[custom_adv] Scottish engineer John Logie Baird invented the first working TV in 1924, using any material he could find, such as cardboard, a bicycle lamp, and wax. Baird's first invention could transmit the outline of an image a few feet away. [custom_adv] The Baird Televisor became the first television sold commercially in 1929. One thousand devices were made. Using reflected light to create a low-resolution image, the TV had a screen about the size of a postage stamp. [custom_adv] His Master's Voice or HMV combined both radio and television together in the 1930s. Television was still an emerging technology. There were only around 20,000 television sets in Britain during this time, according to Science & Society. Using a cathode ray tube, HMV went on sale in 1938 for 35 guineas. [custom_adv] In the late 1940s, broadcast stations started producing shows based on their radio serials for TVs such as the General Electric 807. The popular children's show of the decade was "The Howdy Doody Show." Another show that did well was "Texaco Star Theater," starring Milton Berle. [custom_adv] Companies continued to invent new technology such as the electronic remote control switch for the RCA Victor TV in 1960. The first TV remote was introduced to consumers in 1950. [custom_adv] Daytime television was introduced on receivers like the Philco Tandem Predicta in the 1950s and '60s. Catering to housewives, Spigel said the networks decided to conform to their routine and planned their broadcasting as a result. [custom_adv] The 1960s brought creative and bizarre TV designs, including the home entertainment center. Made in West Germany, the Kuba Komet (seen above) was meant to fulfill all a consumer's entertainment needs. Reminscent of a sailboat in design, the Kuba Komet included both a phonograph and television tuner. [custom_adv] Though color television proved popular, price drops on black-and-white TVs like the Marconiphone monochrome receiver meant households could afford more than one set in the 1970s. [custom_adv] Created by Arthur Bracegirdle, the Keracolor Sphere embodies the spirit of the '60s and '70s. The Keracolor was a TV meant for the future. Its spherical Space Age design calls to mind films like Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." [custom_adv] The Sinclair Microvision was released in 1976, offering portable television for the first time. Spigel said, "For older generations, TV meant a box in the living room and a broadcast schedule with shows on at predictable times. Today TV is much less defined as a material thing and a schedule." [custom_adv] Similar in spirit to Sinclair's pocket television, the Seiko TV Watch claimed to be the smallest TV in the world. The Seiko Watch holds the 1983 Guinness Book of World Records title. It even took the spy world by storm, featuring in the 1985 James Bond film, "Octopussy." [custom_adv] The first flat-screen TVs were an expense most people couldn't afford, but during the 2000s, they quickly began to replace the box television sets of old. High definition replaced standard definition. Smart TVs offered a combination of both traditional television and the plethora of growing streaming services.
