Technological "Firsts" at Westport Tech & Nostalgia Museum
Technological “Firsts” in Westport Tech & Nostalgia Museum
The following is a list of every technological “first” that Westport Tech & Nostalgia Museum preserves, displays, and documents in our “Westport 100” flagship collection. These exhibits are documented to have been the pioneers in their prospective industries, and were instrumental in shaping a new category of technology.
AUDIO FIRSTS
1911 - Victrola VV-IV: First Affordable, Internal Horn Phonograph
1920 - Crystal Radio: First Widely-Adopted Consumer Radios
1954 - Regency TR-1: First Commercially-Released Transistor Radio, First Consumer Product to Use Transistors
1961 - Channel Master 6546: First Commercially-Released Micro-Pack Player in the United States
1964 - Norelco EL 3301: First Commercially-Released Cassette Recorder in the United States
1966 - “Wild is the Wind” by Nina Simone on Cassette: First Album Released on Cassette Tape
1979 - Sony Walkman TPS-L2: First Commercially-Released Portable Stereo Cassette Player
1982 - Sony CDP-101: First Commercially-Released Compact Disc Player
1982 - “The Simon & Garfunkel Collection” Original Japanese Pressing 35DP-13: One of the First 13 Albums Released on Compact Disc
1984 - Sony D-5: First Commercially-Released Portable Compact Disc Player
1985 - “Brothers In Arms” By Dire Straits on Compact Disc: First Album to Sell 1 Million Copies on Compact Disc
1992 - Sony MZ-1 MiniDisc Walkman: First Commercially-Released MiniDisc Player
1998 - Diamond Rio PMP-300: First Commercially-Successful MP3 Player
2001 - Apple iPod 1st Generation: First iPod Model
COMPUTER INDUSTRY FIRSTS
1961 - IBM Selectric I: First Commercially-Released Electric Typewriter with a “Golf Ball” Typing Element
1972 - Hewlett Packard HP-35: First Commercially-Released Pocketable Scientific Calculator
1973 - Hewlett Packard HP-45: First Commercially-Released Scientific Calculator with a Shift Key
1975 - Cray-1 Supercomputer Module Fragment & Chip: First Commercially-Released Supercomputer
1977 - Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1: First Mass-Market, Fully Assembled Personal Computers Available at Retail
1979 - Texas Instruments TI-99/4: First Commercially-Released 16-Bit Home Computer
1979 - VisiCalc: First Commercially-Released Computer Spreadsheet Program
1980 - Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computer PC-1: First Commercially-Released BASIC-Based Computers to Fit in a Pocket
1980 - Commodore VIC-20: First Commercially-Released Computer to Sell 1 Million Units
1981 - IBM PC 5150: First Commercially-Released Personal Computer Marketed Specifically Towards Businesses
1981 - Osborne 1: First Commercially-Successful Portable Computer
1982 - Commodore 64: First Personal Computer to Sell 10 Million Units, Best-Selling Single Computer of All Time
1982 - Timex Sinclair 1000: First Commercially-Released Personal Computer Under $100
1983 - Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100: First Commercially-Successful “Notebook-Style” Computer
1983 - WYSE WY-50: First Mass-Produced Computer Terminal
1983 - Compaq Portable: First Commercially-Released 100% IBM-Compatible PC
1983 - IBM Model 7257 “Freeboard”: First Mass-Produced Wireless Keyboard
1984 - IBM PCjr.: First Mass-Produced Personal Computer with a Wireless Keyboard
1984 - Apple Macintosh 128K: First Commercially-Successful Personal Computer with a Mouse and Graphical User Interface
1984 - Seiko DATA-2000: First Commercially-Released “Smartwatch”
1985 - Commodore Amiga 1000: First True, Commercially-Successful Multimedia Computer
1985 - Microsoft Excel 1.0: First Microsoft Excel Version
1986 - Casio IF-8000: First Commercially-Released Digital Organizers with a Touchscreen
1989 - Atari Portfolio: First Commercially-Released PalmTop PC
1991 - Apple PowerBook 170: One of Apple’s First Commercially-Successful Laptops
1993 - Connectix QuickCam: First Commercially-Released Web Cam
1993 - Apple Newton MessagePad H1000: First Commercially-Released Personal Digital Assistant
1993 - Canon NoteJet 486: First Commercially-Released Laptop to Feature a Fully-Integrated BubbleJet Printer
1996 - Palm Pilot 1000: First Commercially-Successful Personal Digital Assistant
1998 - Apple iMac G3: First Commercially-Released “USB-Only” Computer
1999 - Apple iBook G3 Clamshell: First Commercially-Released Computer with Fully-Integrated WiFi Capabilities
1999 - Apple AirPort Base Station “Graphite”: First Mass-Produced WiFi Router
2010 - Apple iPad 1st Generation: First iPad Model
2012 - Samsung ChromeBox 1st Generation: First Desktop Computer to Use ChromeOS
VIDEO/PICTURE FIRSTS
1935 - Kodak Kodachrome Slides: First Commercially-Successful Color Film
1948 - Pilot TV-37: First Commercially-Released Television Under $100
1948 - Polaroid Model 95: First Commercially-Released Instant Camera
1956 - “I Love Lucy Christmas Show” VHS (First Aired 1956): First Clip-Show-Style Episode on Television
1972 - Sony Trinitron KV-1710: First Television Receiver to Win an Emmy Award
1977 - RCA SelectaVision VBT200: First Commercially-Released VHS Recorder in the United States
1978 - “M*A*S*H” on VHS (Magnetic Video): One of the First 50 Titles Released on the VHS Format
1981 - RCA SelectaVision SFT-100W: First Commercially-Released CED Player
1981 - “Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown!” on CED: First Movie Title Pressed on CED in the United States
1982 - Sony Watchman FD-210: First Commercially-Released Television to Fit in a Pocket
1983 - Sony Betamovie BMC-110: First Commercially-Released All-in-One Camcorder
1984 - JVC VideoMovie GR-C1U: First Commercially-Released VHS All-in-One Camcorder, First VHS-C Camcorder
1984 - Pioneer LD-700: First Commercially-Released Solid-State LaserDisc Player
1994 - Apple QuickTake 100: First Commercially-Released Color Digital Camera Under $1000
1995 - “Toy Story” VHS: First Feature-Length Fully-Computer-Animated Film
1995 - Casio QV-10: First Commercially-Released Digital Camera with a Built-in LCD Screen to View Photos
1996 - “Twister”, “Goodfellas”, and “The Fugitive” on DVD: Three of the First 30 Movies Released on the DVD Format in the United States
1997 - Toshiba SD-2006: First Commercially-Released DVD Player in the United States
1997 - Sony Mavica MVC-FD5: First Commercially-Released Still Digital Camera to Record Media on Floppy Disks
1998 - Sony Mavica MVC-FD81: First Commercially-Released Digital Video Camera to Record Media on Floppy Disks
1998 - Panasonic DVD-L10: First Commercially-Released Portable DVD Player
2006 - “The Terminator” Original Blu-Ray Disc: One of the First Seven Movies Released on Blu-Ray
2006 - Samsung BD-P1000: First Commercially-Released Blu-Ray Player
2006 - Toshiba HD-A1: First Commercially-Released High-Definition Optical Player
2006 - “Serenity” on HD-DVD: One of the First Four Film Titles Released on HD-DVD
COMMUNICATION FIRSTS
1963 - Western Electric 1500D: First Commercially-Released Push-Button Telephone
1964 - Motorola PageBoy I: First Commercially-Released Pager
1971 - Phone Mate 400: First Commercially-Successful Residential Answering Machine
1995 - Motorola Tango 2-Way Pager: First Commercially-Released Two-Way Messaging Pager
1996 - RIM Inter@ctive Pager 900: First Commercially-Released Two-Way Pager with a Full QWERTY Keyboard
2002 - Sanyo SCP-5300: First Commercially-Released Mobile Phone with a Camera in the United States
2004 - Motorola Razr V3: Best-Selling Flip Phone of All Time
2004 - Nokia 9500 Communicator: One of the First Mobile Phones to Feature Integrated WiFi
2007 - LG Prada KE850: First Commercially-Released Mobile Phone with a Capacitive Touch Screen
2007 - Apple iPhone 2G: First Apple iPhone Model
TOY FIRSTS
1939 - Sawyers View-Master Model A: First View-Master Model
1976 - Texas Instruments Little Professor: First Commercially-Released Electronic Educational Toy
1976 - Mattel Auto Race: First Commercially-Released Fully-Electronic Handheld Game
1977 - Mattel Football: First Commercially-Successful Fully-Electronic Handheld Game
1978 - Texas Instruments Speak & Spell: First Commercially-Released Product with Synthetic Speech
1978 - Parker Brothers Merlin the Electronic Wizard: First Handheld Electronic Game to Sell 1 Million Units
1978 - Mego 2XL Robot: First Mass-Produced “Smart Toy”
1985 - Teddy Ruxpin: First Mass-Produced Animatronic Toy
1996 - Bandai Tamagotchi: First Mass-Produced Virtual Pet
1998 - Tiger Electronics Furby: First Commercially-Successful AI-Powered Toy
VIDEO GAME FIRSTS
1972 - Magnavox Odyssey: First Commercially-Released Home Video Game Console
1976 - Fairchild Channel F: First Commercially-Released Video Game Console to Use Interchangeable ROM Cartridges, First Commercially-Released Video Game Console to Display Color Graphics
1976 - Coleco Telstar: First Home Video Game Console to Sell 1 Million Units
1977 - Atari Video Computer System: First Commercially-Successful Video Game System to Use Interchangeable ROM Cartridges
1979 - Milton Bradley Microvision: First Commercially-Released Handheld Video Game Console with Interchangeable ROM Cartridges
1979 - Mattel Intellivision: First Commercially-Released 16-Bit Video Game Console
1980 - Nintendo Game & Watch “Ball”: Nintendo’s First Handheld Video Game Console
1982 - GCE Vectrex: First (and Only) Commercially-Released Video Game Console to Feature a Built-In CRT Monitor and Vector-Based Graphics
1989 - Mattel Power Glove: First Commercially-Released Wearable Gesture-Based Video Game Controller
1989 - Nintendo Game Boy: First Handheld Video Game System to Sell Over 100 Million Units
1991 - Philips CD-i 910: First Compact Disc Interactive (CD-i) Player
1994 - Sony Playstation: First Video Game Console to Sell 100 Million Units
1995 - Nintendo Virtual Boy: First Portable Home Console with Stereoscopic 3D Graphics
1998 - Sega Dreamcast: First Commercially-Released Video Game Console with a Built-In Modem for Online Play
2000 - Sony Playstation 2: First Video Game Console with a Built-In DVD Player
2004 - Nintendo DS: Best-Selling Handheld Video Game Console of All Time
2006 - Sony Playstation 3: First Video Game Console with a Built-In Blu-Ray Player
2006 - Nintendo Wii: First Commercially-Successful Motion-Controlled Console
MISC FIRSTS
1953 - RCA Television Transistors Lucite Block Paperweight: First Commercially-Released Junction Transistors
1986 - Rutan Voyager Crew-Signed Photo: First Aircraft to Fly Around the World Without Refueling
1995 - Windows 95 Video Guide with Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry: First “Cyber Sitcom”
1998 - Nuvomedia Rocket eBook: First Commercially-Released eReader