Read the text and match headings A–F with parts 1–5.
There is one extra heading.
A Getting a clearer picture
B Television goes mobile
C Hi-tech becomes old-tech
D What day? What time? What channel?
E Television on-demand
F Stay in your seat, stay in control
1
If your mum or dad were lucky
enough to have a television in
their bedroom when they were
your age, they probably felt pretty
cool, even if it was black and
white, weighed about 20kg and
had an antenna that looked like
a metal coat hanger. A The
technology of televisions has
changed so quickly that it’s not
surprising some of the most sophisticated features of the TV
sets of the past seem rather silly these days. In this week’s
article, check out these old TV technologies, but while you are
laughing, remember that
many modern gadgets will
seem just as ridiculous to
the youngsters of tomorrow.
2
Stay tuned! is something
you still occasionally hear
people on television say
when they are really asking
you not to switch off or
change the channel. The
phrase has lost its original
meaning, which referred to ‘tuning’ early analogue televisions
(adjusting them to get the best quality picture) by turning a
big dial, or wheel, on the front. Later televisions had individual
channel buttons, but for each button there was still a tuning
dial located behind a little plastic door on the front of the
set. These dials were often tiny and tricky to turn, so some
manufacturers used to sell their sets with a little plastic stick
that you would put into a hole and turn until the picture was
clear enough to watch. B Nowadays, thank goodness,
televisions ‘tune’ themselves automatically.
3
When your parents were young, ‘channel surfing’ actually
required physical effort because to change the channel you
had to stand up, walk across the room and press a button on
the television. C Eventually, remote controls were invented,
but the first ones actually had a wire that stretched across
the room from the remote to the television. Later more boxes
appeared – video recorders, satellite tuners and so on – and
with those came additional remote controls. Eventually, when
it became impossible to open the living room door because
of all the different remotes, universal controllers became
popular and one small device could finally control all the
different boxes in your living room! Now, with the help of the
right app, it is becoming more and more common to use a
mobile phone or tablet to control all the various
media devices in your house, though some homes
still have more remote controls than hands to
operate them.
4
Not so many years ago, viewers had no choice but
to wait a week for the next episode of their favourite
TV programmes to be shown. D It was not
unusual for people to plan their week around the
TV schedule and, if they were busy at the time of
their favourite show, they either missed it or found
space on a video tape, set the video recorder for
the right time and hoped the tape didn’t run out before the
programme had finished. These days, TV schedules are still
printed in magazines and some newspapers. However, they
are much less significant because of ‘catch-up’ TV channels,
on-demand Internet TV services such as Netflix or I-player,
and of course legal and illegal downloading.
5
Television and the technology associated with it are changing
constantly and if you have children, by the time they are your
age, flat screen, HD and 3D will probably seem as silly and
old-fashioned as black and white, two channels only, and a
coat hanger for an aerial.
There is one extra heading.
A Getting a clearer picture
B Television goes mobile
C Hi-tech becomes old-tech
D What day? What time? What channel?
E Television on-demand
F Stay in your seat, stay in control
1
If your mum or dad were lucky
enough to have a television in
their bedroom when they were
your age, they probably felt pretty
cool, even if it was black and
white, weighed about 20kg and
had an antenna that looked like
a metal coat hanger. A The
technology of televisions has
changed so quickly that it’s not
surprising some of the most sophisticated features of the TV
sets of the past seem rather silly these days. In this week’s
article, check out these old TV technologies, but while you are
laughing, remember that
many modern gadgets will
seem just as ridiculous to
the youngsters of tomorrow.
2
Stay tuned! is something
you still occasionally hear
people on television say
when they are really asking
you not to switch off or
change the channel. The
phrase has lost its original
meaning, which referred to ‘tuning’ early analogue televisions
(adjusting them to get the best quality picture) by turning a
big dial, or wheel, on the front. Later televisions had individual
channel buttons, but for each button there was still a tuning
dial located behind a little plastic door on the front of the
set. These dials were often tiny and tricky to turn, so some
manufacturers used to sell their sets with a little plastic stick
that you would put into a hole and turn until the picture was
clear enough to watch. B Nowadays, thank goodness,
televisions ‘tune’ themselves automatically.
3
When your parents were young, ‘channel surfing’ actually
required physical effort because to change the channel you
had to stand up, walk across the room and press a button on
the television. C Eventually, remote controls were invented,
but the first ones actually had a wire that stretched across
the room from the remote to the television. Later more boxes
appeared – video recorders, satellite tuners and so on – and
with those came additional remote controls. Eventually, when
it became impossible to open the living room door because
of all the different remotes, universal controllers became
popular and one small device could finally control all the
different boxes in your living room! Now, with the help of the
right app, it is becoming more and more common to use a
mobile phone or tablet to control all the various
media devices in your house, though some homes
still have more remote controls than hands to
operate them.
4
Not so many years ago, viewers had no choice but
to wait a week for the next episode of their favourite
TV programmes to be shown. D It was not
unusual for people to plan their week around the
TV schedule and, if they were busy at the time of
their favourite show, they either missed it or found
space on a video tape, set the video recorder for
the right time and hoped the tape didn’t run out before the
programme had finished. These days, TV schedules are still
printed in magazines and some newspapers. However, they
are much less significant because of ‘catch-up’ TV channels,
on-demand Internet TV services such as Netflix or I-player,
and of course legal and illegal downloading.
5
Television and the technology associated with it are changing
constantly and if you have children, by the time they are your
age, flat screen, HD and 3D will probably seem as silly and
old-fashioned as black and white, two channels only, and a
coat hanger for an aerial.