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BETA
Sony introduces Betamax, a videocassette recorder (VCR), but
by the late 70's the market is dominated by Japanese companies.
Betamax technology, is, of course, beaten out by VHS. |
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60
MINUTES
60 minutes, shown on CBS TV, is born. The news show is anchored
by journalists Dan Rather, Harry Reasoner, Morley Safar, and
Mike Wallace. |
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INTERNET
EMERGES
At the University of California in Los Angeles, the Internet,
or an early form of it, is born. The Defense Department of the
USA has ordered the creation of a dispersed, decentralized communications
network, the theory being that in case of a nuclear attack,
the network could not be completely wiped out. Other universities
soon link to the node at UCLA, and by 1975 there are 100 nodes. |
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WORD
PROCESSING
Word processors begin to replace typewriters. Due to the economic
recession, business managers are trying to automate their offices.
Vydek introduces a text-editing computer with a printer, and
by 1976 impact printers print documents at 30-55 character per
second (15 only are possible on a power typewriter). |
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FACSIMILE
MACHINES GAIN POPULARITY
Faxes (transmission of printed pages or images by electronic
signals over telephone lines, printed out at the receiving end)
may now be sent at a rate of 3 minutes per page to anywhere
in the world. News agencies and publishers are major users -
fax machines enable reporters all over to submit their stories
before deadlines faster than by courier or mail. Unfortunately,
fax quality is still poor. |
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DEATH
OF A MARTYR
Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, Nicaraguan publisher of La Prensa, a
paper which strongly opposes the dictator Anastasio Somoza,
is gunned down on January 10th. His family continues publication
of the paper after his death, increasing support for Sandinista
rebels. |
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CNN
On June 1st, Cable News Network goes on-air for the first time.
CNN is now one of the most well-known news networks worldwide. |
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CELLULAR
PHONES
In Chicago, cellular phones are available for the first time.
The phones cost $3000 and service is an extra monthly $150.
Hardly affordable to the average motorist, they are little used. |
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BRITISH
BAN ON IRISH REPUBLICAN BROADCASTS
Margaret Thatcher's government begins a "Sinn Fein ban" in October-the
BBC, commercial radio, and commercial TV stations are forbidden
to grant broadcast time to Irish political activists. |
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INTERNET
REPLACED
The National Science Foundation's Internet replaces the 1969
military network. It is managed by a private company called
America Online, while other commercial Internet Service Providers
begin to start up as demand for the computer-linking network
grows. |
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JOURNALIST
FATALITIES
Veronica Guerin, aged 36, is an Irish investigative reporter
for the Sunday Independent. She is shot to death in Dublin
on June 26th. 23 journalists have been assassinated so far
this year (eight in Algeria and six in Russia).
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UNCENSORABLE
The US supreme court rules that any material with redeeming
social value cannot be censored. |
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FOR
EMERGENCIES ONLY
911, a three-digit phone number used to summon the fire department,
ambulances, and the police in cases of emergency, debuts in
New York City. |
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INVESTIGATIVE
JOURNALISM STRIKES GOLD
The Watergate affair is cracked open by two reporters for the
Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. They work
18 hour days, seven days a week to uncover all the information.
The White House denounces their reports as "mud-slinging" and
"unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations", but the reports
eventually contribute to the destruction of Nixon's career as
president. |
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REPORTER
KILLED FOR INVESTIGATION
Don Bolles, a reporter for the Arizona Republic, is killed by
a bomb planted in his car. He had been investigating fraudulent
land deals and the underworld. |
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SOUTH
AFRICAN TELEVISION
The first television broadcasts to South Africa start on May
10th, after years of public pressure on the Pretoria government.
Half of the broadcasts are in English and half in Afrikaans
but less than 10 000 sets are sold. |
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BEIJING
SPRING ENDS
During the "Beijing Spring", when the Communist Chinese government
tolerated political dissent, Wei Jingsheng edited an underground
journal entitled "Explorations" in which he wrote essays on
democracy. On October 16th, the 29-year-old was sentenced to
15 years in prison for his political beliefs, ending the Spring. |
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FAXES
IMPROVE
Faxes can now be sent in 20 seconds, at a cost of less than
one dollar per page. Newer, Japanese fax machines are cheaper,
and by the end of the year there are 281 000 new machines installed.
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NEW
INTERNET
A network linking university computer centres is established
by the National Science Foundation. |
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DILBERT'S
DEBUT
Scott Adams' "Dilbert" comic strip exploits the horrors of so-called
"cubicle culture"-downsizing, idiotic management, irritating
colleagues, and miniscule office space. The strip's hero, a
socially-challenged engineer, is identified with by almost all
North American office workers. By 1996 60 million people read
the comic strip (which even has its own web site: www.dilbert.com
) in over 800 newspapers. |
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WORLD
WIDE WEB
A British Scientist named Tim Berners-Lee invents the World
Wide Web. Using this technology, people with a web 'browser'
software application (the first web browser, Mosaic, is written
at the University of Illinois) can view images as well as
text. Marc Andreesen, who helped design Mosaic, joins with
Jim Clark of Silicon Graphics to form Mosaic Communications,
later renamed Netscape Communications. Netscape Navigator
becomes the number one web browser and by 1996 there are more
than 100 000 individual computer networks on the Internet.
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