The Television

Posted: October 17th, 2013

Name

Professor Nora Kabaji

English 100

Name of Essay

Date of submission

The Television

            A television is a device that displays images with accompanying sounds. The television was invented in 1923 by John Logie Baird in England. It was first commercialized by the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1929. This device was originally monochrome and very mechanical until Philo Farnsworth came up with an electrical device in 1929 as well. Over the years, the television has evolved into more digital, improved sets like closed circuit television, Internet TV and smart TVs that are currently in use today. Currently, the television is available in almost all continents with the number of viewers reaching up to two billion people globally. The television has had a profound impact on the way people conduct their lives in a positive way. The television has had a profound beneficial impact in the world economy, the political sector as well as the society. This shall form the body of this essay.

The television has changed the way business people conduct advertising needs. In the past, advertisements for goods and services were done primarily by print media in the form of posters or the newspapers. This method had a geographical as well as financial limit, which lowered the effectiveness of advertising products. After the invention of the television, people can now place infomercials on air to help market their products, which takes the form of animations. Other advertisements on television include political campaigns during elections as well as severe emergency notifications. However, most firms that advertise promote social ruin by placing harmful products like drugs and habits like gambling for all viewers to see.

The television has also changed the way people view their culture and other foreign cultures through interactive cultural programs aired for family viewing as well as documentaries displaying the different lifestyles among communities in the world. In the past, most societies used to be closed .They only socialized their people on domestic cultures along with local ways of life. This gave the society a skewed view of the world, a position that the television has filled. The television offers movies, cultural festivals plus other programs that allow societies to get a peek into the lives of other human beings elsewhere. Culture exchange via the television has also contributed to erosion of indigenous cultures in some communities.

The television has also increased the bond among family member through encouraging share viewing of programs. Before the television , people used to perform their duties separated from each other but with the advent of the television, the whole family gathers to watch a programmed aired on television .In the process, they get to spend time together, share ideas ,discuss about their issues with each other and generally bond with one another. The television sometimes airs programs that may attract the children or the adults who view it together. However, the television has also been a source of distraction especially for the younger generation. Most youths spend a lot of time glued to the television that they abscond from their duties at work, home or in school.

The television has changed people’s access to information whether globally or domestically. Before the television, people use to be misinformed or even be in the dark completely as far as the happenings around them were concerned. The television today provides news channels having occurrences from different parts of the world. News may include politics, business, sports as well as entertainment. Moreover, it also provides educative programs for children for example the ABC’s play school and Telletubies

The television has become the primary source of entertainment for most people. Before the television, people had other forms of entertaining themselves for example hobbies like sports. With the introduction of the television, people have now turned to the many options for entertainment aired by stations as well as connecting other accessories like DVD players or the Internet. People nowadays entertain themselves by watching programs. They also view music videos from the television sets. Children are also entertained by cartoon programs. The liberalization of the television networks has also brought with it moral decay. Some stations along with movie vendors facilitate access to drugs, sexual adult content as well as violence even for underage viewers. This causes a distortion in the behavior among the television viewers that affect them negatively.

The economy of countries has greatly been changed by the invention of the television. Before the television was invented, the economy did not benefit so much fro electronics and other related accessories. Very few factories manufactured electronics; none of them had the choice of producing television sets. With the invention of the television, people’s lives have been changed in two major ways. One way was through the invention of video games. These are electronic games played on a television set. The production of video games has helped companies like Sony provide jobs for unemployed people. Video games also create platforms for software engineers along with programmers to be employed. Two, the television has given birth to the theater as a form of entertainment. Acting in theatres has created many job opportunities for songwriters, directors plus actors who get income form acting along with other theater activities. However, video games have been criticized as eroding the social skills of people who indulge excessively.