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Technology  communication Mobile phone technology was developed in the 1940s. Most phones were installed in cars, due to the huge battery requirements. Calls were handled by base stations with antennas, and once you were out of range, you were out of luck. In cellular technology, each base area is known as a cell. The calls are relayed by cell towers, which have the ability to send calls to other cells. Battery technology was also improved, and in 1983 Motorola introduced the first portable cell phone, which was affectionately known as the "brick." Cell phone ownership increased dramatically in the 1990s. In 1995, 23 percent of the population had a cell phone. This figure increased to 58 percent by 2000. In 1995, cordless phones were owned by 59 percent of the population, and answering machines were owned by 60 percent. The 800 area code was first used for toll-free phone numbers in 1967. By 1996, all available numbers had been assigned, and new toll-free area codes were established. We began using the 888 area code in 1996, the 877 area code in 1998 and the 866 area code in 2000.  Before cell phones became smaller and more affordable, pagers enjoyed a brief period of popularity. car phones cell phones pagers answering machines cordless phones caller ID automated phone systems calling cards "bag" phones video In the 1990s, the VCR was still king. 88 percent of American households had a VCR in 1995. A very small percentage (2 percent) owned a laserdisc machine. DVDs were still too new to make much of an impact, having been introduced in 1997. Only 18 percent of households had a DVD player in 2000. 66 percent of American homes subscribed to cable TV in 1998. By this time, however, standard cable was being challenged by digital cable and DSS satellite systems. RCA introduced its DIRECTV service in 1994, and the DISH Network was launched in 1996. People who were "video challenged" could use VCRPlus+ to program their VCRs to tape their favorite shows. VCRs videotapes camcorders DSS satellite systems DVDs (1997) high-definition TV (1998) closed-captioning digital cable VCRPlus+ DIVX big-screen TVs telecorders (TV/VCR combo) | ----- | audio The CD-R was introduced in 1988, and the CD-RW was introduced in 1997. These blank recordable CDs were originally used to store computer data and programs. A CD-R cannot be reused, while a CD-RW can be re-written up to 1,000 times. The recording process is known as "burning a CD." Very few people had CD burners before the late 1990s. Once the technology became widespread, the development of the .mp3 audio format inspired people to start using CD burners to create music CDs. Buying and listening to music would never be the same. The Sony MiniDisc was introduced in 1992. It was available in two formats: prerecorded discs that functioned like a standard CD, and recordable discs.  The CD was introduced in 1982. By 1993, it was the #1 recording format, having surpassed record albums in 1988 and cassettes in 1993. By 1990, most record stores were selling their last remaining vinyl albums for $1 each to get rid of them. CDs elaborate car stereos boom-boxes with CD players Sony Discman home theater systems with "surround sound" Sony MiniDisc (1992) CD burners CD-R CD-RW (1997) .mp3 format (1998)  computers In the late 1990s, floppy disks were on their way out, as more computer users stored their data on CDs and Zip disks. In 1998, the Apple iMac was the first computer designed without a floppy disk drive. Two new formats made it possible to download high-quality audio files and store them on your computer. The .wav format was introduced as part of the Windows 3.1 package in 1992, and the .mp3 format was introduced by RCA in 1998. Digital camera technology was developed for the NASA space program in the 1960s. During the 1970s and 1980s, a few very expensive digital cameras were available for professional use, and were designed to be connected to a TV for slide shows. In 1994, the Apple QuickTake 100 was the first affordable digital camera intended for use with computers. CD-ROM software: ------clipart & greeting cards ------Quicken (tax preparation) ------Encarta encyclopedia ------create your own amusement park PDAs (personal digital assistants) lap-top computers iMac (1998) digital cameras (1994) web cams Zip drives (1994) memory chips laser-jet printers PowerPoint Windows 3.1 (1992) Windows NT (1993) Windows 95 (1995) Windows 98 (1998) .wav files (1992) .mp3 format (1998) Adobe PhotoShop (1990)  ------
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The Internet & | ----- |
the world wide web The World Wide Web (WWW) is just one of many services that operate over the internet. A universal language (html) and standard software programs (browsers) allow you to access digital documents hosted by special computers (web servers). Rather than link entire computers together, the whole procedure is simplified because only the documents are linked. This service quickly became very popular, creating the internet revolution that we know today. The WWW began operating in 1991, with one web server and four web pages. web browsers The first web browser was developed by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the WWW concept. Next came Lynx, which was a text-only browser. Midas and Viola were browsers written for Unix computer users. The web pages in existence at the time contained graphics, but they could only be seen by people who used computers that were compatible with the browsers. When Mosaic was introduced in 1993, it made the graphics viewable to everyone, and the use of images on web pages began to increase. Netscape Navigator was introduced in 1994, and Opera and Internet Explorer were introduced in 1995. world wide web access Access to the WWW is provided by companies known as internet service providers. In 1992, the dial-up online services began to add WWW access to their regular internet offerings. Delphi was the first, followed by Prodigy, Compuserve, and America Online in 1995. explosive growth The growth of the internet and WWW were phenomenal. Soon, it became impossible to tell where one stopped and the other began. 1991: 5,000 networks, 4 million users, 1 web server, 4 web pages. By the end of the year, there were 10 web servers. 1992: 7,500 networks, 20 million users, 50 websites on 26 web servers. 1993: at the beginning of the year, there were 130 websites on 50 servers. By the end of the year, there were 623 websites on 200 servers. WWW use accounted for 1 percent of all internet traffic. 1994: 10,000 websites. 1995: 23,500 websites. 1996: 603,367 websites, 10 million host computers. In the U.S., the amount of e-mail sent during this year surpassed the amount of postal mail for the first time. 1997: 1 million websites. 1998: 4 million websites, 2 million domain names. 1999: 10 million websites, 40 million host computers. great new featuresIn 1992, the term "surfing the internet" was first used. In 1993, both the White House and the United Nations established websites. 1994 gave us the first banner ads, the first cyberbank, the first city websites and an online web page guide known as Yahoo! In 1995, we had search engines, Java applets, RealAudio and a $50 fee for registering a domain name. At tax time, the IRS established a website providing assistance and downloadable tax forms. In 1996, WebTV was introduced. This product used a standard TV to provide WWW access to people who didn't want the hassle or expense of buying a computer. The late 1990s brought some new problems. These included viruses and worms, fraudulent websites, spam (junk e-mail) and copyright infringement issues. The most famous case involved Napster, a free music-sharing site founded by a college student in 1999. The music industry sued Napster, and finally succeeded in shutting it down in 2001. In 2003, it returned as a legal pay site with a new owner. | ||
Consumer Products  food & drink Baked Lay's potato chips Mountain Dew bottled water Zima gourmet coffee veggieburgers beer from microbreweries Snapple stuffed-crust pizza dolphin-safe tuna  as seen on TV: home shopping networks In 1977, a Florida radio station held an on-air auction of merchandise they received from an advertiser in lieu of payment. The concept became a regular feature on the station, and when it moved to cable TV in 1981, the Home Shopping Network (HSN) was born. The channel went nationwide in 1985. The QVC shopping channel was launched in 1986. In November of that year, it debuted on 58 cable systems in 20 states. QVC HSN Suzanne Somers diet books Marie Osmond Dolls Joan Rivers jewelry Connie Stevens cosmetics Diamonique "Today's Special Value" Black Hills Gold Signature Club A makeup Tovah Borgnine cosmetics dishing the dirt with Kathy Levine  The half-hour infomercial was born in 1984, when the government lifted the regulations limiting the length of TV commercials. They hit their stride in the early 1990s and have been entertaining insomniacs ever since. as seen on TV: infomercials Great Looking Hair (in a spray can!) ProActiv acne treatment Perfect Hair (hair extensions) Caruso Molecular Hair Setter Making Money With Don Lapre Kenny Kingston Psychic Hotline Psychic Friends Network Victoria Jackson makeup Time-Life Hits Of The 80s Real Estate Investing with Carlton Sheets Mega Memory with Kevin Trudeau  Hair loss getting you down? With GLH (Great Looking Hair), hair replacement is just a spray can away! 
| ----- |  hair, face & body Glitter was everywhere....in soap, in body spray and in Lip Smackers. If you enjoyed ripping your leg hairs out by the root, then Epilady was just what you needed. 
body glitterEpilady glitter soap nylon mesh shower sponges Bonne Bell Lip Smackers Hairdini Topsy-Tail hair scrunchies shower gel Cucumber Melon bath products 
home shopping from your computer The auction site known as eBay got its start in 1995 as AuctionWeb. It was originally just a small part of the founder's website, which was named "eBay.com" after his consulting firm, Echo Bay Technology Group. In 1997, the auction page took over the entire website, where it became the eBay site that we know today. eBay Peapod Amazon.com  advertising Bugle Boy jeans: "Excuse me, are those Bugle Boy jeans you're wearing?" Mentos breath mints: "Mentos, the freshmaker!" Hair Club For Men: "I'm not only the Hair Club president, I'm also a client" Taco Bell: "Yo quiero Taco Bell!" ICS correspondence schools: "At ICS, more than ten million men and women have trained for new careers without setting foot inside a classroom." Motel 6: "I'm Tom Bodet, and we'll leave the light on for ya" Budweiser: "I love you, man!" Budweiser: "Bud-Weis-Er" The Budweiser Frogs 
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