Obscure Technology

AM broadcasting, the official device of listening to the Boston Red Sox game in the car during a family trip to grandma’s house. AM broadcasting, believe it or not, did have its peak from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was known as the Golden Age of Radio and it was the way to get any form of entertainment at home. This was perfect for people living in rural area to get their entertainment and for politicians to reach the ears of millions with one microphone. It has established a new way for people to listen to the latest news and music, until FM and eventually televisions would take it’s spot. Many early radio attempts could only transmit radio signals a short distance and most just transmitted Morse through them. The first radio broadcast was done by the US Navy and its many stations on January 1 1905. Later France and the United States would establish a small market of receiver lines for jewelers to obtain the accurate time, which sparked the interest of many due to not only be ...

LaserDisc, The official device of every videophiles in the early 1990s and late 1980s. This video format is the definition of being ahead of its time. It was grand device in almost every way, for the time, but there was one factor that brought it down like for most revolutionary devices... the price. The players and the discs themselves were quite expensive compared to other formats at the time like VHS. Another contributing factor was the inability of the LaserDisc to record shows and other such things and the people unwillingness to change. Which really is such a sad thing because this is not exactly a bad format, the video and audio from these dinner plates of a disc are truly amazing compared to the stone age VHS. LaserDisc came out to market 2 years after the VHS in December 15, 1978 and 4 years before the CD (which was based on LaserDisc technology). It was released as DsicoVision by MCA and was commonly referenced as “video long play” due to the size of the disc. Pioneer El...

Most people know instant cameras as Polaroids which was a well know brand of instant cameras here in the United States. The instant camera was first invented by an American scientist named Edwin Land, who invented instant cameras to answer his daughter’s question on “Why can’t I see them now”, which I find very sweet. He created the Polaroid Model 95 in 1948, creating a huge success, and selling out in the first day. Polaroid would soon enter into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2008 and would cease to produce film and cameras (it is not until recently Polaroid started up production again). As you maybe have guess the increasing use of digital cameras brought the temporary end to the beloved instant cameras. Instant cameras, the official device of making every moment count, because it could be costly. This reminds me of a quote by one of the most famous Great Depression photographers, Dorothea Lange, in which she states, “One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you’...