Past Forward: The First Transistor Radio
On 1 November 1954, the first transistor radio hit store shelves just in time for the holiday shopping season. The Regency TR-1 was advertised as the world's first pocket radio, although at 12.7 by 8.7 by 3.5 centimeters, it required pretty big pockets—literally and figuratively. The radio sold for US $49.95, or more than $580 today, which is coincidentally about what it'll cost you to buy one on eBay. Still, the radio was significantly smaller than any vacuum-tube model.
Authors
- Allison Marsh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5768-3039)
Publication Details
- Journal
- IEEE Spectrum
- Published
- 2024-10-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1109/mspec.2024.10705383
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- History of Computing Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.41