Adamski
06-19-2011, 10:53 AM
Guys,
I saw an add for a new 70" LCD TV the other day. That got me thinking about how far the TV has come in my lifetime ... and we're not done yet. The first TV I remember was a large, 21" black n white Philco console TV that my dad bought when I was about 5. It had lots of tubes inside its cabinet including a huge picture tube. You see, the transistor was still a hush-hush government secret that was under development.
The TV repairman practically lived at our house. The old TV liked to roll the picture which made it hard to watch anything. Now I can see that many of you don't have a clue to what I'm talking about so let me explain. The whole picture would roll like a series of photos going from the bottom to the top of the TV continuously. I'll never forget how my brother would say, "Rock harder, Larry, rock harder" as my rocking sometimes stopped the rolling. Yes, you guessed it ... that's where the term "rock and roll" came from. When the TV got to the point where no amount of rocking would stop the rolling; it was time to call Mr Repairman again. He'd arrive with his huge case that contained numerous boxes of tubes and other paraphernalia. He was pretty good at finding the 2 or 3 specific tubes that needed replacing and soon our trusty Philco had a steady picture once again. The TV would be fine for a few weeks and then another tube would "blow" and then every movie looked like it took place during a major midwest blizzard. That is, the picture appeared faintly behind a screen of electronic "snow".
A few years later, the first "solid state" TVs appreared in stores. By that time, my dad couldn't wait to get rid of that tube-rculosis sickened Philco so he bought a 19" "portable" TV. It weighed about 75 lbs but it had a handle on top so it was portable. It was still black and white but it required almost no service as it had just 3 or 4 tubes. We were experiencing the advent of the transistor although we had no idea what a transistor even looked like, let alone what it did. Us kids missed our monthly interaction with Mr Repairman but, for some reason, my dad seemed happier.
Of course today's TVs don't even have a picture tube, let alone all those other audio, video and power tubes that the old Philco had. My 55" LED LCD TV just has a few computer boards that contain transistors (I'm still not sure what they do) and other do-dads and do-hickies. But you know what ... my TV never rolls and I never have to "rock harder".
I saw an add for a new 70" LCD TV the other day. That got me thinking about how far the TV has come in my lifetime ... and we're not done yet. The first TV I remember was a large, 21" black n white Philco console TV that my dad bought when I was about 5. It had lots of tubes inside its cabinet including a huge picture tube. You see, the transistor was still a hush-hush government secret that was under development.
The TV repairman practically lived at our house. The old TV liked to roll the picture which made it hard to watch anything. Now I can see that many of you don't have a clue to what I'm talking about so let me explain. The whole picture would roll like a series of photos going from the bottom to the top of the TV continuously. I'll never forget how my brother would say, "Rock harder, Larry, rock harder" as my rocking sometimes stopped the rolling. Yes, you guessed it ... that's where the term "rock and roll" came from. When the TV got to the point where no amount of rocking would stop the rolling; it was time to call Mr Repairman again. He'd arrive with his huge case that contained numerous boxes of tubes and other paraphernalia. He was pretty good at finding the 2 or 3 specific tubes that needed replacing and soon our trusty Philco had a steady picture once again. The TV would be fine for a few weeks and then another tube would "blow" and then every movie looked like it took place during a major midwest blizzard. That is, the picture appeared faintly behind a screen of electronic "snow".
A few years later, the first "solid state" TVs appreared in stores. By that time, my dad couldn't wait to get rid of that tube-rculosis sickened Philco so he bought a 19" "portable" TV. It weighed about 75 lbs but it had a handle on top so it was portable. It was still black and white but it required almost no service as it had just 3 or 4 tubes. We were experiencing the advent of the transistor although we had no idea what a transistor even looked like, let alone what it did. Us kids missed our monthly interaction with Mr Repairman but, for some reason, my dad seemed happier.
Of course today's TVs don't even have a picture tube, let alone all those other audio, video and power tubes that the old Philco had. My 55" LED LCD TV just has a few computer boards that contain transistors (I'm still not sure what they do) and other do-dads and do-hickies. But you know what ... my TV never rolls and I never have to "rock harder".