From as little as under 15 inches to more than 45 inches, average living room TV size has increased about 30 inches in the past 60 years. The role of bigger screen sizes such as widescreen appealed to viewers by inviting them into close contact with technologically transformed bodies. One thing bigger screens offered was the feeling of sensual immersion (Rogers). The effect TVs had in households was increasing into the 1950s.By the mid-1950s, television viewing was gradually integrated into family routines and evening meals were often planned to coincide with a regular TV programs (Chambers). The arrival of portable television promised something more exciting, it entered new imaginative territory by moving beyond the living room into kitchens, studies and bedrooms (Chambers). The arrival of portable television offered designers and manufactures a major opportunity to reconfigure the meanings of the TV set and increase sales(Chambers). In 1956, Britain launched the new 9-inch Ekco portable, It was advertised by the phrase ‘ANNOUNCING CARRY-IT-AROUND TV’(Chambers). Recommendations for use were listed, to help customers decide what to do with the gadget: ‘In the home; as a second set; in sickrooms or hospitals; in the office or boardroom; in hotels or guesthouses; on picnics; in caravans; on holidays and motor tours’. The drawing illustrated a simple box-shaped TV set with a handle, being carried. The impulse to push the technology outdoors and mobilize it was striking (Chambers). During this period, when the United States was at the vanguard of portable TV engineering design, a transistorised, battery-powered portable set was launched by Philco called the ‘Safari’. The set sold poorly largely because the viewer had to sit directly in front of it or else the picture would disappear. (Fullerton & Olsson). The naming of these models was as important as the styling in capturing the notion of mobility and even outdoor adventure. A new ‘personal TV’ was born, designed to be carried around like a piece of luggage(Chambers). It should be noted that portable TV and the ad pitches for it harked back to earlier product designs and ads for portable radios(Fullerton & Olsson). I think this is because the sense of being able to control the placement of technology is so exciting. In modern day this reminds me of the kindles rather than actual books. Instead of taking many books with you to a vacation you take one device and in that sense you ‘control your own destiny’. Portable TVs were made to look like luggage to emphasize the portability of it and often advertised as suitable for outdoor leisure. In the post-war era, they became especially popular with teenagers and were marked in terms of youth culture (Fullerton & Olsson). The role of portable TVs in terms of whether or not it was a true luxurious device was not quite clear. Portable TVs were often offered as second and third prize in sweepstakes and were also advertised as items that could be redeemed in supermarkets using ‘green stamps.’ While America was in an economic recession in 1957, sweepstake contests associated portable TV with sudden good fortune rather than economic instability(Fullerton & Olsson). It is fair to say then that although the portable TVs were considered “cool” they didn’t have such a large impact as a medium, that mobile internet has in isolating each family member in a household for example.
Works Cited
Chambers, Deborah. THE MATERIAL FORM OF THE TELEVISION SET, Media History. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 2011. Web.
Fullerton, John, and Olsson, Jan. Allegories of Communication: Intermedial Concerns from Cinema to the Digital. Rome, Italy: J. Libbey Pub., 2004. Web. Rogers, Ariel Rebecca. Moving Machines: The Experience of New Technologies from Widescreen to Digital Cinema. Diss. The U of Chicago, 2010. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web.
From as little as under 15 inches to more than 45 inches, average living room TV size has increased about 30 inches in the past 60 years. The role of bigger screen sizes such as widescreen appealed to viewers by inviting them into close contact with technologically transformed bodies. One thing bigger screens offered was the feeling of sensual immersion (Rogers). The effect TVs had in households was increasing into the 1950s.By the mid-1950s, television viewing was gradually integrated into family routines and evening meals were often planned to coincide with a regular TV programs (Chambers). The arrival of portable television promised something more exciting, it entered new imaginative territory by moving beyond the living room into kitchens, studies and bedrooms (Chambers). The arrival of portable television offered designers and manufactures a major opportunity to reconfigure the meanings of the TV set and increase sales(Chambers). In 1956, Britain launched the new 9-inch Ekco portable, It was advertised by the phrase ‘ANNOUNCING CARRY-IT-AROUND TV’(Chambers). Recommendations for use were listed, to help customers decide what to do with the gadget: ‘In the home; as a second set; in sickrooms or hospitals; in the office or boardroom; in hotels or guesthouses; on picnics; in caravans; on holidays and motor tours’. The drawing illustrated a simple box-shaped TV set with a handle, being carried. The impulse to push the technology outdoors and mobilize it was striking (Chambers). During this period, when the United States was at the vanguard of portable TV engineering design, a transistorised, battery-powered portable set was launched by Philco called the ‘Safari’. The set sold poorly largely because the viewer had to sit directly in front of it or else the picture would disappear. (Fullerton & Olsson). The naming of these models was as important as the styling in capturing the notion of mobility and even outdoor adventure. A new ‘personal TV’ was born, designed to be carried around like a piece of luggage(Chambers). It should be noted that portable TV and the ad pitches for it harked back to earlier product designs and ads for portable radios(Fullerton & Olsson). I think this is because the sense of being able to control the placement of technology is so exciting. In modern day this reminds me of the kindles rather than actual books. Instead of taking many books with you to a vacation you take one device and in that sense you ‘control your own destiny’. Portable TVs were made to look like luggage to emphasize the portability of it and often advertised as suitable for outdoor leisure. In the post-war era, they became especially popular with teenagers and were marked in terms of youth culture (Fullerton & Olsson). The role of portable TVs in terms of whether or not it was a true luxurious device was not quite clear. Portable TVs were often offered as second and third prize in sweepstakes and were also advertised as items that could be redeemed in supermarkets using ‘green stamps.’ While America was in an economic recession in 1957, sweepstake contests associated portable TV with sudden good fortune rather than economic instability(Fullerton & Olsson). It is fair to say then that although the portable TVs were considered “cool” they didn’t have such a large impact as a medium, that mobile internet has in isolating each family member in a household for example.
Works Cited
Chambers, Deborah. THE MATERIAL FORM OF THE
TELEVISION SET, Media History. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 2011.
Web.
Fullerton, John, and Olsson, Jan. Allegories of Communication:
Intermedial Concerns from Cinema to the Digital. Rome,
Italy: J. Libbey Pub., 2004. Web.
Rogers, Ariel Rebecca. Moving Machines: The Experience of New Technologies from Widescreen to Digital Cinema. Diss. The U of Chicago, 2010. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web.
--Ahmed