I was musing the other day about the tape recorder, in both audio and video forms. While Germany produced some machines during WW2, it was not until the early 1950 period that earnest development began on them. In the next 40 years or so, both forms would reach great heights in terms of sophistication.
And yet 60 years after it all began, they are - Gone! At one time almost every one in the western world would have had at least one audio tape recorder and also a VHS or similar, yet by around 2010 both had almost completely died out and vanished.
The move to digital forms of audio and video meant that a specialised recorder was not required any longer, as everything had become file based and therefore moved into the realm of computers.
I can't think of any other significant device that came - and went, in such a short period.
And yet 60 years after it all began, they are - Gone! At one time almost every one in the western world would have had at least one audio tape recorder and also a VHS or similar, yet by around 2010 both had almost completely died out and vanished.
The move to digital forms of audio and video meant that a specialised recorder was not required any longer, as everything had become file based and therefore moved into the realm of computers.
I can't think of any other significant device that came - and went, in such a short period.