Transistor radio

<p>A transistor radio is a small portable <a href="/facts/Radio_receiver/5olDTxkg">radio receiver</a> that uses <a href="/facts/Transistor/Bmr8zwL0">transistor</a>-based circuitry.  Previous portable radios used <a href="/facts/Vacuum_tube/VHd1BNLq">vacuum tubes</a>, which were bulky, fragile, had a limited lifetime, consumed excessive power and required large heavy batteries.   Following the <a href="/facts/History_of_the_transistor/04VsBJqD">invention of the transistor</a> in 1947—a semiconductor device that amplifies and acts as an electronic switch, which revolutionized the field of consumer electronics by introducing small but powerful, convenient hand-held devices—the <a href="/facts/Regency_TR-1/lcw2YvF1">Regency TR-1</a> was released in 1954 becoming the first commercial transistor radio.   The mass-market success of the smaller and cheaper <a href="/facts/Sony/7x4tCtBd">Sony</a> TR-63, released in 1957, led to the transistor radio becoming the most popular <a href="/facts/Electronic_communication/vxoj1cxR">electronic communication</a> device of the 1960s and 1970s. Billions had been manufactured by about 2012.
</p><p>The pocket size of transistor radios sparked a change in <a href="/facts/Popular_music/Q5yhxIwY">popular music</a> listening habits, allowing people to listen to music and other broadcasts on the <a href="/facts/Radio_broadcasting/FLJVq8Ec">radio</a> anywhere they went. Beginning around 1980, however, cheap <a href="/facts/AM_broadcasting/oS0rn1lg">AM</a> transistor radios were superseded initially by the <a href="/facts/Boombox/R6N3qGlt">boombox</a> and the <a href="/facts/Sony_Walkman/psCPm0zv">Sony Walkman</a>, and later on by digitally-based devices with higher audio quality such as <a href="/facts/Portable_CD_player/o3PYAmQH">portable CD players</a>, <a href="/facts/Personal_audio_player/2yHdHHKv">personal audio players</a>, <a href="/facts/MP3_player/QHTLMGu4">MP3 players</a> and <a href="/facts/Smartphone/cSIrBMWG">smartphones</a>, many of which contain <a href="/facts/FM_broadcasting/TpKl3FJv">FM radios.</a> Transistor radios continue to be built and sold for portable and <a href="/facts/Vehicle_audio/IJ4lJd4S">in-car</a> use but the term "transistor" is no longer used in marketing as virtually all modern technology make use of transistors.
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Transistor radio open-in-new

Transistor radio