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Smart Quotes about the TV

Few "It sits there in the corner of the living-room relentlessly transmitting its mosaic of life. Image after image, incident after incident, emotion after emotion, juxtaposed with anarchic, confused and irresponsible logic. A man, doused in petrol, sets fire to himself outside the White House. A dentist discovers a gas to destroy mankind. Which is true? Which is false? Does it matter?"
— Milton Shulman, The Ravenous Eye
"I have confidence in your health, but not in your product. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air, and stay there. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland."
— Newton Minow, Chairman of the FCC in remarks to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961
"Television is chewing gum for the eyes."
— Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect
"Television is the first truly democratic culture — the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want."
— Clive Barnes, American film and television critic
"Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home."
— David Frost, British broadcaster and writer
"In any conflict, it can now fairly be said, there are three sides — A, B and TV."
— Roy MacGregor, Canadian columnist
"How can one govern without television?"
— André Malraux, French author and government minister
"The villain, the enemy, is the camera. We who are accustomed to working with it know that it is capable of infinite deception, probably the greatest of all deceptions, and yet is accepted as having some kind of objective truth in it."
— Malcolm Muggeridge, British-born critic and broadcaster
"I don't believe in the power of television. No one is ever influenced by television who doesn't want to be."
— Eamonn Andrews, British broadcaster
"Television will no longer be the medium of a small elite, programming for the masses. It will be the forum through which the many segments of the community will be able to talk to each other, a medium for everybody."
— Dorothy Todd Henant, Canadian producer
"This instrument, television, it can entertain, it can inform, yes, and it can even inspire. But it all depends on the will of the humans who operate it. Otherwise it is just lights and wires in a box."
— Edward R. Murrow, American news reporter
"Television is the literature of the illiterate, the culture of the low-brow, the wealth of the poor, the privilege of the underprivileged, the exclusive club of the excluded masses."
— Lee Lovinger

"The potential audience of television in its ultimate development may reasonably be expected to be limited only by the population of the earth itself."
— RCA Chairman David Sarnoff, 1931

Timeline of World TV History

1831: Michael Faraday in Britain and Joseph Henry in the United States experiment with electromagnetism, providing the basis for research into electrical communication.
1844: Samuel Morse publicly demonstrates the telegraph for the first time.
1862: Italian physicist, Abbe Giovanni Caselli, is the first to send fixed images over a long distance, using a system he calls the "pantelegraph".
1873: Two English telegraph engineers, May and Smith, experiment with selenium and light, giving inventors a way of transforming images into electrical signals.
1880: George Carey builds a rudimentary system using dozens of tiny light-sensitive selenium cells.
1884: In Germany, Paul Nipkow patents the first mechanical television scanning system, consisting of a disc with a spiral of holes. As the disc spins, the eye blurs all the points together to re-create the full picture.
1895: Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi develops radio telegraphy and transmits Morse code by wireless for the first time.
1897: Karl Ferdinand Braun, a German physicist, invents the first cathode-ray tube, the basis of all modern television cameras and receivers.
1901: Marconi transmits a Morse code signal across the Atlantic Ocean.
1906: Lee Deforest develops the "Audion", a vacuum tube capable of amplifying signals, and thus crucial to the electronic revolution. Also this year, Boris Rosing of Russia develops a system combining the cathode ray with a Nipkow disc, creating the world's first working television system.
1907: Boris Rosing transmits black-and-white silhouettes of simple shapes, using a mechanical mirror-drum apparatus as a camera and a cathode-ray tube as a receiver.
1908 et 1911: A.A. Campbell-Swinton, a Scottish electrical engineer, publishes proposals about an all-electronic television system that uses a cathode-ray tube for both receiver and camera.
1919: The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is formed.
1923: Vladimir Zworykin patents the "Iconoscope", an electronic camera tube. By the end of 1923 he has also produced a picture display tube, the "Kinescope". Also this year, the A.C. Nielsen Company is founded. Nielsen's market research is soon being used by companies deciding where to advertise on radio.
1924: John Logie Baird is the first to transmit a moving silhouette image, using a mechanical system based on Paul Nipkow's model.
1925: John Logie Baird obtains the first actual television picture, and Vladimir Zworykin takes out the first patent for colour television, although electronic colour systems are not fully developed until 25 years later.
1926: John Logie Baird gives the first successful public demonstration of mechanical television at his laboratory in London. Also this year, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is formed by Westinghouse, General Electric and RCA.
1927: The British Broadcasting Corporation is founded, and the Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System — later CBS — is formed. Pictures of Herbert Hoover, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, are transmitted 200 miles from Washington D.C. to New York, in the world's first televised speech and first long-distance television transmission.
1928: Station W2XBS, RCA's first television station, is established in New York City, creating television's first star, Felix the Cat — the original model of which is featured in Watching TV. Later in the year, the world's first television drama, The Queen's Messenger, is broadcast, using mechanical scanning. Also this year, John Logie Baird transmits images of London to New York via shortwave.
1929: In London, John Logie Baird opens the world's first television studio, but is still able to produce only crude and jerky images. However, because Baird's television pictures carry so little visual information, it is possible to broadcast them from ordinary medium-wave radio transmitters.
1930: The first commercial is televised by Charles Jenkins, who is fined by the U.S. Federal Radio Commission. Also this year, the BBC begins regular television transmissions.
1931: Owned jointly by CKAC and La Presse, Canada's first television station, VE9EC, starts broadcasting in Montreal. Ted Rogers, Sr. receives a licence to broadcast experimental television from his Toronto radio station. Also this year, RCA begins experimental electronic transmissions from the Empire State Building.
1932: Parliament creates the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, superseded by the CBC in 1936.
1933: Western Television Limited's mechanical television system is toured and demonstrated at Eaton's stores in Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg.
1935: William Hoyt Peck of Peck Television of Canada uses a transmitter in Montreal during five weeks of experimental mechanical broadcasts. Germany opens the world's first three-day-a-week filmed television service. France begins broadcasting its first regular transmissions from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
1936: There are about 2,000 television sets in use around the world. The BBC starts the world's first public high-definition/electronic television service in London.
1938: Allen B. DuMont forms the DuMont television network to compete with RCA. Also this year, DuMont manufactures the first all-electronic television set for sale to the North American public. One of these early DuMont television sets is featured in Watching TV.
1939: Because of the outbreak of war, the BBC abruptly stops broadcasting in the middle of a Mickey Mouse cartoon on September 1, resuming at that same point when peace returns in 1945. The first major display of electronic television in Canada takes place at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. Baseball is televised for the first time.
1940: Dr. Peter Goldmark of CBS introduces a 343-line colour television system for daily transmission, using a disc of three filters (red, green and blue), rotated in front of the camera tube.
1941: North America's current 525-line/30-pictures-a-second standard, known as the NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) standard, is adopted.
1946: NBC and CBS demonstrate rival colour systems. The world's first television broadcast via coaxial cable is transmitted from New York to Washington D.C.
1947: A permanent network linking four eastern U.S. stations is established by NBC. On June 3, Canadian General Electric engineers in Windsor receive the first official electronic television broadcast in Canada, transmitted from the new U.S. station WWDT in Detroit. This year also sees the development of the transistor, on which solid-state electronics are based.
1948: Television manufacturing begins in Canada. The television audience increases by 4,000 percent this year, due to a jump in the number of cities with television stations and to the fact that one million homes in the U.S. now have television sets. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission puts a freeze on new television channel allocations until the problem of station-to-station interference is resolved.
1949: The first Emmy Awards are presented, and the Canadian government establishes an interim policy for television, announcing loans for CBC television development. An RCA research team in the U.S. develops the Shadow Mask picture tube, permitting a fully electronic colour display.
1950: Cable TV begins in the U.S., and warnings begin to be issued on the impact of violent programming on children. European broadcasters fix a common picture standard of 625 lines. By the 1970s, virtually all nations in the world used 625-line service, except for the U.S., Japan, and some others which adopted the 525-line U.S. standard. Over 100 television stations are in operation in the U.S.
1951: The first colour television transmissions begin in the U.S. this year. Unfortunately, for technical reasons, the several million existing black-and-white receivers in America cannot pick up the colour programmes, even in black-and-white, and colour sets go blank during television's many hours of black-and-white broadcasting. The experiment is a failure and colour transmissions are stopped. Also this year, the U.S. sees its first coast-to-coast transmission in a broadcast of the Japanese Peace Conference in San Francisco.
1952: Cable TV systems begin in Canada. On September 6, CBC Television broadcasts from its Montreal station; on September 8, CBC broadcasts from the Toronto station. The first political ads appear on U.S. television networks, when Democrats buy a half-hour slot for Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson is bombarded with hate mail for interfering with a broadcast of I Love Lucy. Eisenhower, Stevenson's political opponent, buys only 20-second commercial spots, and wins the election.
1953: A microwave network connects CBC television stations in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. The first private television stations begin operation in Sudbury and London. Queen Elizabeth's coronation is also televised this year, and the CBC beats U.S. competitors to the punch by flying footage across the Atlantic. TV Guide is launched this year, and the U.S. begins colour transmission again, this time successfully. Japanese television goes on the air for the first time.
1954: Magazines now routinely offer the homemaker tips on arranging living-room furniture for optimal television-viewing pleasure.
1956: Ampex Corporation demonstrates videotape recording, initially used only by television stations. Henri de France develops the SECAM (sequential colour with memory) procedure. It is adopted in France, and the first SECAM colour transmission between Paris and London takes place in 1960. Also this year, several Louisiana congressmen promote a bill to ban all television programmes that portray blacks and whites together in a sympathetic light.
1957: The Soviet Union launches the world's first Earth satellite, Sputnik.
1958: The CBC's microwave network is extended from Victoria, B.C. to Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia, to become the longest television network in the world. Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare of Assisi the patron saint of television. Her placement on the television set is said to guarantee good reception.
1959: CBC Radio-Canada Montreal producers go on strike. Bonanza debuts, starring Canadian actor Lorne Greene.
1960: The Nixon-Kennedy debates are televised, marking the first network use of the split screen. Kennedy performs better on television than Nixon, and it is believed that television helps Kennedy win the election. Sony develops the first all-transistor television receiver, making televisions lighter and more portable. Ninety percent of American homes now own television sets, and America becomes the world's first "television society". There are now about 100 million television sets in operation worldwide.
1961: The Canadian Television Network (CTV), a privately owned network, begins operations. This year also marks the beginning of the Dodd hearings in the U.S., examining the television industry's "rampant and opportunistic use of violence".
1962: The Telstar television satellite is launched by the U.S., and starts relaying transatlantic television shortly after its launch. The first programme shows scenes of Paris. A survey indicates that 90 percent of American households have television sets; 13 percent have more than one.
1963: On November 22, regular television programming is suspended following news of the Kennedy assassination. On November 24, live on television, Jack Ruby murders Lee Harvey Oswald, Kennedy's suspected assassin. Kennedy's funeral is televised the following day. 96 per cent of all American television sets are on for an average 31 hours out of 72 during this period — watching, many say, simply to share in the crisis.
1964: The Beatles appear for the first time on Ed Sullivan Show Procter and Gamble, the largest American advertiser, refuses to advertise on any show that gives "offense, either directly or by inference, to any organized minority group, lodge or other organizations, institutions, residents of any State or section of the country or a commercial organization."
1965: The Vietnam War becomes the first war to be televised, coinciding with CBS's first colour transmissions and the first Asia-America satellite link. Protesters against the war adopt the television-age slogan, The whole world is watching. Also this year, Sony introduces Betamax, a small home videorecorder.
1966: Colour television signals are transmitted by Canadian stations for the first time.
1967: Sony introduces the first lightweight, portable and cheap video recorder, known as the "portapak". The portapak is almost as easy to operate as a tape-recorder and leads to an explosion in "do-it-yourself" television, revolutionizing the medium. Also this year, the FCC orders that cigarette ads on television, on radio and in print carry warnings about the health dangers of smoking.
1968: Sony develops the Trinitron tube, revolutionizing the picture quality of colour television. World television ownership nears 200 million, with 78 million sets in the U.S. alone. The U.S. television industry now has annual revenues of about $2 billion and derives heavy support from tobacco advertisers.
1969: On July 20, 1969, the first television transmission from the moon is viewed by 600 million viewers around the world. Sesame Street debuts on American Public Television, and begins to revolutionize adult attitudes about what children are capable of learning.
1971: Canada's Anik I, the first domestic geo-synchronous communications satellite, is launched, capable of relaying 12 television programmes simultaneously. India has a single television station in New Delhi, able to reach only 20 miles outside the city. South Africa has no television at all.
1972: The Munich Olympics are broadcast live, drawing an estimated 450 million viewers worldwide. When Israeli athletes are kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists during the games, coverage of the games cuts back and forth between shots of the terrorists and footage of Olympic events. The American-conceived Intelsat system is launched this year, becoming a network and controlling body for the world's communications satellite system.
1973: Ninety-six countries now have regular television service. Watergate unfolds on the air in the U.S. and ends the following year with Nixon's resignation. U.S. producers sell nearly $200 million dollars worth of programmes overseas, more than the rest of the world combined.
1975: A study indicates that the average American child during this decade will have spent 10,800 hours in school by the time he or she is 18, but will have seen an average 20,000 hours of television. Studies also estimate that, by the time he is 75, the average American male will have spent nine entire years of his life watching television; the average British male will have spent eight years watching.
1976: The Olympics, broadcast from Montreal, draw an estimated 1 billion viewers worldwide.
1977: South Africans see television for the first time on May 10, as test transmissions begin from the state-backed South Africa Broadcast Co. The Pretoria government has yielded to public pressure after years of banning television as being morally corrupting. Half the broadcasts are in English; half in Afrikaans.
1978: Ninety-eight percent of American households have television sets, up from nine percent in 1950. Seventy-eight percent have colour televisions, up from 3.1 percent in 1964.
1979: There are now 300 million television sets in operation worldwide. Flat-screen pocket televisions, with liquid crystal display screens, are patented by the Japanese firm Matsushita. The pocket television is no bigger than a paperback book.
1980: India launches its national television network. Also during the 1980s, in the U.S. and Germany, laws and policies are enacted to preserve a person's right to television in the event of financial setback. Later in the year, the U.S. Cable News Network (CNN) goes on the air in the U.S.
1991: During the Gulf War, CNN coverage of the conflict is so extensive and wide-ranging that it is commonly remarked — only half in jest — that Saddam Hussein is watching CNN for his military intelligence, instead of relying on his own information-gathering methods.
1993: A TV Guide poll finds that one in four Americans would not give up television even for a million dollars.
1996: There are over a billion television sets in operation around the world.

Printing Technology in Nepal prior to 1990

विश्वमा लेखनकलाको विकासबारेमा विभिन्न अन्वेषक तथा विद्वानहरुका फरक फरक मतहरू रहेका छन् । पूर्वीय सिद्धान्त अनुसार भन्नु पर्दा वैदिक वाङमयका ग्रन्थ, जस्तै : शतपथ ब्राहृमण, ऐतरेय आरण्यक र छांदोग्योपनिषदमा लिपिकला यानेकि लेखनकलाको प्रमाण पाइन्छ । यी संसारका र्सवप्राचीन ग्रन्थहरू हुन् । प्राचीन भारतवर्षमा धातु तथा काठबाट तयार पारिएका विभिन्न छापको मद्दतबाट छपाइ कार्य गरिन्थ्यो । कम्तीमापनि महाभारतकालमा (आजभन्दा करीब ५/७ हजार वर्षपहिलेनै) यस्ता छापको प्रयोग गरिएको थियो । भारतवर्षमा छाप-मुद्रणपद्धतिको प्रयोग रामायणकालमै पनि हुन्थ्यो भन्ने कतिपय विद्वानहरूको भनाइ रहेको छ । 'वाशिष्ठ धर्मसूत्र' नामक ग्रन्थमा यो कुराको स्पष्ट प्रमाण छ कि वैदिक कालमा लेखनकलाको प्रशस्त प्रचार थियो ।
तर,
पश्चिमा सिद्धान्त अनुसार मानिसले पहिले लेख्न जान्दैनथे र करिब ३५ हजार वर्षघि र्सवप्रथम मानिसले गुफाका भित्ता वा रुखका बोक्रातिर र्सवप्रथम केही किर्मिरे चित्रहरू कोरेको थियो रे । तर ती लेखाइहरू अस्पष्ट भएको एवम् आजका दिनमा मानिसले कुनै अर्थ खुट्ट्याउने नसक्ने खालका रहेको थियो भनिन्छ । अर्थपूर्ण सन्देश दिनेगरी चित्रात्मक लेखनको विकास भने इजिप्टका निवासीहरूले इ.पू. ५ हजार देखि इ.पू. ४ हजारको बीच कुनै समयमा गरेका थिए भन्ने मानिन्छ । प्राचीन सुमेरियालीहरूले ३०००-१७०० इ.पू.मा माटाका चक्काहरूमा लेख्ने कलाको विकास गरे । यसरी अध्ययन गर्दै जाँदा प्राचीन भारतवर्षा निवासी आर्यहरूले लेखनकलाको विकास इजिप्टनिवासी तथा सुमेरियालीहरू भन्दापनि अगावै गरेका थिए भन्ने देखिन्छ ।
लेखनकलाको विकास भएपछि हातैले लेखेर पुस्तकहरू तयार पार्न थालियो । लेखनकलाको विकास भएपछि प्रारम्भमा लेखिएका कुरा मुख्य रुपमा धर्मग्रन्थ नै थिए । धर्मग्रन्थ पछि साहित्यिक रचनाहरू लेखिए । समाचारको लेखन धर्म, साहित्य, स्वास्थ्य बारेमा लेख्न थालिएको निक्कै पछिमात्र सुरु भएको हो । इ.पू. ६९ मा रोमन सम्राट जुलियस सिजरको आदेशमा रोमन सैनिकहरूले युद्धमा हासिल गरेका उपलब्धिको दैनिक विवरण लेखी ठाउँ-ठाउँमा टाँसिने गरेको थियो । त्यसलाई 'एक्टा डिउर्ना' भनिन्थ्यो, यही 'एक्टा डिउर्ना'लाई अखबारको प्रारम्भिक स्वरूप मानिएको छ । त्यसो त, चीनमा छैटौं शताब्दीमा 'त्सिङ्गपाओ' नामको पत्रिका निक्लेको र सन् ६१८-९०५ मा 'पेकिङ्ग गजेट' प्रकाशित भएको पाइन्छ । त्यसताका सबै जसो प्रकाशनका काम काठे-ब्लकको प्रयोग गरेर भएका थिए । सुरु सुरुमा जापानी तथा चीनियाहरूले काठे-ब्लकको प्रयोग गरी अक्षर छाप्ने गर्दथे त्यसैलाई पछ्याउँदै यो प्रविधिको विस्तार भएको हो भन्ने इतिहासकारहरूको ठम्याई रहेको छ । चीनमा सन् १७५ मा यस्तै काठे ब्लकका छापबाट मुद्रण गरिएका ग्रन्थका केही भाग अद्यावधि प्राप्य छन् भनिन्छ । सन् ८६८ मा चीनका शासक वाङचिहले आफ्ना परिवारका सम्झनामा प्रकाशित गरेको पुस्तकलाई संसारको प्रथम मुद्रित पुस्तक मानिन्छ । सन् ९७२ मा त्यही छाप-मुद्रणपद्धतिको प्रयोग गरी एकलाख तीस हजार पृष्ठको त्रिपिटक ग्रन्थसमेत छापिएको थियो । अनेक वर्षलगाएर फरक फरक दशक अनि शताब्दीका मानिसहरूको प्रयासले विकास र विस्तार हुँदै आएको मुद्रण प्रविधिमा नयाँ युगको सुरुवात जोन गुटेनवर्गद्वारा आधुनिक मुद्रणयन्त्रको विकास र स्थापनासँगै भयो । उनले काठका अक्षरहरू प्रयोग गरेका थिए । गुटेनवर्गकै प्रेरणाले पिटरले धातुमा अक्षरलाई ढाले । यसले गर्दा मसि परेर काठको अक्षर बिग्रने र छाप्दा काठ फुटेर टंकण प्रक्रिया नै अवरुद्ध हुने समस्या समाधान भएर गयो । सन् १४६६ मा फ्रान्समा, सन् १४७७ मा बेलायतमा, सन् १५५० मा पोर्चुगलमा र सन् १५५० मा भारतमा यसको विकास सुरु भयो । सोह्रौं शताब्दीमा आएर युरोपमा मुद्रण प्रविधिमा व्यापक विकास हुन थाल्यो ।
नेपालमा भने,
नेपाली भाषाको विकास विक्रमको एघारौं शताब्दीमा जुम्लाको सिंजा प्रदेशबाट भएपछि नेपाली भाषामा लेखनको सुरुवात भएको हो । सन् ९८१ (विक्रम संवत १०३८)को दामुपालको दुल्लु अभिलेख हालसम्म प्राप्त पहिलो नेपाली भाषाको लेख्य तथ्य हो । यसरी शिलालेख, ताम्रपत्र, भोजपत्र, ताडपत्रमा नेपाली भाषाको लेखनक सुरु भएपछि राजा महाराजाहरुले आफूले गरेको दानपुण्यको काम र सैनिक सँग सम्बन्धित विषयमा यस्ता शिलालेख तथा ताम्रपत्रमा कुँदेर मन्दिर, पाटी पौवा जस्ता र्सार्वजनिक स्थलमा राख्ने गर्दथे । त्यसपछिमात्र धार्मिक, साहित्यिक तथा स्वास्थ्य सम्बन्धि पुस्तकहरु पनि लेख्न सुरु भएका हुन् । लेखनको क्रम चल्दै जाँदा मुद्रणको प्रयोग पनि यहाँ भएको बताइन्छ । शिला तथा तामाका पाताहरुमा लेख्ने र बुट्टा कुँद्ने क्रममा त्यसलाई रुखका रेसाबाट तयार गरिएका कागजहरुमा विभिन्न रंग पोतेर उतार्ने कामहरु भएका थिए भनिन्छ । जङ्गबहादुर राणाले बेलायतबाट आधुनिक छापाखाना (प्रेस) ल्याउनु अगाडि ढुङ्गेछापाको प्रचलन रहेको बताइन्छ । जंगबहादुरले ल्याएको प्रेसबाट मुद्रण सुरु हुनुभन्दा अगाडिको नेपालको रैथाने ढुङ्गे छापाको प्रविधिलाई नेपालमा छापाको प्रयोगको प्राथमिक रुप मान्न सकिन्छ ।

जंगबहादुर राणाले बेलायतबाट सन् १८५१ -वि.सं.१९०८)मा ल्याएको 'भी. एण्ड जे. फिज्जिक्स मेकर्स' लेखिएको छापामेसिनको अगाडी पट्टि एउटा ठूलो गिद्धको आकार थियो त्यसैको कारण त्यसलाई गिद्धे प्रेस भनियो । भारतको बैंगलोरमा विश्वेश्वरैयाको नाममा रहेको औद्योगिक संग्रहालयमा रहेको गोर्खापत्रको गिद्धेप्रेसकै मोहडा र आकार प्रकारको प्रेसमा राखिएको परिचयपत्रमा लेखिएको छ-''कोलम्बियन प्रिन्टिङ प्रेस उन्नीसौं शताब्दीको सबैभन्दा लोकप्रिय फलामे हाते छापाखाना थियो । फलाममा गडिएका बुट्टाहरुले गर्दा यो हेर्दा राम्रो हुनाका साथै काम गर्न पनि सजिलो थियो । यसको आविस्कार फिलाडेलिफयाका जर्ज क्ल्यामरले गरेका थिए । यसमा थोरै बल लगाउँदा धेरै काम गर्ने शक्ति प्रवद्धक लिभरहरु थिए, जसले गर्दा कोलम्बियन प्रेस अरु प्रसभन्दा निक्कै उच्चस्तरको थियो । यसमा प्रेसम्यानहरुलाई अरु प्रेसमा भन्दा कम धपेडी हुन्थ्यो । धेरै संख्यामा उत्पादन गरिएको यो पहिलो हाते प्रेस थियो ।'' नेपाली गिद्धे प्रेसको सही नाम हो कोलम्बियन प्रिन्टिङ प्रेस । यो हाते प्रेस हो । हाते प्रेसका आविष्कारक जर्मनीका गुटेनवर्गले सुरुमा अंगुर निचोर्ने हाते मेसिनलाई सुधारेर अक्षरमाथि मसी दलेर त्यसमाथि कागजको पाना राखेर माथिबाट च्यापेर सिसाका अक्षरको छाप कागजमा उतार्ने उपाय अपनाएर छापाखाना बनाएका थिए । यो हाते प्रेस त्यसैको सुधारिएको रुप हो । अत नेपालको पहिलो छापाखाना गिद्धेप्रेस गुटेनवर्ग प्रेसको दोस्रो रुप हो भन्न सकिन्छ ।
जंगबहादुरले ल्याएको हाते प्रविधिको भएका कारण यसमामा काठका केसहरूमा स-साना कोठा बनाएर त्यसमा सिसाका अक्षरहरूलाई हातले झिकेर पित्तलबाट बनेको सानो हाते स्टिकमा चाहेको लम्बाइमा पंक्तिबद्ध गरेर संयोजन मिलाएर कम्पोज गरि ती पंक्तिलाई दुई हातले समातेर काठ वा जस्ताले बनेको ग्यालीमा राखेर त्यसमा रबरको रोलरले मसी लगाएर माथिबाट कागज राखेर थिचेपछि छपाइ गर्ने गरिन्थ्यो । यो छापाखाना आउँदा सम्म बिजुलीको आविस्कार भइनसकेका कारण मानिसको बलमा नै यो सञ्चालन हुने गर्दथ्यो । यसमा हात वा खुट्टाले मेसिन चलाएर छाप्ने काम गरिन्थ्यो । वि.सं.१९६९ मा नेपालमा पहिलो पटक बिजुलीबाट चल्ने छापाखानाको स्थापना भयो । पहिलो विद्युतीय प्रेस आएको एक दश भित्र नै नेपालमा करिब पाँच दर्जन प्रेसहरु स्थापित भइसकेका थिए । मनोरञ्जन छापाखाना, नारायणहिटी छापाखाना, जंगी लिथोग्राफी, बुद्ध प्रेस, पाशुपत प्रेस लगायतका प्रेसहरु बिजुलीबाट सञ्चालित प्रेस थिए । यि प्रेसहरु पहिलो नेपाल भित्रिएको गिद्धेप्रेसकै दास्रो पुस्ता थिए भन्नुमा अत्युक्ति हुँदैन । यि छापामेसिन फ्ल्याट खालका थिए । नेपालमा बिजुलीको उत्पादन सुरु भएपछि यस्ता विद्युतिय छापाखानाको प्रयोग हुन थालेको हो । गोर्खापत्रको लागि पनि सरकारले विद्युतिय प्रेसको व्यवस्था गरेको थियो । फर्पिङबाट बिजुलीको उत्पादन सुरु भएपछि त फ्ल्याट मेसिनको प्रयोगमा झन् तीव्रता आयो । यसको प्रयोगले गर्दा छपाइमा चुस्तता त आयो नै पहिलाको भन्दा छपाइको गुणस्तरमा पनि सुधार आयो ।
२००७ साल सम्म धार्मिक, साहित्यिक खालका पुस्तक र पत्रपत्रिका प्रकाशन गर्ने हिसाबले निक्कै नीजि प्रेसहरुको स्थापना भएका थिए । २००७ मा प्रजातन्त्रको स्थापना भएपछि विभिन्न पत्रपत्रिकाहरु प्रकाशनमा आउनुमा यस्ता नीजि प्रेसहरुको महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका थियो । यी नै प्रेस स्थापनाको पृष्ठभूमिमा नै आवाज, समाज, जागरण लगायतका पत्रिकाहरु प्रकाशनमा आउन सफल भएका हुन् । तर पनि यी सबैको प्रकाशन पद्दती भने फ्याट प्रविधिको प्रेस नै हो । २००७ को प्रजातन्त्रले ल्याएको खुलापनका कारण पुस्तक, पत्रपत्रिका जति संख्यात्मक रुपमा प्रकाशनमा आए त्यसरी नै प्रेसको प्रविधिमा पनि सुधार देखिन थाल्यो । यस कालको छापाखानाको विकासको चर्चा गर्दा कमलमणि दीक्षितले आफ्नो वि.सं.२०१४ मा प्रकाशित पुस्तक 'यस्तो पनि' मा उनले लेखेका छन्-वषौं सम्म काम लिँदा पनि बिग्रन नमान्ने यो मेसिनबाट अचेल प्रुफ तान्ने इत्यादि मोटा काम लिइँदो रहेछ..... (पृ.२१) । यसले २०१३-१४ सम्म आउँदा पनि नेपालमा गिद्धेप्रेस छाप्नमा प्रयोग हुँदै आएको रहेछ भन्ने देखाउँछ जसले नेपालमा छापाखानाको पद्दतीमा खासै सुधार नआएको देखाउँछ ।
२०१७ सालमा राजा महेन्द्रले शासनसत्ता आफ्नो हातमा लिएपछि वाक् तथा प्रकाशन स्वतन्त्रता खुम्चन पुग्यो । फलस्वरुप पत्रिकाहरु प्रकाशन हुने र ती छापिने प्रेसहरु प्रकाशित सामग्रीको आधारमा छापाखाना जफत हुने र तीनको दर्ता समेत खारेज गर्ने नियमका कारण छापाखाना खुल्ने तथा नयाँ प्रविधि भित्रने कामहरु हुन सकेनन् । छापाखाना तथा प्रकाशन सम्बन्धि ऐन २०१९, ले छापाखानाको सञ्चालनमा कडाइ ल्याएपछि छापा प्रविधिमा नयाँ आगमन केही हुन सकेन । पञ्चायतकालमा पहिला खुलेका छापाखानाहरु त घिटिघिटि परेको अवस्थामा नयाँ खोल्ने कुरा पनि त भएन । जनक शिक्षा सामग्री केन्द्र, सूचना विभागको छापाखाना, साझा छापाखाना बाहेक अन्य छापाखानाहरु बल्ल तल्ल हाते प्रेसबाट उठेर बल्ल विद्युतिय छापाखानामा आएका थिए । त्यस अवस्थामा मोनो टाइपको प्रयोग बढि गरिन्थ्यो । मोनो कम्पोज विद्युतद्वारा संचालित मेसिनबाट तयार गरिन्छ । यसमा विशेषतः टाइपराइटरमा टाइप गरेझैं मोनो मेसिन चालकले पहिले टाइप गरिन्छ र विशेष कागजको रोलमा प्वाल प्वाल पारी त्यो रोल कागजलाई कास्टिङ मेसिनमा राखिन्छ । त्यसपछि विद्युतीय चापबाट सिसा पगालेर एक एक ओटा अक्षर कम्पोज हुन्छ । यो नै वास्तवमा मोनो कम्पोज हो । करिब छ जनाको काम एउटै मेसिनले दिने र काम सकिएपछि अक्षरहरू पगाल्न सकिने हुनाले मोनो टाइप मेसिन देवनागरी लिपिका निमित्त अत्यन्त उपयोगी सावित भएको थियो ।
पञ्चायतकाल भर नै सामान्य प्रकाशनको विषयमा पनि स्थानिय अधिकारीहरुले तारिख माथि तारिख खेपाउने अनि महँगो धरौटी तिर्नुपर्ने भएका कारण छापाखानाहरुले नयाँ प्रविधिलाई ल्याउन सकेनन् । पश्चिमा मुलुकहरु भने द्रूत गतिमा छाप्ने प्रेसको विकास भएको समयमा नेपालमा भने छापाखाना सञ्चालकलाई कारवाहीको डण्डा लागाइरहेको स्थिती थियो । यस्तो अवस्थामा जनक शिक्षा सामग्री केन्द्र लिमिटेडले विद्यालयहरुको पाठ्य पुस्तक प्रकाशन गर्ने उद्देश्यले २०२१ सालमा चार रंगको छपाइ हुने उच्चस्तरिय अफसेट प्रविधिको प्रेस ल्याएको देखिन्छ । यसरी सरकारी तहमा स्थापना गरिएका सूचना विभाग, जनक शिक्षा सामग्री केन्द्र, अनि साहित्यिक गतिविधिमा केन्द्रीत साझा प्रकाशन, अनि सरकारी मुखपत्र गोर्खापत्रका छापाखानाहरु विकसित प्रविधिलाई आत्मसात गर्न लागि रहेका थिए ।

२०३६ सालमा राजा वीरेन्द्रबाट जनमत संग्रहको घोषणा भएपछि दल विहिन भनिएको पचायतमा पनि राजनीतिक दलहरुले प्रचार प्रसार गर्न पाउने स्थिती सृजना भयो । यस समयमा छापाखानाहरु खुल्ने क्रम पनि बढेर गयो । छापाखाना सम्बन्धि व्यवस्थाहरुमा पनि खुकुलोपन आएका कारण छापाखाना भित्रने क्रम बढ्यो । यसै क्रममा लेटर प्रेस नेपालमा आएको पाइन्छ । हुन त लेटर प्रेस २०२५ साल तिर नै नेपालमा भित्रिएको थियो तर यसको मुलुकभरका छापाखानाहरुले प्रयोग गर्ने अवस्था भने २०३० को दशकामा मात्र भयो । २०३० देखी नै मुलुकमा राजनीतिक रुपमा छाएको खुलापनका कारण विभिन्न प्रेसहरुले अफसेट प्रेसहरु नेपालमा भित्र्याए । त्यसो त रंगिन छपाइपनि नेपालमा ३० को दशमा नै लोकप्रिय बनेको हो । चेक अफसेट, मिनि अफसेट लगायतका विभिन्न साना-ठूला अफसेट प्रिन्टिङ प्रेसहरु नेपालमा आए । छपाइ प्रविधिमा भएको विकासको आधुनिक स्वरूप अफसेट प्रेस हो । दश बिस हजारको हाराहारीमा पत्रिका तथा पुस्तक प्रकाशन गर्नेहरुको लागि यो आज सम्मकै उपयोगी छापा बनेको छ । यसमा फोटोग्राफिक प्रविधिबाट प्लेट तयार पारी छपाइ कार्य गरिन्छ । यसमा पहिले त सम्पर्ूण्ा सामग्रीलाई कम्प्युटरको सहायताले मुद्रण गरिन्छ । त्यसपछि त्यो सम्पर्ूण्ा सामग्रीको नेगेटिभ उतारिन्छ । त्यस नेगेटिभलाई टिनको पातामा पोजिटिभ बनाइन्छ । यस्तो पोजिटिभ प्लास्टिक प्लेट (पोलिप्लेट) मा पनि बनाउन सकिन्छ । यही पोजिटिभलाई मेसिनमा राखेर छपाइ गरिने हो । यस प्रविधिमा फोटो बनाउन केही समय लाग्दछ । तर तुलनात्मक रूपमा सस्तो, छपाइ कार्य छिटो-छरितो र सजावटमा कम्प्युटरको प्रयोग हुनाले विविधता दिन सकिने हुनाले यो प्रविधिको लोकप्रियता बढेको हो । पुरानो लेटर प्रेस प्रविधिमा ब्लकहरू बनाउनु पर्ने बाध्यता हुन्थ्यो । तर अहिले अफसेट प्रविधिमा त्यसरी ब्लक बनाइरहने झण्झट भएन । ब्लक बनाउने प्रक्रियामा समय धेरै लाग्नेमा यसको आगमनले त्यो समय बचत भयो ।
यसरी नेपालमा पहिलो आधुनिक प्रेस भित्रिएको एक सय ३८ वर्ष-२०४६सम्म)मा नेपालमा प्रेस सम्बन्धि सेवा तथा कार्यको निक्कै विकास भएको थियो । जंगबहादुरले बेलायतबाट ल्याएको प्रेसको तुलनामा २०४६ सालमा आइपुग्दा नेपाली प्रकाशनको क्षेत्रमा निक्कै नयाँ फड्कोहरु मारिएका छन् तर मुलुकको राजनीतिक व्यवस्थाका कारण तीनमा समुचित विकास हुन नसकेको देख्न सकिन्छ । हाते छपाइबाट मुलुक अफसेटको युगमा पुगिसकेको छ । युरोप त कुरै छाडौं भारतमा आइसकेका प्रविधि समेत नेपालमा आउन दशक लाग्ने स्थिती रहेको भएपनि जनमत संग्रहको समयदेखी यता तुलनात्मक रुपमा राजनीतिक खुलापनले यसको विकासलाई छेक्न सकेन । यसरी जंगबहादुरले ल्याएको प्रेस भन्दा अगाडीको नेपाली छापा प्रविधिलाई नेपालमा छापाखानाको विकास प्रतिको तत्परता र जंगबहादुरको प्रेसले आधुनिक छपाइको सुत्रपात गरेको मान्न सकिन्छ । यसरी नेपालमा २०४६ सम्म सामान्य रुपमा केही अवरोधका बाबजुद पनि छपाई प्रविधिको आगमन भएको पाइन्छ । बुद्ध प्रेसका पालामा नेपालमा नै प्रेसको विकास गरिएको भन्ने पाउन सकिन्छ तर त्यसपछि नेपाल भित्रै प्रेसको विकासका काम भएका छैनन् तर पनि अन्य देशमा भएका विकासको प्रतिफल नेपालीले पनि लिन सकेको देखिन्छ ।
सन्दर्भ सामग्री :
१. अधिकारी, निर्मलमणि, आमसञ्चार र पत्रकारिता, प्रशान्ति पुस्तक भण्डार, काठमाडौं, २०६२
२. कसजु, विनयकुमार, ऐतिहासिक गिद्धे प्रेस र औद्योगिक सङ्ग्रहालयको खाँचो, गोरखापत्र, गोरखापत्र विशेष, २०६४ वैशाख, २४
३. खनाल, श्रीराम, प्रयोगात्मक प्रत्रकारिता, विद्यार्थी प्रकाशन प्रा.लि., काठमाडौं, २०६१
४. देवकोटा, गृष्मबहादुर, नेपालको छापाखाना र पत्रपत्रिकाको इतिहास, साझा प्रकाशन, २०५९
५. नेपाल राष्ट्रिय साप्ताहिक, २०६१ साउन, ३
६. http://www.journalism.edu.np
७. Green, Philip. "Printing", Microsoft® Encarta® 2007 [CD]. Microsoft Corporation, 2006.
त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय पत्रकारिता तथा आमसञ्चार विभागमा एमए प्रथम वर्षको JMC 503 को प्रयोगात्मक परिक्षामा प्रस्तुत