Radio and Television Flashcards
Which inventor did Edison follow for developing the phonograph
Emil Berliner
By what year was it possible to produce faithful copies of original sound recordings?
1900
What were early limitations of recording devices?
The horn used to channel sound to the diaphragm whose vibrations drove the recording stylus could only capture loud sounds, excluded bass frequencies–orchestra music was not captured in high quality
What year did Berliner perfect his flat disc?
1897
When was Edison’s Kinetoscope invented?
1893
What were the limitations of Edison’s kinetoscope?
-It could only be used by one person at a time
-Small image which had to be viewed through a peephole
-Required viewers to bend over to see it
Why was the projector quickly invented after the kinetoscope?
Edison never patented the device internationally, perhaps because he fused a lot of existing inventions to make it
The Brothers Lumière came up with what in 1895?
A simple and effective projector
Where were the first short movies shown?
In the short features of vaudeville houses
When did nickelodeons emerge?
1905
What were nickelodeons?
The first specialized movie theatres
Were nickelodeons large theatres?
no. Many were extremely small
Which was cheaper, the vaudeville or nickelodeon showings?
Nickelodeon, by far.
When did larger movie theatres emerge in the US?
1910s
By 1918, US film companies supplied how much of the worldwide market?
85 percent
What was an early example of the military use of the radio?
The Canadian army during the 100 days campaign
Which two important political leaders used the radio to address their countries?
U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Adolf Hitler
What advantage did the radio have over telephones?
-Near-instant communication
-Since it required no wires, it was both flexible to broadcast and to listen
What was the impact of immediate communication of the radio to political speeches?
Could address people more directly and. strongly.
What impact did radio have on the household?
It allowed people to stay at home and consume culture. Other modes of household socialization such as storytelling or music faded away.
In Scientific American’s 1913 contest of the best inventions of the last 25 years, which came first?
The radio
What did the radio have in common with the x-ray or the incandescent light?
A close, causal relationship to contemporary science.
The existence of radio waves was predicted by what?
Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism
Who proved the existence of radio waves?
German physicist Heinrich Hertz
Why did the early development of the radio proceed much faster than many other technologies?
The science work of Maxwell and Hertz gave inventors a much stronger understanding of radio waves than they would have otherwise had.
the first decade of the development of the radio was handled by which group?
Scientists working internationally
The prevailing ethos of scientific discovery meant what for the development of the radio?
The scientists did not patent their discoveries very much.
Guglielmo Marconi had what kind of scientific credentials?
He was mentored by Italian Scientist Augusto Right
Reginald Fessenden had what kind of scientific credentials?
Not many, but he was the chair of electrical engineering at Purdue university and worked for Edison
Lee de Forest had what kind of scientific credentials?
He graduated from Yale and his PHD dissertation addressed electric waves interacting with antennas
What linked Marconi, Fessenden, and Forest?
The desire to turn a scientific phenomenon into a useful technology
What differentiated Marconi from Fessenden and Forest?
an entrepreneurial spirit
To whom did Marconi pitch the radio?
The British Military, particularly the navy. Also the post office.
Why was radio so useful for ships compared to telephone and telegraph?
No telegraph or telephone lines could exist on open water.
Between which locations did Marconi send a telegram in 1900
Between Newfoundland and England?
What was significant about Marconi’s 1900 telegram? Why?
The radio waves had bypassed the curvature of the earth. This was not predicted by science. Technological developments had given scientists new facts
What is technoscience?
The mutual interdependence of science and technology
How did techno science develop from the late 19th century?
Technology and science both became highly specialized, meaning only a few inventors and scientists in a given topic ever had enough knowledge to improve on a topic. They work together to be able to create something new.
How did Edison employ technoscience?
Menlo park had scientific research organized toward technological objectives defined by Edison
By the early 20th century, when would corporate managers turn to university professors?
If their in-house expertise did not succeed in resolving technical problems
How did corporate research laboratories allow companies to stay ahead of competition?
-Stay ahead of competition, either winning or preserving market share
-Patenting improvements prevented others from using it
Why did companies allow researchers to pursue difficult projects with uncertain payoffs?
It could provide new industries or save a company from obsolescence
By the Second World War, research by which corporation would lad to the invention of the electronic television?
Radio Corporation of America
Why are governments able to subsidize technological innovations?
They are the only ones with enough resources to shoulder the risks and costs of increasingly complex research
What role did the Canadian government have in the radio? What was one project?
As a customer to place to towers on either side of the Belle-Isle Strait between Newfoundland and Labrador in 1901
Which contracts did Marconi have with the British government in 1901?
With the War Office and the Admiralty
How did Germany’s leading Telefunken system develop?
The Kaiser brought about a merger of two major companies
What was Marconi’s leading competitor in the United States?
United States Electrical Supply Company founded by Canadian entrepreneur William Joseph Clarke in 1897
By 1902, which communications method did the radio work with?
Dots and Dashes of morse code.
How did Marconi’s transmitter work?
His transmitter produced a signal by generating a spark across a gap between two conductors. Each spark released a burst of radio waves across a broad span of the electromagnetic spectrum.
What was the advantage and disadvantage of the broad signal produced by Marconi’s transmitter.
It was easy to detect but it interfered with other signals
Who made it possible to send and receive voice over radio? When?
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden in 1900
How did Fessenden achieve speech transmission?
Enormously increasing the spark frequency from 8 times per second to 10,000 times. This approximated a continuous radio wave.
When did Fessenden found the National Electric Signalling Company with two businessmen?
1902
By what year did National Electric Signalling Company advertise radio telephone sets with a guaranteed range of 40 km?
1904
