Although specifically designed Car radios were first commercially offered as early as 1922, it was the post WW2 Car boom which really made it a desired and expected feature in every vehicle. Designs naturally varied but most went for a simple unit that mounted either under or within the dash and incorporated. While the mechanics...Read More

(All references have been included as links within the text.) When one mentions fax machines, it is natural to think of those 1980s and 90s machines we all proudly owned to send illegible hand scrawled messages to the distant family or boss. However few people realise that the first attempts at the fax machine really...Read More

  One of the words that best summarises the 1960s is surely ‘style’. Style in its most basic form is the magical blend of form and function which fuses together to create a meaningful and hopefully timeless statement. As the booming English electronics industry entered that swinging 60s era, it correctly realised that in order...Read More

As we celebrate 30 years of what has become the marvel of the World Wide Web it is perhaps worth remembering back even further to where our digital age really all began. While the American Claude Shannon and Bell Labs are rightfully credited with being the founders of the information age, we Brits can still...Read More

(As included in West Country Life, Nov 2018) Look at any piece of technology today and it will be instantly recognisable that the overall look and feel is just as important as the functions. In many instances the design may actually be more important than anything else not only in helping manufacture and sell the...Read More

Back in the 1960s and 70s there were two types of electronic gadget you could buy- the slick and finished product and the do-it-yourself kit. While the finished item would naturally cost more and appeal to a lazy public who didn’t care what was inside the shiny plastic case (just so long as it worked),...Read More

Throughout the 20th Century few inventions had as much long-term impact on the communication and technology sectors as the transistor. Invented by Bell Labs in the US in Dec 1947, its arrival eventually saw the wholescale transition away from cumbersome glass valves, kick-started printed cardboard circuit boards, and helped the miniaturization of our everyday tech....Read More

(as featured in West Country Life- June 2018) Mention ‘CB Radio’ to most people and they will instantly mime holding a mic and spew phrases like ‘breaker-breaker-9’, ‘big 10-4 rubber duck’ in a bad US accent or even start singing the theme tune to ‘Convoy’.  Interestingly for a craze that burned out over 30 years...Read More

  When you think of space age design, it is usually the 1950s or 60s that will instantly spring to mind. Who can ignore those spindly atomic legs on a sideboard, bold geometric patterns on the curtains or Jetsons-style tailfins on the Cadillac. Indeed as the world geared up to watch the first rockets orbit...Read More

(as published in West Country Life Jan 2018) Ask people to sum-up what it means to be English, and before long someone will mention the BBC. Like many, I admit I have a certain soft spot for this most British of Institutions. It is not because of their celebrity-soaked competitions, Sunday evening period dramas or...Read More