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Sixty years of progress

I was lucky enough to remember life before television.

Evenings spent reading a book or snuggled up to the old valve radio, listening to The Goon Show or perhaps the Top 10 countdown of popular 45RPM single releases were the pre-TV entertainment options once the sun began to set.

Of course the glasses through which we look when turning our heads to see from where we've come are always rose-tinted so those seemed to be memories from happier times on the planet.

Then came the very expensive box with the big glass screen that now took pride of place in the corner of the living room.

Suddenly our books were cast aside and the radio was turned off in favour of the flickering low of a cathode-ray tube and the somewhat blurry, often distorted image that appeared.

Suddenly, TV was "the thing".

As a primary school pupil I seem to recall that much of our time in the playground was now spent discussing the details of last night's episode of Get Smart, The Man From Uncle, Doctor Who or The Avengers. There was a time when I could recite the entire weekly programming schedule of TV broadcasts. I had no need for printed listings, the name and time of each program, even the ones which screened to late for me to watch, was etched into my brain.

Why am I writing about this today?

Well I came across this video from the BBC's archives:

Ah, how wonderful those days were. Instead of TV sets being known solely by the manufacturer's brand and model number, these old sets were given brilliantly inspiring names such as "Defiant", "Beaufort", "Stella", "Dynatron" and the like.

Some of the console models had beautiful woodwork made from walnut or oak with ornate doors that closed to hide away the big glass picture tube when not in use.

Of course the images and sounds produced by these old sets was nothing like the glorious 4K UHD images and Dolby Atmos sound we get today. In fact, some of the sets shown in that BBC footage were still working with the old 405 line standard which was the original broadcast format in the UK.

The evolution of the TV set is perhaps a great example of how quickly our technology has advanced over the past half century or so.

Believe it or not, an avid amateur could almost have completely built such an old TV set from scratch. Yes, they could have even made the valves/tubes that were the cornerstone of 1960's electronics. Given enough time, making every component that composed those early sets would have been possible for a determined person with a well equipped garage or workshop.

Jump ahead to today and you would not have a hope in hell of replicating the big-screen 4K TV set that now graces your living room. Even 30nM UV lithography for the silicon involved is way beyond the scope of even the most avid enthusiast, as is the creation of the LCD panel and many other components.

What is also interesting is the affordability of TV sets. Back in 1964, one of those old black-and-white monochrome sets would cost you around 70 quid. In today's money that's nearly 2,000 pounds. In today's world, 2,000 quid will buy you very much a top-of-the-line OLED big-screen TV set and a home-theatre sound system to boot.

The irony is that TV, as we knew it, is almost done for. Today, most people get their AV media via the internet, not from a rapidly corroding antenna made from aluminium tubing strapped to their chimney. Even satellite TV is pretty much a thing of the past. It's all fibre now baby!

Yes, we still have a screen in the living room but that screen is just as likely to be used for gaming or streaming a movie as watching a traditional TV broadcast.

Sometimes you never realise just how good things are, until you look back at how bad they used to be.

Carpe Diem folks!

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