100 Years Ago Today
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On January 26, 1926, entrepreneur and inventor John Logie Baird invited guests to what is today London’s Bar Italia (on Frith Street in Soho) as his latest project exited stealth. That first public demonstration of a system then called the Televisor would go on to change the world in more ways than Baird could have possibly imagined.
The name, of course, changed over time, with the product eventually being known as television. In attendance were members of the Royal Institution, a charity dedicated to science education and research. What they saw was a grayscale image of a pair of ventriloquist dummy heads, one of which was named Stooky Bill, chatting.
Also sitting in the room that day was a reporter from the Times. And, just like many modern startups that have become ingrained in our lives, Baird’s creation initially faced some skepticism concerning its quality and usefulness.
“The visitors were shown recognizable reception of the movements of the dummy head and of a person speaking,” the report read. “The image as transmitted was faint and often blurred … It has yet to be seen to what extent further developments will carry Mr. Baird’s system toward practical use.”
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I agree. Electronics are one of the few things that come down in price (even when not thinking of inflation) and gone up in quality.
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So how long did it take before they started using it for porn? 72 hours?
