EOTO: Something I learned

     During the first EOTO presentations about communication technology, the information about the first television really stuck with me. 

    For starters, I was intrigued by the inventor, Philo Farnsworth. Through a classmates presentation, I learned the following. He was the first person to create a basic outline of what elements were needed for an electronic television. After finding partners to help move forward with development of the first television system, he successfully launched the first ever electronic television transmission. He filed a patent to make sure he was credited for his work, and gave his first demonstration to the press in 1928, just 6 years after he began basic outlines in 1922. 

    Through my own research, I found out even more information about Philo Farnsworth that really surprised me. When he began the original basic outlines, he was only 13 years old. It is shocking to imagine that a 13-year-old was the first developer of a device that could receive an image transmitted from a remote location. With all the work he did throughout the rest of his life as a TV developer, he died holding over 300 U.S. and foreign patents. TV would not be the same without him today.

    Along with information about the first televisions inventor, the presentation also taught me that we wouldn’t be able to see shots of the moon without the invention of the first television. This is extremely impactful and I wanted to look deeper into this. Although the invention of the TV did not directly lead to shots of the moon, it did give us the first technology that was able to film and share something as major as lunar photos taken by astronauts. Apollo 11, which one article calls, ‘The greatest single broadcast in television history,’  was made up of images taken, film from a television-style camera mounted on the side of the spacecraft, and the voice of Nile Armstrong (the first astronaut to walk on the moon). 94% of all TV-owning Americans were tuned in when the Apollo 11 Mission was broadcasted. 

    Overall, it is clear that Philo Farnsworth and his inventions were revolutionary for technology and television, and we see the impact in many different places.