Aug. 7, 1955: Tune In Tokyo!

08-08-2009 • Wired

1954 things started to change.

In that year Tokyo Telecommunications picked up a patent from Bell Laboratories and license from Western Electric to make transistor radios in Japan.

The TR-55 served as the template for almost all the portable gadgets we use today. Everything from the iPod to the Game Boy can trace its basic handheld design to the TR-55’s form factor. More importantly, use of the transistor became widespread in all electronics allowing for the development of LCD TVs, smartphones and netbooks.

You know, basically all of the stuff Sony makes today.

 

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