Television?

What was the economic importance of Television in the like 50s, 60s & like 70s? Was it because it was like a must-need item & everyone had one or what? Please help?

The History of television technology can be divided along two lines: those developments that depended upon both mechanical and electronic principles, and those which are purely electronic.

Television usage in the United States skyrocketed after World War II with the lifting of the manufacturing freeze, war-related technological advances, the gradual expansion of the television networks westward, the drop in set prices caused by mass production, increased leisure time, and additional disposable income.

Although much of the discussion around television's impact on society has been negative, media theorist Joshua Meyrowitz argues that the medium has less of a stranglehold pushing its viewers and more of a handhold, guiding its views to areas and subjects to which they were previously denied access.

More negative interpretations of television’s social effects exist as well. As television became the increasingly dominant form of mass communication, critics complained of how poorly the medium lived up to its promise of serving the public interest, most notably in Newton N. Minow's 1961 speech describing the "vast wasteland" that was television programming of the day. Television was characterized as the "boob tube", a mindless occupation and time filler.[1]

Since its invention, television has been accused of testing the limits of propriety in society. This is in contrast to author Milton Shulman’s example of television in the 1960s, where “TV cartoons showed cows without udders and not even a pause was pregnant,” and on-air vulgarity was much more frowned upon. Shulman writes that even by the 1970s, television was shaping the ideas of propriety and appropriateness in the countries the medium blanketed. He asserts that, as a particularly “pervasive and ubiquitous” medium, the TV can create a comfortable familiarity with and acceptance of language and behavior once deemed socially unacceptable. Television, as well as influencing its viewers, evokes an imitative response from other competing media as they struggle to keep pace and retain viewer- or readership. [2]

Complaints about the social influence of television can also be heard from the justice system as investigators and prosecutors alike decry what they refer to as “the CSI Syndrome.” They complain that, because of the popularity and considerable viewership of CSI and its spinoffs, juries today expect to be “dazzled,” and will acquit criminals of charges unless presented with impressive physical evidence, even when motive, testimony, and lack of alibi are presented by the prosecution

the drug of a nation . . . breeding ignorance and feeding radiation.

Well it gave a new form of advertisement to reach a bigger audience. And with the baby boom and families growing, these families needed a way to connect with each other. Therefore, the TV came and it became a new tool for everyone to enjoy.

because it was somthing new, and everyone had one..