Wednesday, September 12, 2007

RCA's CT-100 Color TV is "Greatest Gadget of all Time"

So say the readers of Wired.com! The company that started us on the path to color video everywhere introduced its $995 home television receiver in March 1954, and didn't make a profit on the whole $100 million investment in research, development, manufacture, marketing, servicing, and programming until 1962. That's not forgeting the nine years it took to get color TV to mass production in 1954.

A tip of the hat to Library friend and NJARC member Dave Sica for bringing this to our attention, and to Gizmodo.com for its very fine and illustrated report.

The runner-up? It's not the iPod, Walkman, or the Macintosh; the editors reached back to the 18th century for John Bird's sextant, although it appears they mistook it for his quadrant.