History of the DVR
Introduction:
In today’s society we are all so consumed and caught up in our lives that we rarely have time to watch our favorite programs and TV shows. This also helps with catching sports programs as well. Say there is a big football game that interferes with your plans and you do not want to miss out on the play by play action, well DVR allows you the opportunity to record the game so you can watch it later when you are less busy. Also, for shows that are on at later times you can record while you are sleeping and you can then watch them later. Another thing DVR enables it’s users to do is to pause and rewind live television. These DVRs have become quite the popular addition to everyone’s electronics at home and are sweeping the nation rapidly.
Biography:
The credit for the invention of the DVR is shared by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay. Jim Barton before the invention of the DVR was a CEO and president of a major software company. Mike Ramsay was also an executive in a different software company at the time. They eventually came to work together at a business called Silicon Graphics and Time Warner’s Full Service Network digital video system. In the beginning, there goal was to work on and eventually create a homing network device but that work ended up leading the inventors to the result of the DVR. Barton and Ramsay went a step up from VCR technology and created the future of video recording through their work of the DVR.
Human Effect:
The effect the DVR has on humans is split up into two different categories which are convenience and advertisements. The main reason people buy a product like DVR is to record their favorite TV shows in case they can’t see it for some reason when it is on its regularly scheduled programming. This is a great and convenient way for people to still see their favorite sitcoms’ or dramas’ without missing it or having to rearrange their own schedule. The only problem is that when the people then have it recorded and in their free time start watching the shows they have taped they start to fast-forward through the commercials. They pass all the advertisements that companies put out on television and don’t allow them the chance to persuade the consumer to buy their product. This could cause a decrease in markets and less opportunity for companies to sell their products.
Discovery:
The discovery of an idea of something like the DVR came in 1956 with the invention of the VCR. The VCR was basically the first version of the DVR. The VCR is a lot less convenient and lacks many of the pluses that the DVR had. For example, Where the DVR can record on its own without you there the VCR in order to tape a program requires your presence to manually record the shows. The upgrade from the VCR to the DVR took about 50 years with many different innovations to get to where it needed to be. It is safe to say that the VCR was the first step of inventing the DVR and without it the Invention of the DVR would have been much more difficult.
Journal:
This journal article was good information on the background of DVR. Personally, since I own one I can agree with the article and the facts that DVR is very beneficial at times. The DVR is very popular because it allows recording our favorite shows and watching them later. This way we will never have to miss out on the world of television.
1. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-dvr-or-digital-video-recorder.htm
2. Journal Article: http://www.ehow.com/about_5583619_digital-video-recorders-faq.html
3. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/03/tivo-turns-the-dvr-into-a-flash-based-app-platform.ars
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