Inventions and lifestyle

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Charles Ginsburg was born on July 27, 1920 in San Francisco, California. He originaly thought about being a doctor and was enrolled in a per-med course of study. At the age of 20 he was working as a sound technician and later as a studio and transmitter engineer for a local radio station. Meanwhile he also graduated from San Jose State University in California in 1948.

It's important to remember that the first radio and television programes were broadcast live. thi means that whatever happened was transmitted. these early shows were never recorded because there was no recording equipment. Movies weremade in studio with large cameras and sound recording equipment. Tape recording of television signals began around 1945 but the equipment was inadequate for the task.

in 1944, the Ampex Electric and Manufactoring Company, today just called Ampex Corporation, was formed by Alexander M. Poniatoff in San Carlos, California to develope and sell electronic equipment. In 1951, Poniatoff invited Ginsburg  to work at Ampex and lead to research team to develope a recording device suitable for television. By 1956 Ginsburg's team successfully developed a system that used a rapidly rotating recording head to apply high-frequency signals onto a reel of magnetic tape. This new equipment allowed for recorded televosion programs that could be edited to replace most live broadcast.

The new machine was called the Ampex VRX-1000. It was later renamed the Mark IV. The Ampex VRX-1000 was first used by the CBS television network in 1956 who bought the machine for $50,000. Since 1958, NASA has used Ampex recording equipment for all space mission.

In 1975 Ginsburg became Vice President of Advance Development of Ampex Corporation. He remained at Ampex until 1986 when he retired. Ginsburg died in Eugene, Oregon in 1992. Ginsburg won numeruous awards for technical achivement in the field of radio and television.

Explaine why the first televisions shows in the 1940s and 1950s were broadcast live.