When Elizabeth became queen in 1952, just seven years after World War II, rationing was still in place in Britain. Ten pounds in 1952 had the equivalent purchasing power of about three hundred pounds today. UKGDP was under £16 million, whereas in 2021 it was £2.8 trillion. In 1952 only 14% of households owned a TV and there was only one channel. Radio was the main home entertainment medium, with The Goon Show being very popular. There were no satellites, no space race, and computers were very different. In 1952 The UNIVAC 1 computer weighed 7,257kg, used 5,000 vacuum tubes, could perform 1,900 operations per second and cost £100,000.00. 70 years later a typical laptop weighs about 2.5kg, has about 5.4 billion transistors in its processor, can perform 100 million operations per second and costs about £600. Some things have remained the same though: the Archers, Woman’s Hour, and Desert Island Discs were broadcast then and are still going today!
Share this post
Leading for the Future
Share this post
When Elizabeth became queen in 1952, just seven years after World War II, rationing was still in place in Britain. Ten pounds in 1952 had the equivalent purchasing power of about three hundred pounds today. UKGDP was under £16 million, whereas in 2021 it was £2.8 trillion. In 1952 only 14% of households owned a TV and there was only one channel. Radio was the main home entertainment medium, with The Goon Show being very popular. There were no satellites, no space race, and computers were very different. In 1952 The UNIVAC 1 computer weighed 7,257kg, used 5,000 vacuum tubes, could perform 1,900 operations per second and cost £100,000.00. 70 years later a typical laptop weighs about 2.5kg, has about 5.4 billion transistors in its processor, can perform 100 million operations per second and costs about £600. Some things have remained the same though: the Archers, Woman’s Hour, and Desert Island Discs were broadcast then and are still going today!