Tag Archives: RCA

CTA Centennial

Posted on 13 May 2024 by Stewart Wolpin

April 16, 2024, was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CTA (Consumer Technology Association), which started as the RMA (Radio Manufacturers Association). This is a series of essays I have written for TWICE exploring and celebrating CTA’s and the … Continue reading →

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Happy 100th Birthday, Consumer Technology Business

Posted on 4 December 2020 by Stewart Wolpin

Celebrating the 100th birthday of the consumer technology industry with the story behind how and why our business came to be and of those responsible for creating it, in five parts: Part 1: The Wireless Age Part 2: A National Priority Part … Continue reading →

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How the Consumer Technology Industry Was Born

Posted on 1 December 2020 by Stewart Wolpin

What we now call the consumer technology industry was born November 30, 1920, when the first consumer electronics product, the two-piece RA-DA, the first commercially produced radio designed for the mass market, rolled off the Westinghouse assembly line in East … Continue reading →

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CTA Names 2020 Hall Of Fame Class, 3 Innovation Entrepreneurs

Posted on 28 August 2020 by Stewart Wolpin

The engineer who designed the first consumer electronics product that birthed our industry a century ago, the two computer programmers who have been dubbed the “Fathers of the Internet,” the executive who energized Sony and Sirius XM satellite radio, and … Continue reading →

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‘The Current War’ Helps CTA Celebrate 20th Anniversary of Hall of Fame

Posted on 26 November 2019 by Stewart Wolpin

Perhaps the most consequential period in technology history, the first format war that determined how the world would be powered, is lovingly portrayed in the new film, The Current War. The film depicts the business, technological and personality battles that … Continue reading →

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Flashback 1948: Ampex Unveils First Magnetic Tape Recorder

Posted on 5 April 2018 by Stewart Wolpin

Our modern AV world arguably all stems from a single product: the Ampex 200A, the first successful commercial magnetic audiotape recorder, which debuted 70 years ago this month. Read the rest of this post on Sound & Vision here.

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50th Anniversary of CES

Posted on 23 June 2017 by Stewart Wolpin

The first CES took place June 25-28, 1967, and I wrote numerous (admittedly similar) pieces about it for: TWICE – CES Turns 50 Sound & Vision – CES at 50: From Humble Origins to Global Showcase Dealerscope – CES: The Summer … Continue reading →

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Top 10 Gadgets of the Last 50 Years

Posted on 1 January 2017 by Stewart Wolpin

  As part of the CES 50th anniversary commemoration, in my role as newly-minted historian for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA, the industry and lobbying group who produce CES), I helped collect around three dozen historically significant gadgets for display. … Continue reading →

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Tape recording was introduced 70 years ago today

Posted on 16 May 2016 by Stewart Wolpin

It was 2 am on a spring night in 1944 — May 14, to be exact. And thanks to the good fortune of suffering from insomnia, a curious observation by John T. “Jack” Mullin led to the introduction of tape recording and, … Continue reading →

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Happy 125th Birthday, David Sarnoff (David Who?)

Posted on 27 February 2016 by Stewart Wolpin

It is so frustrating that people even within the consumer electronics industry don’t know who David Sarnoff is. I took the opportunity of his 125th birthday (Feb. 27) to explore Sarnoff’s unparalleled impact on technology for a huge chunk of … Continue reading →

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