Though most famous for his Promethean invention of the light bulb, Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope 112 years ago today, igniting the medium that became the motion picture industry. While the Kinetoscope allowed only a single viewer to watch a film inside a large box, a century of technological improvements that brought sound, projectors, better picture and finally digital enhancement still retains the same fundamental film experience. But today the medium is evolving into something wholly new: digital 3-D. Though the recession has largely delayed the widespread rollout of 3-D projectors—they cost $70,000 per screen—many films are already being produced in full digital 3-D in preparation for the 3-D era. Be prepared; when the economy starts humming again, there’s going to be a whole new dimension out there.

August 31
Fast History: Thomas Edison Ignites the Movie Business, 1897

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