How did society react to the first television?

Answer 1

People became lazy and less imaginative. Reading and thinking declined and the vegatative state became a part of daily life. Fortunately, there is some reprieve. Childrens and educational TV has improved dramatically in the last ten years. This is only one aspect of the societal change. TV also made dissemination of information more complete and rapid. Note: This is only my educated opinion.

Answer 2

A rudimentary television was demonstrated in a London store in 1925. It was JL Bairds Mechanical system. A very old lady I knew actually saw the demo as a school girl and she said she could not see any thing clearly on the screen, just shadows but it was very exciting anyway. Later in 1936, the BBC started the very first High Definition TV service in London. It was called High Definition as its scan rate (405 lines) was high compared to the much poorer (240 lines) Mechanical system also used . Not many people could afford a set though and others were frightened of it as they actually believed that if they could see into the studio on their sets, then people would be able to see them in their houses! Another fear was that the television radiation would make people sterile.. After the first successful demo in 1936 a BBC boss said 'We have just initiated the biggest time waster in history'..There was only a hundred or so sets in use by 1937 in the London area and of course in 1939 the war started and TV was suspended as the Authorities were frightened that German bombers could home in on the London transmitter. TV started again in 1946 and more and more people started to buy them. My Uncle built his own set in 1952 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth 2nd.