When I was a young boy in the early 60's, I would travel south from Duluth to visit the family farm in west central Iowa. While visiting my grandparents, I was enchanted with a series I could watch on an Ames, Iowa TV station, Robin Hood (already in reruns from the 1950's). Fast forward 50 years to 2011 and I've been reintroduced to that series of yore via my Roku box. This amazing device allows me to watch movies on my HDTV via my home's wireless internet connection. Also available ... you guessed it! Robin Hood! It's been fun reliving boyhood fantasies ... twang ... crossbow vs longbow!
However, this post is supposed to be about the history of data transfer, and it is! Today, I pull up my Roku and Netflix menus, and select the evening's entertainment. Within a few moments, the show or movie caches and I'm in business.
Recently, while watching the first season of Robin Hood, I was amazed to learn how each episode used to make its way from England to the United States. At the end of each show is a photograph of a four engine Pan American Airlines prop plane with the statement: This film flown to the United States. In 1955, flying film by plane (commercial passenger jets did not yet exist) rather than shipping it by trans-Atlantic boat was high tech data transfer!
Oh yeah ... I still have a crush on Maid Marian, and hate the Sheriff of Nottingham, but that's a blog post for another day! (watch the series online w/o charge)
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