Media Technology Perspectives - Past and Future

What is your family's first exposure to Media Technology that you actually have a record of? Well the picture at the top of this page is mine.

The picture above is from the 2nd June 1953, and it shows how quite a few people got to see the Coronation of the new Queen Elizabeth II back then. TV Rental companies organised what we would now call a watch party, to sell a TV's benefits to the consumer for what is one of the biggest events. It was actually possible for the general populace to see the Coronation in all of its glory (well black and white 405 line glory). if you had one of these new fangled TVs.

My Grandmother was one of the recipients of the hard sell, wearing her best coat and broach (not sure what the weather was like that day, but I would presume it was not a sweltering day). She is the dark haired woman with a slight smile, second row from the front, second in from the right.

Little did Hilda Nock know that her grandson would take a right turn on his career and enter the TV industry some 44 years later, going to work for a scary little company trying to create a satellite Direct to Home operation in Maidstone, UK. This was Wizja TV - which ultimately through ownership changes and acquisitions became part of Platforma Canal+ as it is today.

Now of course, I work on a broad range of much more modern technologies. Everything from next generation TV platforms, to DRM, to OTT delivery, to devices and Ultra HD. Many of you also work on the bleeding edge of media technology but what came before and what is coming in the future? Well for that I can suggest that you sign up for the John Logie Baird Lecture, "150 Years of Media: Retrospectives & Forecasts around Media Technology Advances".

This free to attend event will go over the past and the future of Media with our key presenters Andrew Curry and Julian Clover, supported by myself and Adriana Whiteley. Register for this at https://events.theiet.org/events/john-logie-baird-jlb-lecture-2021-150-years-of-media-retrospectives-forecasts-around-media-technology-advances/

How about you? What is your recorded first touchpoint to Media Technology?