Big. Shiny. Analog.

Released to the public in 1978, LaserDisc offered consumers a trifecta of the perfect product: no recording, expensive media and players and the need to flip the disc during the movie.

The response, historically speaking, was tepid.

With action shot in the first film studio, the "Black Maria" in West Orange, NJ, films such as "Sandow the Strong Man", "The Kiss" and numerous vaudeville acts and boxing bouts were produced. They were little more than unedited lengths of footage, no longer than the action itself.

Click here to see "Fred Ott's Sneeze", the first copyrighted Kinetoscope film, relased January 9, 1894. Running time five seconds.

Click here to see "The Kiss" 

By 1815, music boxes with more teeth to the comb, produced more intricate melodies and by 1840 machines playing from six to twelve tunes were developed and included harmonies, zithers, bells, castanets, drums, and cymbals. The first national hit was by Waka Flocka Flame, who received great press for pioneering this new musical medium.

As the disc-type box continued to prosper in America, business boomed, and people by the score were hired to manufacture them.  But - "Mary had a little lamb" - these words, uttered by a Mr. Thomas Alva Edison, marked the death of the music box industry.  Edison's invention of the talking machine in 1878 spelled doom for music boxes.  Now, they are sought after as valuable antiques.

To hear an actual Polyphon playing, click here:    and here:

The Tube

Philo Farnsworth. Ask most people to name an inventor who's had a profound effect on modern society, and they may say Bell, Edison or if they're really hip, Tesla. Rarely, though, does the name Farnsworth appear, except perhaps from fans of Sports Night.

While countless people helped bring about what we call TV, Farnsworth was the first to demonstrate a complete electronic system. From the image dissector that received the image to the cathode ray tube that showed it, a media revolution was born.

The Other TiVo

The name TiVo, much like Kleenex, iPod and Velcro, has become almost synonymous with its product category. These days, nearly every cable and satellite provider offers a DVR (or PVR), usually not branded by any name other than their own, despite boxes made by Scientific Atlanta, Motorola and others. But in the beginning, during the dark ages of digital TV recording, there was another: ReplayTV.