I don't know about you, but I've always regarded the transistor radio as a perfect inhabitant of Future Past. Sure, it's horrible. It's an ugly little plastic box, reception is terrible, the tiny speaker is painful to listen to and the programming is enough to drive you 'round the twist, but it's also a remarkable invention that suddenly puts contact with the entire world in the palm of your hand.
If you want a real image of progress, it's a Masai warrior listening to pop tunes on his tranny.
I was working in the Magnavox research lab in LA years ago. One of the engineers brought in a little plastic thing he called an integrated circuit. He tried to solder it to a breadboard with a 250 watt soldering gun. It was quickly melted. OH well we thought that the end of these things.....
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