In 1968 a team of scientists and engineers from RCA announced the creation of a new form of electronic display that relied upon an obscure set of materials known as liquid crystals. At a time when televisions utilized bulky cathode ray tubes to produce an image, these researchers demonstrated how liquid crystals could electronically control the passage of light. One day, they predicted, liquid crystal displays would find a home in clocks, calculators—and maybe even a television that could hang on the wall. Half a century later, RCA’s dreams have become a reality, and liquid crystals are the basis of a multibillion-dollar global industry. Yet the company responsible for producing the first LCDs was unable to capitalize upon its invention. In The TVs of Tomorrow, Benjamin Gross explains this contradiction by examining the history of flat-panel display research at RCA from the perspective of the chemists, physicists, electrical engineers, and technicians at the company’s central laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey. Drawing upon laboratory notebooks, internal reports, and interviews with key participants, Gross reconstructs the development of the LCD and situates it alongside other efforts to create a thin, lightweight replacement for the television picture tube. He shows how RCA researchers mobilized their technical expertise to secure support for their projects. He also highlights the challenges associated with the commercialization of liquid crystals at RCA and Optel—the RCA spin-off that ultimately manufactured the first LCD wristwatch. The TVs of Tomorrow is a detailed portrait of American innovation during the Cold War, which confirms that success in the electronics industry hinges upon input from both the laboratory and the boardroom.

* "Funny and unique . . . An honest, noisy, and raucous look at friendship and how loud music can make almost everything better." --Publishers Weekly, starred review Sebastian Prendergast lives with his eccentric grandmother in a geodesic dome. His homeschooling has taught him much-but he's learned little about girls, junk food, or loud, angry music. Then fate casts Sebastian out of the dome, and he finds a different kind of tutor in Jared Whitcomb: a chain-smoking sixteen-year-old heart transplant recipient who teaches him the ways of rebellion. Together they form a punk band and plan to take the local church talent show by storm. But when his grandmother calls him back to the futurist life she has planned for him, he must decide whether to answer the call-or start a future of his own.

Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?, the long-awaited follow-up to Mom's Cancer, is a unique graphic novel that tells the story of a young boy and his relationship with his father. Spanning the period from the 1939 New York World's Fair to the last Apollo space mission in 1975, it is told through the eyes of a boy as he grows up in an era that was optimistic and ambitious, fueled by industry, engines, electricity, rockets, and the atom bomb. An insightful look at relationships and the promise of the future, award-winning author Brian Fies presents his story in a way that only comics and graphic novels can. Interspersed with the comic book adventures of Commander Cap Crater (created by Fies to mirror the styles of the comics and the time periods he is depicting), and mixing art and historical photographs, this groundbreaking graphic novel is a lively trip through a half century of technological evolution. It is also a perceptive look at the changing moods of our nation-and the enduring promise of the future. Praise for Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? “A graphic novel that looks like TV’s “Futurama” bred with The Golden Age of Comic Books, Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? is at times charming, at times sad and foreboding, and always thought provoking.” —Air & Space Smithsonian "A hopelessly optimistic moon-age daydream"—The Village Voice “An exceptional and highly engaging experience.” —The Miami Herald "Whatever Happened To The World Of Tomorrow is a very special book that will speak to you on so many levels. And at the end of it, when you sit there and think on what you’ve just read, it may even make you, like it did me, realise that Fies’ vision of our past and his hope for the future is something we can all share in. Quite brilliant."—Richard Bruton, forbiddenplanet.co.uk F&P level: Y

The book is divided into two sections: one focusing on the phenomenon of television and the other on audiences. It argues that television is changing from a singular object, fixed in a particular place, to a social phenomenon distributed across many devices and platforms. It also argues that audiences are increasingly demanding an ‘open relationship’ with television, as their attention is often distributed across multiple devices and platforms simultaneously. In addition to these aspects, we analyse the evolution of television since its inception, the need for a renewed public service 2.0 in tune with our times, the increasing dominance of talk shows and infotainment, and the new power of television combined with artificial intelligence. These and many other topics are covered in this book, which will be of interest to television professionals, academics in sociology, media studies, and various other fields.

This collection of essays sheds light on where we have come from, and where we are going in the media. It will be of interest to those working in, and those studying, the media, across the range of disciplines that are needed to regulate and build the media industry and create media content. This book brings together an impressive group of media and broadcasting experts, making it not only a work of the highest academic quality, but a unique collection of interdisciplinary research. Bringing together contributions from the history of broadcasting and the digital television, as well as discussion of the future of audio and the use of electronically created scene content, this book exists at an intersection between technology and the arts.

Tomorrow’s Innovators: Essential Skills For A Changing World focuses on approaches and methods to help teachers infuse their basic subject matter lessons with creativity, innovation, and adaptability. On a broader scale, we provide elementary and middle school educators with insights into current educational issues and suggestions for converting new ideas into practical classroom applications.

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