Evolution of Man and Technology

Today’s society is based on the newest biggest thing. The new must have, the need to be better than the previous. Technology has come very far over the past few decades. From television, to cellphones, to personal computers, to storage devices, to gaming. Technological advancements overtime never cease to amaze me, always trying to improve on the past to make it better, sometimes going to unnecessary extremes. Some of the advancements I go over might not interest you, however each of the technologies have come a long way since their creation which I think is incredible how much we can improve on what came before.

The first technological advancement I want to share in the television evolution. The first black and white television was made in 1936, it took approximately 20 years to get the colour television we know today, Since then the television has been improved again and again. When I was growing up we had a huge TV, I mean it was a massive heavy brick of a TV. My grandfather still has an old colour television  from the 60’s, which he used up until the past 10 years or so. Now TV’s are flat, light and LED Displays and HD. It’s amazing to see the differences between the past and present. Over the years TV’s keep getting bigger and bigger, with every new television aimed to be bigger, brighter, clearer and better than the one before it.

Below is a picture of the television evolution timeline(click on the picture for a larger view).

The next technological break through that amazes me is computers. To me, when someone says they have a computer, I ask a laptop or desktop, Mac or PC. This is just how my generation thinks of computers now. I still remember my families first desktop with Windows 95 and when we first got internet, now I have multiple laptops and desktops with Windows 7.  The first computer was the Apple 1, made by Apple in 1976, followed by the first PC in 1981 by IBM. However the microprocessor was made by Intel in 1971. The first laptop wasn’t created until 1989, which was The Macintosh Portable. When it comes to computers society still constantly wants faster, more storage and better graphics.

Below are pictures of PC and Mac Computer/ Laptop evolution timelines.

Speaking of more storage, I still remember floppy disk, in fact I still have Windows 95 on floppy! My mother used to use punch cards for programming back when she was in school. Punch cards came out in 1725 and were officially the oldest way to store information, other than in writing Punch cards were used for data storage up until new advancements were made such as hard disks in 1956 and floppy disks in 1971, after that they were still used for programming but not for storage. After it was realized quite a few floppies were needed for a small bit of data (each one only storing 1.2-1.44MB, CD’s were made in 1982 (each storing approx. 700MB), which we still use today or at least a version of. We now have Hard drives that can store 2TB, when I was younger I didn’t even know what a terabyte was or that it even existed. Again society asked for bigger and better, in this case it was more storage in a smaller device.

Below are pictures of the data storage evolution timeline and  the evolution of the amount of storage each had.

One piece of technology I know I can not live without, I carry with me virtually 24/7, some even call it an extension of their hand. If you haven’t figured it out, it is a cell phone. The first analogue phone was made by Motorola in 1983. The first phone I remember is the 1992 bag phone my parents had in our van, it sat between the seats and was almost as long as the center consoles in cars today. The first smart phone was made in 1993 by IBM, though it was nothing like the smartphones we know and own today. I still remember my first phone which I received in middle school as a present, it was a Nokia 6820, it was a typical old school brick with a flip-out keyboard. I swear that phone was indestructible! I have since upgraded many times to my currently blackberry, which I may soon switch to an android. Phones are by far the worst device for consumers, and we spend the most on. Most people constantly upgrade their phones to the newest release to only be outdone by another a few months later, then paying even more money to upgrade or counting the days for a free upgrade.  Cell phone companies have it made!

Below is a picture of the mobile phone evolution timeline.

The last technology I wish to visit is the one that probable consumes the most of my generations free time, Video Games. The first home video game console was one I personally have never head of, the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. I do however know of the first video game which was PONG, the game was so simple but so addicting. I recently revisited the older consoles (ex. Nintendo 64), I remember when I was young thinking the 8-bit graphics were Amazing, there was no way they could get better. I was so wrong, the graphics have gotten so realistic, no wonder it is so easy to get lost in a game world. Video gaming has also become a huge part of social interaction between the younger generations.

Below are pictures of the gaming evolution timeline and the social evolution of gaming.

Below are some other timelines I thought may interest you, or you may just want to relive down memory lane. Pictures include the iPod Evolution, PC vs. Mac operating system evolution.

I know this was a lot to read through, and there were a lot of pictures but I was very interested and one technology lead to another and before long I had a lot to talk about. I tried to keep the writing to a minimum and let the pictures do the talking for the facts. I hope you found these as interesting as I did. 🙂