Transistor radio
A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Following their development in 1954, made possible by the invention of the transistor in 1947, they became the most popular electronic communication device in history, with billions manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s. Their pocket size sparked a change in popular music listening habits, allowing people to listen to music anywhere they went. Beginning in the 1980s, however, cheap AM transistor radios were superseded by devices with higher audio quality such as portable CD players, personal audio players, boomboxes, and (eventually) smartphones, some of which contain radios themselves.
History of hearing aids
Zenith was the first company to realize the problem with transistors was the body heat of individuals. After coming to this conclusion, the first “all-transistor” hearing aids were offered in 1952, called the Microtone Transimatic and the Maico Transist-ear. In 1954, the company, Texas Instruments, produced a silicon transistor, which was much more effective than the previous version. The end of the transistor was marked by the creation of the integrated circuit or IC by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in 1958 and the technique was perfected in hearing aids over the next 20 years.