
Portable televisions, once seen as a great advancement over larg floor models that were pieces of furniture, are now a thing of the past. The Discoverer captures the spirit of space exploration with its space helmet form. After Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's 1969 moon landing, with manned space exploration a reality, a giddy optimism spread throughout the United States and beyond. Industrial designers responded with futuristic forms and space-related themes that permeated home furnishings, in particular small appliances. Small futuristic televisions were introduced by Japanese manufactureres in the 1970s, but were not as commanding as the tabletop Discoverer model introduced a number of years later.