Television

Reviews / Votes

Tracing the history of television from early inception through golden age, to the current world of flat screens, cable, and satellites, Magoun comprehensively overviews a medium now in everyone's memory. He readily admits that he neither watches television nor possesses any technical training in chemistry or physics, but these have not hampered his research skills. Magoun provides an interesting historical survey of major inventors, companies, and influences in the life story of a technology known as television. He writes from the perspective of a witness to the conception and birth of television. He continues to document its life from the role of a parent who ultimately must witness the eventual breaking away of the child so that it could forge ahead to build the revolutionary digital world, and he follows its eventual death as medium of choice for most people. Along the way, Magoun reveals how society has also evolved with each change in technology. Readers are left with an appreciation for an old friend that they enjoyed having around, as well as recognition of the role that television has played in making entertainment and communication what it is today. Highly recommended. General readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates. * Choice * The idea of a technography, or a biography of a technology, is intriguing, and this thorough exposition supports the viability of the concept. Magoun discusses both the personalities and the technology that came together to create television....Magoun traces television's origins and development through the advent of the VCR to today's flat-panel displays and the future of the medium. * School Library Journal * In this history of television, Magoun not only explains the development and basic workings of this technology, but also the processes, personalities, and business decisions involved, and TV's impact on American values. In a life cycle framework, he traces TV from its protracted birth through the death of cathode tube TVs and resurrection in digital form. The author addresses issues relating to the paternity of inventions, government regulation, and changing broadcast standards. The book includes B&W illustrations. * SciTech Book News * [A]n appealing read for students who should be encouraged to exercise their critical thinking skills to debate whether their digital generation spells the end of television and what they might predict in the immediate future to replace the gadgets that seem to be replacing it now. * GALE Reference for Students/Lawrence Looks at Books *