Then: The television was first introduced to the American public at the 1939 World's Fair. The outbreak of World War II delayed commercial network programming in the U.S. until the late 1940's. A popular black-and-white model, the 1948 Admiral Model 9A111, had a 7 inch screen encased in a large metal box four times the screen size. The 1948 Admiral Model 9A111 cost $2,495 ($22,642.49 in today's money!)
Now: Watch hundreds of channels of HDTV on a 50' inch 3D Sony, a 42' inch Panasonic plasma, a Samsung or Sharp LCD in your living room.
Gadgets Then and Now
TIME takes a tour through the decades to explore how consumer technology has changed over the years.