Apparently, there was a time before cable. I don't see how people would have been able to get by with just 5 channels and really poor reception. As long as I can remember, we've had cable, though. I actually remember a time when people could even "steal" pay-per-view shows. In particular, an uncle of mine used to "steal" wrestling PPV's by taking a screwdriver and twisting some kind of screw in the cable box. Anyway, cable was such a good invention and provided so many people who couldn't receive broadcast waves in rural areas with a good source of entertainment. It also gave people who could, even more channels and entertainment.
Throughout the time that television has been created, there's been a lot of shifts between wireless and wired broadcasting. Cable would be considered wired, and things like satellite television and the early forms of broadcasting would be wireless, I guess. In modern times, it's really just been competition between cable companies and satellite companies. They both are able to deliver modern day television and programming to pretty much anywhere in the world. It just seems to me that satellite and cable companies aren't being as competitive as they could be. Prices have sky-rocketed since 2000, for cable and satellite companies. I remember my parents only having to pay maybe 50 or 70 dollars
Probably the newest form of wireless programming, though... would have to be the internet. A lot of telelvision shows are streamed online. A lot of people think that nobody's going to watch TV anymore, but right now, networks make sure to put some kind of delay between airing a show on TV and streaming it to their website. I've found the shows that I watch to have something around a week delay. I think that as long as netowrks keep doing this, people will keep watching TV. Although if this changes and networks reduce the delay time, then people might not see a need for television anymore. With the invention of wireless internet and WiFi coming with almost every laptop, people could probably start watching programs on their laptops wherever they go.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Chapter 5
Television has been around since the late 1940's and is still around today. It's changed quite a bit from it's earlier days but, it really was meant for entertainment and that's still what it does today. Earlier on, there were a lot more family-oriented shows. The whole family could sit around and watch a lot of things together because nearly everything was appropiate for everyone. Now, there are a lot of ridiculous shows and movies on TV that are definitely not appropiate for kids. Instead of being able to sit down and watch a show together as a family, parents have to keep their kids away from the television and watch adult shows without their kids.
Also, with there being so many adult shows and movies on television, it's become really hard for parents to monitor what their kids are watching. Certain regulations and things have been put into place by the FCC like, V-Chips and the type of programs being allowed to be aired at certain times. It's still not working, though. Kids are still watching crap that they really have no business to be watching. The fact is, it's too hard to monitor children 24/7 and make sure they aren't watching what they shouldn't be.
Even kids shows today, are shifting towards a more mature content. I remember being a kid and being able to watch cartoons on Nickelodeon and Disney. Now, there's like seriously no cartoons. They've been replaced by shows like, Hannah Montanna and iCarlie. The only cartoon that I still see on is Spongebob. Everything's been replaced by live actors and actual stage sets. Even worse, littler kids that are like 8 or 10 have nothing else to watch except these new shows about 16-year old teens. I just feel like it's not appropriate for kids, anymore.
Also, with there being so many adult shows and movies on television, it's become really hard for parents to monitor what their kids are watching. Certain regulations and things have been put into place by the FCC like, V-Chips and the type of programs being allowed to be aired at certain times. It's still not working, though. Kids are still watching crap that they really have no business to be watching. The fact is, it's too hard to monitor children 24/7 and make sure they aren't watching what they shouldn't be.
Even kids shows today, are shifting towards a more mature content. I remember being a kid and being able to watch cartoons on Nickelodeon and Disney. Now, there's like seriously no cartoons. They've been replaced by shows like, Hannah Montanna and iCarlie. The only cartoon that I still see on is Spongebob. Everything's been replaced by live actors and actual stage sets. Even worse, littler kids that are like 8 or 10 have nothing else to watch except these new shows about 16-year old teens. I just feel like it's not appropriate for kids, anymore.
Chapter 4
The telegraph is what pretty much gace birth to the radio. With improvements upon the telegraph, radio was finally made. When radio first came out, it wasn't intended to play music. The music industry actually didn't even like it and wanted to get rid of it. They didn't see the potential of radio to be used as it is today but when they did, it became a huge hit. I just found it interesting that something as simple as sending a few beeps in morse code via telegraph could lead into something as huge as radio, which can broadcasting any series of noises to virtually the entire world.
Early radio, at least in the 1920's and such, featured a lot of stories and shows. This was before television came out, so this was people's main source of entertainment. Today, there aren't any shows besides talkshows. People listen to it mainly on the way to work or whenever they're in the car. Radio is also mainly used to listen to music. In my opinion, the actual radio hasn't changed much, but rather the music has. It's still a good source of entertainment on the way to work or during a long roadtrip or something.
All in all, the radio is still a great medium for music. Instead of having to go through all the trouble of buying an iPod and some expensive car that plays iPods and stuff, you can just get a normal car and turn the radio on for music. You can even buy satellite radio and get that installed for even better music without as many commercials, or without any commercials at all, I wouldn't know because I just use normal radio. As someone that listens to a very specific genre of music, classic rock, I can just tune to a specific station.
Early radio, at least in the 1920's and such, featured a lot of stories and shows. This was before television came out, so this was people's main source of entertainment. Today, there aren't any shows besides talkshows. People listen to it mainly on the way to work or whenever they're in the car. Radio is also mainly used to listen to music. In my opinion, the actual radio hasn't changed much, but rather the music has. It's still a good source of entertainment on the way to work or during a long roadtrip or something.
All in all, the radio is still a great medium for music. Instead of having to go through all the trouble of buying an iPod and some expensive car that plays iPods and stuff, you can just get a normal car and turn the radio on for music. You can even buy satellite radio and get that installed for even better music without as many commercials, or without any commercials at all, I wouldn't know because I just use normal radio. As someone that listens to a very specific genre of music, classic rock, I can just tune to a specific station.
Chapter 3
Honestly, music has started to get really stupid. Before, like in the 70's and 80's during the glory days of rock n' roll, music seemed to actually mean something. Great bands and artists like, The Police, Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Ramones, Van Halen, and even Ozzy Osbourne; all had lyrics and music that, at least in my opinion, actually meant something. Rock was also the most popular music during these times but now, it seems like rock has taken a back seat to hip-hop and pop music. I like very few songs of this genre and I think it's horrible how people can actually listen to this but considering that there aren't many good rock songs anymore, I guess I can understand.
Music has gotten so much more easier to acquire and portable, too. In the past ten years, we've gone from having CD players, to mp3 players, iPods, and now iPhones being able to do pretty much anything you can imagine with media. Not being around for when people had to use vinyl records and needed a big record player, all I got to see was cassette players, which were still pretty portable. Instead of lugging around a big record, you just had to bring a cassette over to a friend's house and it seemed like everyone had some kind of cassette player, so you didn't have to worry about that.
Considering how easy it's gotten to obtain music, it's also gotten a lot easier to pirate it, as well. When we had CD's, you could just go to Limewire and download music for free, then burn it onto a blank CD. Some people still do that today, but now people just download some mp3 file onto their iPods. I wouldn't know because I just use an internet-based playlist thing to listen to music called Grooveshark. It's gotten really easy to just download music illegally and so many people do it, nobody really even cares anymore besides the music industry. They haven't been cracking down on it or it's too hard to monitor, but nothings really being done about it, so it's not going to stop anytime soon.
Music has gotten so much more easier to acquire and portable, too. In the past ten years, we've gone from having CD players, to mp3 players, iPods, and now iPhones being able to do pretty much anything you can imagine with media. Not being around for when people had to use vinyl records and needed a big record player, all I got to see was cassette players, which were still pretty portable. Instead of lugging around a big record, you just had to bring a cassette over to a friend's house and it seemed like everyone had some kind of cassette player, so you didn't have to worry about that.
Considering how easy it's gotten to obtain music, it's also gotten a lot easier to pirate it, as well. When we had CD's, you could just go to Limewire and download music for free, then burn it onto a blank CD. Some people still do that today, but now people just download some mp3 file onto their iPods. I wouldn't know because I just use an internet-based playlist thing to listen to music called Grooveshark. It's gotten really easy to just download music illegally and so many people do it, nobody really even cares anymore besides the music industry. They haven't been cracking down on it or it's too hard to monitor, but nothings really being done about it, so it's not going to stop anytime soon.
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