Gadgets Then And Now

Video Cameras

Then: In 1956, Ray Dolby, Charles Ginsberg, and Charles Anderson invented a video camera that was the first machine to record both image and sound. The machines sold for $75,000 a piece and only sold to large TV networks until the 80’s. The first commercial color video camera to utilize a completely solid-state image sensor called a charge-coupled-device (CCD) was developed by Sony in 1980.

Now: Make homemade movies with an HD Flip Video camera or hand-held Panasonic camcorder that can easily fit in any pant pocket. There have even been feature-length films made on iPhones!

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Audio Listening Devices

Then: Though Steve Jobs’ iPhones are the most popular MP3 players around, the person most well known for bringing MP3 players to the mainstream is Nathan Schulhof. Schulhof is often referred to as the “father of the MP3 player industry” with the Audio Highway player. Audio Highway was the first company to announce a portable MP3 player that let users download content. Audio Highway won an innovations award for the Listen Up player at the CES show in January 1997. Of course the first portable audio listening device to go mainstream was the Sony Walkman TPS-L2. The portable stereo system was first introduced in Japan in 1979 and created a whole new category of personal, mobile music.

Now: iPhones now have most of the market share for personal MP3 players. Apps like Spotify and Apple Music can now be easily downloaded for free with an infinite library of music.

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