Inventions in the 90's

1990's Inventions that Changed the World

During the 1990's inventors such as Tim Berners-Lee, Mr. Willy Müller, and La Roche Inc., and inventions such as the DVD player, V-chip, and World Wide Web helped to make life easier and less stressful for Americans. These inventions and inventors paved the way for more creative ideas and technological breakthroughs. When people think about all the gadgets they have at their fingertips now and compare it with technology that was available to them in the 90's, inventions have come a long way. For example, the DVD player was released in 1997 and at first people didn't think it would ever be better than the VCR. However before they knew it, the DVD player was the new way to watch movies. By 2006, 81 percent of American homeowners owned a DVD player. (National Statistics Online)

Another example is the World Wide Web. Before there was even a public internet there was ARPAnet or Advanced Research Projects Agency Networks. "ARPAnet was funded by the United States military after the Cold War with the aim of having a military command and control center that could withstand nuclear attack." (About.com) The point of doing this was to distribute information between distant computers. ARPAnet created a whole new way of thinking. The ARPAnet opened in 1969 and was changed and modified over the course of a couple decades. Finally in 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, called the Father of the Internet, came on the scene. According to his website biography, "In 1989, he proposed a global hypertext project, to be known as the World Wide Web." (About.com) His work on the first HTTP client and server started in October 1990 and hit the internet in 1991. From there, websites and web browsing took off in popularity during the mid 1990's.

Some other great inventions in the 90's were: the smart pill--a computer controlled device which controls where medicine goes in a person's body, the HIV protease inhibitor which is used in the treatment of patients with AIDS, the gas powered fuel cell which was used to make energy, Java web language, the digital answering machine and WEB TV. In many cases, the technology that was created in the 90's has been improved and become more popular over the years. However some of the great toy inventions of the 1990's which were popular then, aren't so popular now. Toys like Tomagotchi, Gameboys, Beanie Babies, and Furbies were huge hits for kids in the 90's, but now they have either been modified to better toys or they are hard to find at all.

Each one of the inventions in the 90's helped or changed the world a little bit! The smart pill changed the way medicine works in patients. The HIV protease inhibitors are also considered the "first breakthrough in over a decade of AIDS research." (About.com) The first bus was powered by a fuel cell in 1993 along with some fuel-cell powered cars which changed the way people look at energy. Finally, the DVD player and World Wide Web changed the way people use technology.

Also, there are a few good household items that were invented in the 1990's. In 1993, the U.S. Air Force launched the 24th Navstar satellite into space, making a network of satellites known as the Global Positioning System or more commonly known as GPS. Also in 1993, James Dyson created the bagless vacuum cleaner, and George Forman came out with his own line of grills. The George Forman grill is now a $150 million dollar industry! All three of these are examples of inventions from the 90's that have made life less stressful!

In conclusion, all of these inventions and inventors have done their part in making the world a simpler place to live. They have changed the way the world looks at technology, entertainment, energy efficiency, and more. Without some of these inventions, life would be very different. Just one invention can spark the mind of someone else to create something even better. People should be thankful for all the great inventions they have now because they really help to make their lives easier, and much more efficient! Imagine what the future holds!

The DVD Player

The DVD player which stands for the "Digital Video Disc" or "Digital Versatile Disc" player was a major invention in the 90's and is still used today. The DVD player was introduced in November, 1995, and was supported by many movie industries. Its main uses are video and data storage. DVDs are the same size as compact discs (CDs), but store more than six times as much data. The first players appeared in Japan in 1996. The following year the DVD player was released in the United States. Philips was the first to make the DVD player, but "the invention of the DVD player cannot be attributed to one person or one company". (About.com:inventors) Many movie industries like Sony, Matsushita, and Toshiba also contributed to the DVD.

The DVD player was an exciting invention in the 90's. It completely took over the VHS industry and changed the way people watched movies! As I briefly discussed in the first article, the DVD wasn't a hit right off the bat. Its pricey value and altogether strangeness to buyers was a turn off. But after time, and with a reduction in price, the DVD player really became popular! To this day we still use it, and more than 75 percent of American homeowners own a DVD player. However, technological inventions are being designed every day and before we know it something new and better will be the latest craze.

Remembering the 90's...

I was working at Channel 7 during the 1990s and there are two events that stand out to me during that time. One of the things I remember most was the Persian Gulf War in the early 90s. During that time a large part of my job in promotion was putting Iowa soldier salutes on TV which honored our local troops that were in Saudi Arabia. It was also scary to me too because the war played out on TV because reporters were on the frontline so we saw firsthand what the fighting really looked like.

Also during the nineties, I remember that there were many popular TV shows that ran on NBC on Thursday nights. The slogan for those years was “Must See TV” and some of the shows during primetime included: The Cosby Show. Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Seinfeld, Will & Grace, Wings, L.A. Law and E.R. It was a fun time to work at a TV station because I was in my late 20s-early 30s and NBC was #1 in the ratings.

All of our children were born in the 90s. Kaity was born in 1992, Lauren was born in 1995 and Nathan was born in 1998 so when we weren’t working, Ron and I were busy raising our family. Technology was really changing in the 90s, but even though the DVD player and PlayStation were really big at that time, it didn’t affect our family because our kids were little. We were buying things like an interactive Barney, beanie babys, teletubbies, and furbies. Most of all, Disney movies were huge for our family. There were many good movies that came out during that decade. We loved Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story 1 and 2, The Lion King, A Bug’s Life, 101 Dalmatians and Mulan.

-Sherree S.