PCGUIA 10/PC Guia 10.iso/database/shared.dir/01360_Field_163.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 3KB | 198 lines

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Isaac Shoenberg
arrived in Britain
as an immigrant
in 1914. The
decisions he
made as research
director of EMI
shaped the
development of
television, and
had a profound
effect on how we
all now receive
information
#
In 1926 John
Logie Baird, the
inventor of the
first workable
television, was
granted a license
to transmit the
first television
pictures in the
world. Pictures
were beamed
between central
London and
Harrow, a
distance of about
ten miles
#
Shoenberg
became leader of
a team of
outstandingly
gifted research
scientists at EMI.
They began
developing a
high-definition
television system,
which was
adopted by the
BBC in 1936
#
In 1936 the BBC
chose London's
Alexandra Palace
as the site of the
world's first
television station.
In the early days,
transmissions
could only be
received in the
London area
#
In 1936 Shoenberg
beat John Logie
Baird in the race
to supply the BBC's
broadcasting
system. Shoen-
berg's electronic
high-definition
method was pre-
ferred to Logie
Baird's rotating
disc system, and
it became the
standard for TV
everywhere
#
The television
revolution was
happening on
both sides of the
Atlantic. In 1928
the General
Electric Company
broad-cast a play
to an invited
audience from its
laboratories. The
audience cannot
have seen much:
the picture on the
screen was only
three inches
square
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By 1939 the BBC
had been joined
in the field by
NBC. Rudimentary
TV pictures had
already been
beamed between
London, England,
and New York
#
During the second
world war all TV
broadcasting in
Britain was
suspended. With
peace came plans
to extend the
reach of TV to the
provinces. There
was much debate
about television
and the spontan-
eity it offered
#
Television took
another leap
forward in Britain
when color
arrived in the
Sixties. The effect
was at first
almost as
spellbinding as
the move from
radio to television
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Politicians
appreciated the
tremendous
possibilities of
television, but
remained unsure
of the effect it
might have on
voters. Research
soon began into
the power of
television as a
means of political
persuasion
#
Supporters of
television argued
that television
promoted family
life, painting a
picture of the
generations
sitting down
together for a
night's viewing.
But others
claimed that it
was a factor in
the breakdown of
family life
#
By the Sixties
television had a
Jekyll and Hyde
image. Its
potential as an
educational tool
was undeniable,
but it was also
seen by many as
a dangerous
invention eroding
learning and
filling young
heads with
irrelevant
knowledge and
undesirable ideas
#
The debate
continues on
the effects of
TV. Some have
suggested that
acts of murder
and cruelty on
TV generate a
predisposition
for violence in
children. Newer
research has
shown no clear
link, but this
seems unlikely
to be the end
of the debate
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