Retro Business Series Episode 2 - CRT Monitors

The influence of the physical environment and modern technology on the workplace, and the worker can be clearly demonstrated by the enduring story of the development and launch of the flat screen.  

As we now all enjoy a cinema experience at home, sitting with a gallon of popcorn, watching the latest blockbuster movies 3 metres away from our state of the art 50 inch televisions, there was a time where this device was much smaller and had a backside bigger than Beyonce.  

Similarly, the cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor in the workplace was standard operating procedure for industry for almost four decades, in spite of the fact that three clever professors from the University of Illinois had already invented the first flat panel television in 1964.

Unfortunately the pace of change in technology was slower back then and flat screen computer monitors and televisions would not arrive on our desks and in our lounges until the mid to late 1990's, coincidentally around the same time Beyonce started singing to us!