subject: The Evolution of Electronics [print this page] The Evolution of Electronics The Evolution of Electronics
Just as we get used to operating our computers, phones and other gadgets, the technology changes and we have to learn once again.
The evolution of electronics has been moving so quickly that items can become outdated practically before being released.
There was a time when people believed everything that could be invented had been invented. Charles Duell, commissioner of the U.S. Office of patents went as far as to make a statement saying so. This was in 1899. During this time innovation seemed to have peaked as there were large changes in transportation with the steamboat and automobile. Communications had even come a long way with the inclusion of the telegraph, telephone and radio telegraphy.
But the information age was just on the verge of occurring. Twentieth-century innovations that would seemingly forever change life could not have possibly be foreseen and yet was just around the corner. With this came the multibillion-dollar consumer electronics industry.
Even the term "consumer electronics" would be something completely new. Electronics in the hands of every-day people seemed unfathomable. Electronics were usually reserved for the military or wealthy.
Consumer electronics of course didn't come out of the blue and over night. A series of discoveries and inventions would evolve and involve one invention after another.
First there was Thomas Edison who invented the electric typewriter in 1872 and then the phonograph in 1877.
The term the "Edison Effect" was actually coined and patented in 1883. The Edison Effect was used to control electricity with the use of a power station. This power station was perfected with the use of alternating current or AC systems. While the invention seemed small, its creation would forever set the course of home appliances and household devices.
Then came the radio, which was rooted in nineteenth-century wire transmission technologies. Guglielmo Marconi was considered the inventor of the radio. By the 1920s, much of the general public owned a radio. With this came the first radio stations and radio networks.
The invention of the radio itself would further influence the invention and development of the television, stereo systems, cassette and compact disc (CD) players, and home theater systems.
Today, static's show that at the end of the twentieth century there was an estimated 1.6 billion consumer electronic devices in the United States with annual sales of around $80 billion. With such a new industry demonstrating the consumer's desire for electronics and not just one or two but an average of six, the market continued to grow.
Consumer electronics spurred the need for miniature devices and information that could be transferred easily through the now popular Internet. This is where digital came into play. With digital we saw the beginning of MP3 devices, digital satellite systems, digital video, digital discs -which of course gave us digital cameras and digitized music, to name a few.
And then there was the introduction and popularity of the cell phone, smartphones, and a handful of other numerous handheld devices.
Consumers were becoming more adaptable to technological changes and receiving these changes at faster paces. Sales of new items would top almost overnight, while with previous technological advances, the introduction of such advances could take years. The electronics industry introduced more consumer electronic devices and gadgets in the final twenty years of the twentieth century than it did during the first eighty years of the century.
What will the next century or even year bring? It is hard to tell as we don't want to make the same mistake Duell made in believing everything that could be invented has.
