I love history--always have. For people like me, there is an endless archive to sift through on line. The history of computers is fascinating...massive mainframes...simple calculators which cost $500...80 meg hard drives...iPhones and lots of stuff in between.
So as we hit the middle of the week I bring you this history packed post. Check out some of that history on this cool website called Web Urbanist.
One more for you...it doesn't have anything to do with tech, however. Explore NYC and surrounding areas at the amazing site Forgotten NY
Fifty years ago, in response to the surprise Soviet launch of Sputnik, the U.S. military set up the Advanced Research Projects Agency. It would become the cradle of connectivity, spawning the era of Google and YouTube, of Amazon and Facebook, of the Drudge Report and the Obama campaign. Each breakthrough—network protocols, hypertext, the World Wide Web, the browser—inspired another as narrow-tied engineers, long-haired hackers, and other visionaries built the foundations for a world-changing technology. Keenan Mayo and Peter Newcomb let the people who made it happen tell the story.
by Keenan Mayo and Peter Newcomb July 2008
This year marks the 50th anniversary of an extraordinary moment. In 1958 the United States government set up a special unit, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (arpa), to help jump-start new efforts in science and technology. This was the agency that would nurture the Internet.
This year also marks the 15th anniversary of the launch of Mosaic, the first widely used browser, which brought the Internet into the hands of ordinary people.
May 10th, 1982 was the date that technology forced change...
26 years ago the technology was FM radio and it was an AM radio station forced to change. That station was WABC in New York. Music on AM was dieing and moving over to FM.
WABC's ratings had seen better days but it was still a big deal. Just like people all over the New York area I remember stopping whatever I was doing to tune in to hear the change. I had moved on (working in radio) and was listening to other stations; but this was the station that I grew up with--the station that I have credited more than a few times as being my inspiration that made me want to go into radio.
Here's a WCBS-TV news report from that day. The report says a lot.
Even back in the "dark ages," 1982, technology was a problem...
There's a whole lot of media out there, wired and wireless--it's getting tougher and tougher to compete
AM stereo launching to better compete with FM. AM what?
More stations, more choices, no giants. How quant.
Maybe a little slow to make the right moves, but AM did get it right. Interesting that AM's savior was human voices--you know the long list of talk radio stars that made that happen.
The music died on AM when the public had free and easy access to FM. Will the music die on FM when the public has free and easy access to music on ~~insert new medium here~~? I think you know what my answer would be. I will leave it at that.
Please give some thought to history since it has a nasty habit of repeating itself.
***photo credit: from a wonderful website called Forgotten NY
Thanks for stopping by. For those who are meeting me for the first time...a little bit about me.
For more than 29 years I have been a passionate participant in the broadcast industry. From the early days of being on-the-air to promotions, production, programming, producer, coach, research, brand development, management, and senior executive management.
Vice President of Programming--NextMedia Group, Minneapolis, MN
Executive Vice President--Mercury Radio Research/hear2.0, Minneapolis, MN
Executive Producer--Christmas Around the World ABC Radio Networks/The Walt Disney Company, Orlando Florida
Director of Programming--ABC Radio Networks, New York, NY
Senior Vice President of Programming--Clear Channel Communications/AMFM Inc/Capstar Broadcasting, Mid Atlantic and North East Regions
Program Director--WZGC-FM, Atlanta, GA
Media Consultant--DeMers Programming, Philadelphia, PA
Station Manager--KHEY FM & AM, KPRR-FM El Paso, TX
Operations Manager/Program Director--WONE-FM and WAKR-AM, Akron, OH
Program Director--WAAF-FM, Boston, MA
Program Director--WCCC-FM, Hartford, CT
Very early career--WBAB-FM, WGBB-AM, WPOB-FM, Long Island, NY
I love history--always have. For people like me, there is an endless archive to sift through on line. The history of computers is fascinating...massive mainframes...simple calculators which cost $500...80 meg hard drives...iPhones and lots of stuff in between.
