The launch of Sputnik made a huge impact on the world, not only was it a first step in seeing the tremendous potential that could be reached, but it was one of the major events in the early years of television. Four years later Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space, which was of course also a major event. Today it's the 50th anniversary of the launch.
I think the ability to see these things happen is what made them extraordinary at the time.
From an American way of looking at it, it caused awe, fear, competitiveness, among a number of responses when we viewed it on television. The world was no longer the same when you felt like your were there through the magic of television. It was not only a novel experience, but one that caused awe in those watching.
It was events like this that made the television so powerful and a world-changing tool. The box by itself is meaningless, it's what it does to those viewing that had made it such a powerful medium for years.
I mention in the headline that TV changed the world, and it has, but in reality it's the world events that have made TV as well.
SPUTNIK Video 1957
While TV would be interesting without the news, news is still one of the key drivers of the medium, although a lot of that has transferred to the Internet now. Although the visual element remains a key to that success also.
The reason why the Internet is becoming a key source of news, is the growing penetration of broadband access, which allows viewers to watch video online.
Even so, events like Sputnik were the drivers that made video, and thus televsion, the tremendous success it is. It was one of the beginning shots in making the world a smaller place, changing it forever.
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