Number of Screens The first commercial televisions became available in the late 1920s, however it wasn’t until the 1950s did they become commonplace in homes and businesses. In the five-year period, from 1950 to 1955, the percentage of households with a TV jumped from 9% to 64.5% and within another ten years TVs were in 90 percent of all US households. While TVs were wildly popular during the 50s and 60s, it wasn’t until the 1970s did people begin buying multiple TVs for the home. From 1970 to 2000 the percentage of homes with multiple TVs went from 32% to 75.6%. In 2010, the average number of TVs per household was 2.93, with 83% of homes having two or more sets. TV sets are not the only screens that Americans have in their homes, in the last twenty years we have seen computers, video games, tablets, and smartphones become as popular as the TV set once was. According to The NPD group, the average household has 5.7 Internet connected devices. This includes computers, tablets, smartphones, HDTVS, and video game consoles. This figure is limited to devices connecting to the internet so I’d imagine the average screens per household being slightly higher than this because older devices do not have internet capabilities. I believe that this number will continue to grow rapidly as we find more aspects of our to day-to-day lives that can be digitalized. This growth will continue until we have “too many” screens each serving different functions and there becomes a need to consolidate.
The first commercial televisions became available in the late 1920s, however it wasn’t until the 1950s did they become commonplace in homes and businesses. In the five-year period, from 1950 to 1955, the percentage of households with a TV jumped from 9% to 64.5% and within another ten years TVs were in 90 percent of all US households. While TVs were wildly popular during the 50s and 60s, it wasn’t until the 1970s did people begin buying multiple TVs for the home. From 1970 to 2000 the percentage of homes with multiple TVs went from 32% to 75.6%. In 2010, the average number of TVs per household was 2.93, with 83% of homes having two or more sets.
TV sets are not the only screens that Americans have in their homes, in the last twenty years we have seen computers, video games, tablets, and smartphones become as popular as the TV set once was. According to The NPD group, the average household has 5.7 Internet connected devices. This includes computers, tablets, smartphones, HDTVS, and video game consoles. This figure is limited to devices connecting to the internet so I’d imagine the average screens per household being slightly higher than this because older devices do not have internet capabilities. I believe that this number will continue to grow rapidly as we find more aspects of our to day-to-day lives that can be digitalized. This growth will continue until we have “too many” screens each serving different functions and there becomes a need to consolidate.
"Internet Connected Devices Surpass Half a Billion in U.S. Homes, According to The NPD Group." Internet Connected Devices Surpass Half a Billion in U.S. Homes, According to The NPD Group. Web. 15 Feb. 2015. <https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/internet-connected-devices-surpass-half-a-billion-in-u-s-homes-according-to-the-npd-group/>.
TV Basics. Rep. Television Bureau of Advertising, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. <http://www.tvb.org/media/file/TV_Basics.pdf>.
--Sophia