In the 1950's Technology's Effects on Leisure Time
Summary:
Essay explains how 1950's technology changed lives.
Since the dawn of inventions, many have helped out around the American family home. But in the 1950's there was such an outpour of amazing inventions it turned the decade around. It helped to make life much easier, and also increased output power of the family. Many have also changed how a family does certain things. Some inventions have also pulled a family together more. In the 1950's technology was able to increase leisure time of people.
One of the many inventions that changed American lives is the television. As stated in the CED magazine of 1998 "As the 1950s unfolded, cable TV began to make news, albeit minor." This attracted much of the family to the television during newscast reports. The attraction of the family to the television made stronger family ties and better communication between the families. Television sets during this time were black and white. The first television system was called the CATV system, this used microwave relay systems to broadcast one the first television signals. This help to bring cable into the home of many American families. Later as television developed, the "split-band" amplifiers came out. This allowed for more than a three-channel system. In 1956 almost 72 percent of American homes had a set to watch popular shows such as "I Love Lucy" and "The Honey Mooners."(Chase, 122) This is one way that many families during this time period enjoyed there leisure time.
Another way that many American families enjoyed there leisure time was the radio. One of the first transistor radios was invented in 1954, and was called the TR-I. (Chase, 116) The radio was small enough to fit in ones pocket to carry around. By 1955, Tokyo invented its own transistor radio called "The Sony", and then many Japanese corporations started to mass produce this new way of entertainment.
Next, computers were introduced around the 1950's also. Computers took up about a whole entire room, and took hours to figure out the problems inputted into the system. One of the first computers was the UNIVAC, The Smithsonian Book of Information Age Inventions, states that "It weighed some 16,000 pounds, used 5,000 vacuum tubes, and could perform about 1,000 calculations per second." The UNIVAC used internal programs to process information. Previous computers had to be disassembled and re-wired for any of the calculations that had to be done. This new way of programming allowed for the user of the computer to store the program that would calculate the information inputted and to be left in there, instead of disassembling and re-wiring the computer.
The UNIVAC computer was delivered to the United States Census Bureau in 1951. This would speed up much of the time to calculate the population. These machines ended up turning into business type machines, many businesses then ended up purchasing them. The first business UNIVAC was delivered to the General Electric Appliance Division in 1954, and was used for payroll. (Infoculture) Many government agencies purchased the UNIVAC also, such as insurance agencies, etc.
In 1958 the "Integrated Circuit" was created, this allowed for many room size computers to be desktop size. Not only did the Integrated Circuit allow for smaller computers, it allowed for a price drop. This new invention also made computers much faster to do calculations because they did not require the use of big vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes were used in the older type computers such as the ENIAC, and the UNIVAC.
In 1952, the Tappan Company created the first in home microwave. The cost ranged from $1200 to $1300. Microwave ovens allowed for instant heating of food. This in turn allowed for less waste, fresher food, and saving the family money. Many American families could pre-cook meals, freeze them, and when they needed something to eat they could just simply pop a pre-cook meal into the microwave and instantly they would have something to eat. Not only homes used the microwave oven, many restaurants used this technology too. The commercial sized microwaves cost about $5000, and weighed about 750 pounds. Many restaurants did not favor the microwave oven even though it would speed up the time of preparing a customers meal.
With all of the emerging technology during this era, many people were not able to afford them. So credit cards were used to make many of the purchases that happen during this time period. Credit cards allowed for the purchasing of a product and then later on, paying it off. In 1950, the Diner's Club card was first issued, this allowed for the paying of restaurant bills. Then in 1958 American Express followed the diner's club. One of the downfalls about credit cards of the 1950's was that many of them required payment in full within 90 days. Then in 1951, credit card companies attached interest rates to them, this allowed for a longer time to pay off the card and not to worry about the short time allotted of 90 days.
Another invention that drove down cost of electricity is the solar cell. Many people liked to call it "free energy." Most of this technology was used in calculators, watches, etc. This allowed for most of these very small products to run without the use of batteries or a wall outlet. NASA in 1958 integrated this technology with the Vanguard I satellite. (Chase, 117)
Another form of entertainment during this time period was video games. The first video game was created by hooking up a cathode ray tube to a laboratory computer, and a bouncing ball appeared on the screen. (Chase, 121) Later they invented paddles to go along with the game to control the ball. The game would consist of two players; both would each have a paddle to control the ball. The game was setup very simple, with a line across the screen representing the court, and a vertical line going up representing the net.
A form of very simple entertainment during this time period was the skateboard. The skateboard was a plain piece of wood attached to four polyurethane wheels. Even though television was around, people still were not couch potatoes, they skated around. Much of the younger crowd enjoyed this new way of entertainment. The best thing about these skateboards was the price ranging about eight to ten dollars.
As you see many inventions came out during the 1950's that changed people's lives and way of living. Many young and older people enjoyed the same quality of living, such as the Television. Television was part of peoples lives during this time period and took up much of there leisure time. Also, one of the many inventions that spend up time was the computer system. This invention helped speed up much of the processing time that people had to do by hand. Another form of entertainment was the handheld radio; this broadcasted much of the news that was going on during this time. Much of the technology was already invented; it was just miniaturized by the transistor. Also, integrated circuits made computers go from whole room sizes to desktop size. Other forms of entertainment was the skateboard, this entertained much of the younger crowd. One thing that lowers the cost of energy was the solar cell; this also helped to make things smaller. During this time period, people would afford these luxuries by the credit card, which allotted a time period for the payment of a certain product. As you see, in the 1950's technology was able to increase leisure time of people.
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