses of remote controls have helped accomplish tasks once inconceivable by a human alone, but also have led western civilization into a “lazy” society. In addition, you will learn about the man who invented the first wireless remote control and other types of remotes used in modern day technology.
The first remote controls used to operate machines by the German and United States military during WWI and WWII. During WWI, the German navy used radio-controlled motorboats to ram enemy ships. By WWII, the use of remote controls was beginning to be more of a worldwide concept, controlling bombs and other remote control weapons. The military has a lot of uses for remote controls but beginning in the late 1940’s, scientists in the United States began experiments to discover uses of the remote control for uses other then on the battlefield. One of them scientist, the famous, Robert Adler, holds patents for 180 electronic devices, but is best known for his contribution in the development of the remote control. The first television remote control, established in 1950 by the Zenith Electronics Corporation, which was then known as the Zenith Radio Corporation. The name given to the remote, “Lazy Bones,” is all the irony I need to have you understand the title of this paper. “Lazy Bones” used a cable that ran from the TV set to the person watching TV’s hand. A motor in the TV set controlled the tuner through the remote control. Of course, people liked the idea of not having to get up to change the channel, but there were many complaints concerning the cable that ran across the floor that everyone always tripped over.
Technology is evolving and growing as fast as Moore’s Law has predicted. Every year a new device or process is introduced and legacy devices becomes obsolete. Twenty years ago, no one ever thought that foldable and paper screens would be even feasible. Today, although it isn’t a consumer product yet, foldable and paper screens are a reality. Home automation, a more prominent example of new technologies that were science fiction years ago are now becoming an integral part of life. As technology and its foothold in today’s world grows, its effects on humanity begin to show and much more prominently than ever. In his essay, O.k. Glass, Gary Shteyngart shows the effects of technology in general and on a personal note. Through the use of literary
To buy a television it was like to buy a brand new car. In the 1907 the word television was used by scientific American magazine to describe the transmission of moving picture. John L. Baird, a Scottish inventor first telecasted and object in motion in England, 1926 using mechanical television. In 1923 Vladimir Kosma Zworykin, a Russian born American and father of modern television and Philo Taylor invented modern television by using electronic scanning of imaginary on television. On September 7, 1927, Farnsworth successfully demonstrated the transmission of television signal. Television innovations from 1930-1960 created a new way for the entire country to be involved with the current events.
The ‘Golden Age of Television’ is what many refer to as the period between the 1950s and 60s when the television began to establish itself as a prevalent medium in the United States. In 1947, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and the Du Mont Network were the four main television networks that ran stations with regular programming taking place. (Television, 2003) While regular television programming was a new innovation, the television itself had been commercially available for over twenty years prior to the 50s. It was conceived by many worldly innovators and went through several testing stages before it was finally completed in the late twenties. The three main innovators were Niplow - who first developed a rotating disk with small holes arranged in a spiral pattern in 1884, Zworykin - who developed the Iconoscope which could scan pictures and break them into electronic signals (a primitive form of the Cathode Ray Tube) in 1923, and lastly Fansworth - who demonstrated for the first time that it was possible to transmit an electrical image in 1927. (Rollo, 2011) However, one of the many reasons why this medium was successful in the 50s was due to the fact that it became more accessible to the public. Television sets were more affordable to middle class citizens which created further interest in the new technology. Through an historical account of the medium, the spread of television across America throughout this particular decade will be examined.
The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge the kindness of his former employer Fezziwig. Scrooge realizes how he has been a terrible employer to his own clerk Bob Cratchit. Scrooge denied Cratchit even simple pleasures and showed him no kindness or generosity. Scrooge is later visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present and is shown the effect of his greed on the Cratchits. Scrooge learns that Bob Cratchit has an ill child called Tiny Tim. He is grieved to find out that if the future is not changed then Tiny Tim will die. Scrooge wants to change the future for Tiny Tim, but the Ghost of Christmas Present reminds Scrooge of what he said to the collectors when they came to ask for a donation for the poor, by saying “If he like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.’” (pg. 52). Seeing Tiny Tim makes him realize that he was wrong and that those he might consider to be unnecessary, could very well be like Tiny Tim. Scrooge is later visited by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and finds that Tiny Tim has died. Scrooge regrets having not treated Bob Cratchit better and for having a hand in the death of Tiny Tim. He regrets that his lack of generosity will have resulted in the death of the sweet child and probably others who needed his
The video game industry has grown very powerful over the last five decades due to gamming consoles. A new generation of gamming was created, taking games from arcades and putting them in one’s household. Although arcade games were a great hit, there were modifications that needed to be done to them to make them smaller and more compact. In 1967, German born Ralph Baer and some of his coworkers were the first to get an actual prototype to work on a regular home television. After the console, Magnavox Odyssey (1972), was released and made a big impact on the market, more and different companies and corporations released more systems with such specifications. Although the consoles had been a great hit, there was only one playable game in each console. The purpose of creating gaming consoles was mainly to provide families with their own videogame console at their own home. However, the modifications made to these consoles were very small but at that time it took a long time to be able to develop adaptors.
Scrooge had been taken to Bob Cratchit’s house by the Ghost of Christmas Present. When they arrived at Cratchit’s house he saw that Cratchit had children and when he noticed that he said “On his meager earnings! What foolishness!” This meaning that Scrooge thought it was foolish of him to have children when he earned so little. Also when he learned that Tiny Tim might die he said “No, no, kind Spirit! Say he will be spared!” This reveals that Scrooge doesn't want Tiny Tim to die. After learning this Scrooge became a more charitable person. He saw how happy the Cratchit family was when they only had a little. Scrooge came to a realization that maybe life is not all about money. In conclusion, after realizing that money isn't everything Scrooge became a more giving, charitable
Throughout A Christmas Carol, we see exemplary examples that generosity is more about the spirit in which something is given than the item itself, from the schoolmaster's offer of food and wine to a young Scrooge and his adoring young sister Fan, or the humble but merry celebration hosted by Mr. Fezziwig and his wife, or even Fred's offer of assistance to a grieving Bob Cratchit in a future that does not come to pass: as Bob says, “Now, it wasn't for the sake of anything he might be able to do for us,so much as for his kind way, that this was quite delightful. It really seemed as if he had known our Tiny Tim, and felt with us." Despite this, the glee exhibited by the family acts as a stark contrast to their circumstances, endorsing the notion that generosity involves more than the giving of money and that the price of giving ones love and kindness cannot be quantified.
At the beginning of the novel, Dickens presents Scrooge as an outsider by describing Scrooge as physically Cold hearted and unemotional person. This is seen in the quote, "A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him.". The words ‘frosty’ and ‘wiry’ shows the uses of adjectives and metaphor. Dickens uses these figurative techniques to emphasize to the reader how Scrooge has secluded his soul against society as a result of his own actions. Dickens uses dramatic irony here effectively to symbolise how the rich who are characterized as the construct Scrooge, who is presented as a gothic and supernatural being. This is ironic as the rich in Victorian society are
If you ask people to name one of the most important technologies of the twentieth century, one of the answers would most certainly be the computer. A computer, however, is not a technology all to itself. Many other technologies went into the modern home computers of today, including the mouse. Douglas C. Engelbart, a worker at the SRI (Stanford Research Institute), invented the mouse in 1964. However, the process of the invention of the mouse was not instantaneous and without effect on the realm of computing and society. In this paper I will be examining the problems that had to be overcome and the technologies that had to be invented for the mouse to become a reality. It also analyzes the impacts it has had on society and the computer industry.
Imagine where the world would stand without technology. Technology has advanced over the centuries. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin first invented the lightning rod which Franklin’s invention led to the rise in technology. In the 1790’s Eli Whitney created the cotton gin along with interchangeable parts. Another great invention was 1873’s typewriter that Christopher Latham Sholes created. The typewriter is the prototype of the high-tech computers we use today. In 1927, Philo Farnsworth established television which is used by many people as a source of news and entertainment. With the increase of technology, doctors are discovering cures and resolution to people 's health problems. These are only a few inventions that
As an amateur reporter for the school newspaper, I have had the opportunity to interview quite a variety of people on many different topics. One of my favorite questions to ask is, "What do you think has had the most influence on American culture?" Why do I like asking this particular question? The answer is simple: the variety and range of responses. While some answers are more interesting than others, I must say that I've learned quite a bit from all of them.
Charles Dickens novel, “A Christmas Carol”, contains multiple examples of the conflicts between social classes. In Stave One, Scrooge is approached by a young man who looked homeless. The man asked if he could donate to help the poor. Scrooge replies with, “'I wish to be left alone,' said Scrooge, 'Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned (prisons and workhouses)—they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.'” Scrooge resembles the greedy population that has no concern to others around them, or as they would believe, below them. I don’t think it’s mostly wealth that categorizes someone into a social class, but just status and reputation. Some people, like Scrooge, aren’t even extremely wealthy, yet still put down and criticize the unfortunate because they are too ashamed to admit that they are no different to themselves. Scrooge is so absorbed into constantly receiving more cash and treasu...
Today we live in a world where everything is practically automatic. We can refer to today’s society as the “technologically civilized” society. There’s been a drastic change from the older days till now. As an example, in the past people had to wash and dry dirty dishes by hand, or write a letter to get in contact with someone. Nowadays, we can push a simple button to start the dishwasher, or give that certain someone a phone call or send an email. Technology can provide the benefit of giving us a simpler, stress-free life or it can become a misfortune we face everyday. Unfortunately, today technology has overcome our lives and we have become too dependent on it.
...g to a bank to deposit a check, it can be done through a bank app on a smartphone or tablet where you take a picture of a check and it is deposited in your account. This app is unnecessary and we are able to do without it, but it saves time and money. Auto Mee S is a device that is now popular in Japan. It is a smartphone vacuum. This device was created to keep screens smudge-free. It replaces the traditional microfiber cloth. Time magazine released an excerpt talking about newly created robots. Japanese developers introduced a robot that can win at rock, paper, scissors. Brazilian students developed a Rubik’s Cube solver. Cornell and University of Chicago students collaborated and developed a dart thrower. These robots are all useless and there is really no need for them in society, it is just merely a source of entertainment, or just makes life that much easier.
In this paper, I will be explaining the life of John Logie Baird. He was the first man to invent the wonderful television in the mid-1990s. Although he wasn’t the very first to ticker with technology into making television, he just added onto the little knowledge from a big role model named Paul Nipkow. I’m going to educate you on his early life, how he invented the television, and many other facts.