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Transistor
Radios: Nowadays everyone seems to be plugged in—cell phones, iPods, portable DVD players, wireless laptops. It’s easy to forget a time when no one walked around with a phone or earplug stuck in their ear, a time when the radio sat on the kitchen counter and the television was encased in a heavy wood laminated cabinet in the living room. Yet, as a generation, we witnessed the birth of one of the very first portable electronic devices, and it was boomers, as teens, who made this device a part of almost every household at the time. The popularity of the transistor radio paved the way for the mass consumer electronics market of today. The first commercial transistor radio was the Regency TR-1, introduced in time for Christmas in 1954. Transistor radios were pricey at first but as the cost came down, they rose in popularity. Although Regency first introduced the transistor radio, it was Sony that ran with it, marketing it to teens and adults alike. The pocket-sized radios were battery operated, completely portable and came with an earphone jack (although most people just held them up to their ears). They were small enough to fit in your pocket, purse or beach bag. Transistor radios came in a multitude of colors including the wonderful colors associated with the era such as coral and turquoise, as well as red, white, green, gray and black. Many were two-toned and decorated with stars, "v"-shapes and other visual delights. Why were transistors so popular? Transistor radios could be made much smaller than traditional portable radios of the time because they used transistors instead of the larger vacuum tubes to amplify sound. Transistors also enabled the device to work with a lot less power than a tubed radio. Transistor radios were primarily responsible for another new market, that of the small, replaceable 9 Volt batteries used to power them. By today’s standards, the sound wasn’t great (in fact, it was pretty bad) but it quickly became the constant companion of teenagers at the beach. They became very popular with sports fans, too, because they could listen for the scores from wherever they were. Known as one of the most popular communication devices ever, there are still billions (one expert says about seven billion) in operation today. Sony and other companies still make transistor radios, and there is a small but devoted number of old transistor radio fans and collectors.
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professor at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Dr. Steven Reyer,
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