The Generation Gap

Compared to the 1930s, sound recording, radio, movies, and television has drastically changed. George Flugaur, a retired high-school teacher and college professor, well understands these contrasts because he was in his teens during the 1930s, and is still active with today’s technology. Nonetheless, Flugaur is astonished by the significant technological differences between his generation and the current generation.
Sound technology largely contrasts between the current and Flugaur’s generation. Flugaur notes that during his youth, a record had a diameter of about 12 inches. In 1945, the diameter went down to 6 inches, which he believed to be a significant size reduction. However, Flugaur admits that he had not foreseen the format of a record to change to a compact disk (CD), nor did he predict that the diameter could decrease to a mere 120 mm in diameter.
Flugaur emphasized the undesirable aspect of the record’s inconveniently large size. Aside from this drawback, Flugaur admits, operating the actual record player was even less convenient.
“We had a wind up,” he explains. “The volume was controlled by opening and closing shutters.”
Personally, I find the size of a CD to be an irritation; hence, I cannot wrap my mind around the idea of dealing with the size of a record. However, my irritation of the CD is rational. Since downloading music into an MP3 is more time-worthy and normal for me, lugging around a CD in a large CD player seems irrational to me.
Combined with the inconvenient large size of the record and the difficulties of operating an actual record player, Flugaur admits that discovering variations of music was difficult during his generation. He recalls that the only means of finding new artists or music was either by hearing them on the radio, or by going to the “dime stores” and “music stores.” Though still unfamiliar with how to actually use current software, Flugaur is fascinated how easy it is for one to find a variety of artists. Radio stations (including online stations), billboard advertisements, and commercials are just the beginning, Flugaur admits. He looks forward to better understanding how to use iTunes or LimeWire so he can better “discover” musical artists the same way I do.
When radios became affordable, Flugaur’s father was “one of the first” to purchase one. Flugaur admits that his first radio was difficult to operate due to the “many dials,” space-consuming size, unclear stations, and having to replace the radio’s “tubes.” However, there were benefits to the old fashioned radios.
“My older brother could get stations from other countries,” says Flugaur.
The family’s second radio was more convenient (though sadly unable to catch stations oversees). Flugaur recalls the clearer stations being the most memorable benefit of replacing their radio.
What Flugaur admires most about today’s radio is that the parts of radios are not usually replaced and station clearness is rarely an inconvenience or an issue. If a part of a radio does need to be replaced, the whole set is usually thrown out and a new radio is brought in due to the cheapness of today’s radios, which Flugaur enjoys because he has gotten the opportunity to try out several different styles of radio sets. Station clearness is not usually an issue, especially since the update into satellite radio (i.e. XM Radio).
Honestly, station clearness and radio efficiency does not even come to my mind when I think of the radio. The only thing I worry about when tuning into a radio station is whether the station is on a commercial break or not.
Flugaur was not able to attain a television set when it was first introduced to the market due to the expensiveness and their house’s inability to “catch television stations.” After the price of the television lowered significantly and television technology improved, the Flugaur family bought a second-hand Sylvania for $50. However, shortly after, they were able to update to a color television.
“A week (after we bought the Sylvania), the older children and I went bowling,” says Flugaur. “I won a color TV by getting a strike.”
Attaining a television has never raised a red flag in my mind. In fact, there are six televisions in the house I live in (an equal distribution of three TVs in the basement and three in the upstairs). To me, TV’s are everywhere. The only people I know who don’t have a TV are people who make an effort not to own a TV.
Today, Flugaur realizes that his family was somewhat ripped off when purchasing their second-hand television. Although, like others from his generation, he believe he received a better “bang-for-his-buck” when purchasing movie tickets.
In 2008, the average matinee movie viewing costs about four dollars, which includes previews, a movie, and sometimes a short cartoon before the movie (if the movie is child-orientated). Flugaur recalls that, when he was young, matinees were only $0.10 cents and included both a film and a feature film.
For me, I am glad that today’s movies only have previews and the actual movie. Usually I have to plan to see a movie, making it barely fit into my schedule. This also contrasts with my grandpa’s movie-going experience. In his day, he explains, going to view a movie was an all-day experience, not an event one “squeezes” into their schedule.
The entertainment industry has drastically changed for Flugaur. More benefits than drawbacks have occurred in sound recording, radio, television, and movies have. Flugaur believes that neither generation is better than the other. Simply, one generation builds off the other, and someday, another generation is going to look back at the current generation in astonishment.