This is the story of a rather humble little object. Almost every electronic device contains these little pill-shaped items. The subject of this article is, of course, the transistor. Transistors didn’t just change the shape of devices when they were first popularized in the middle of the 20th Century. They changed the way in which people – young people especially – interacted with audio culture. It is quite possible to attribute some of the responsibility for the birth of the teenager, the subcultural explosion, and the rise of pop music to the diminutive little transistor. What, then, do these devices do?
What Is A Transistor?
A transistor is a semiconductor device capable of regulating voltage and current. It can also act as a switch controlling the flow of electricity around a circuit. They contain three layers of semiconductor material, each capable of carrying a current. They were invented in 1947 at Bell Laboratories in the United States and quickly replaced valve tubes in consumer and military electronics. Valve tubes performed the same function but were immensely fragile and far larger than transistors. The popularization of the transistor allowed for the miniaturization of electronics. They also proved to be cheaper to manufacture than valves. These days, transistors are dirt cheap. Hobbyists looking to buy transistors for PCB design, radio projects, and robotics projects can get ahold of good examples without breaking the bank.
The Power Of Radio
Radio was an immensely important medium in the post-war years. A new generation of children that had been born during or directly after the war were seeking to carve out an identity in a society dominated by patriotism, McCarthyistic anticommunism and parents beset by the effects of PTSD. Music offered a way to cement and celebrate independence. The first rock and roll artists, inspired by African American gospel and R’N’B, were hitting the scene. But how could young people consume this music? Records and record players were expensive. Radios were large, valve amplified devices confined to the home – where elder relatives would inevitably use them. The integration of transistors into cheap, battery-powered radios allowed them to be taken out into the wild by young people. Pocket radios like the Regency TR-1 became incredibly popular.
The Impact
This technological boom quite literally spread music around the cities and towns of the United States. Music – such a social and interactive medium – had been confined to homes and venues for many people during the early 20th Century in cities. The tradition of folk and blues communal singing had not spread from the countryside to the new disassociated suburban middle classes.
With the miniaturization of the radio aided by the transistor, young people could listen to music independently. They started basing their identities upon the music they listened to – creating the birth of modern youth subculture. Radio stations and record labels started to recognize this newly independent strain in the young, and the music industry’s pluralization started in earnest. This, in turn, led to political plurality.
