Television is one of the latest inventions of science. It is only since late 1970’s that the television has become an indispensable household gadget in the developing countries.
However, television has become the most popular pushing behind all other mass media. It helps disseminate knowledge and information among the entire global population. The prominence and utility of the television has risen with the development of satellite links which enables telecasting live programmes from all corners of the world.
The presence of a television in a home has both advantages and disadvantages. Advantages are not far to seek. News feature, for example, has the added advantage of visuals which show to the viewers the fury of nature in form of tremors and earthquakes, floods and famines, as also the ravages of war, the heinous activities of the terrorists, the errors that have caused irreparable loss, like the recent crash of Space Shuttle Columbia, etc.
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The viewers can also see the live programmes or clippings of various important events. There are entertaining programmes for those who watch television at leisure, there are
comic strips and other films for children, there are educational programmes for the school and college students and quiz contents for the inquisitive. There are different channels to satisfy the interests of one and all. Culture, history, science, sports, social life, trade and commerce, national and international politics, nearly all fields of life is brought before us in visuals almost instantaneously.
Although there are innumerable advantages as mentioned above, there are certainly some pull backs which cannot be ignored. There is a general belief that children learn more from the television than from their teachers, textbooks and parents put together. This trend can certainly be turned to one’s advantage, but one should be aware that children may develop nefarious impulses by seeing horror movies, crime thrillers and other such things.
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It cannot be denied that viewing the television consumes time. At the same time, it enables the viewer to learn the story or the contents of a novel in three hours or less without troubling oneself to read through it.
Because television imparts knowledge through the senses of hearing and seeing simultaneously, an in-depth and a healthy learning in ease, becomes possible. The video tapes, the video cassette recorder and video cassette player comes to our help when we indulge in audio visual learning.
Television, therefore, is a positive need to relieve oneself from the monotony of modern life. It is, no doubt, an invaluable luxury.