I was reading someone's blog and they mentioned this series which was shown on Channel 4 back in the 80's/early 90's about the technology you find in the home. I can just about remember it when it was first on (I was 9 when the first series started).
The rather unique thing about the show was that they spent much of the programme making home made versions of the items they were looking at. For example, in the series on office devices they demonstrated how
the first fax machine worked by using two nails, a battery and piece of wood! There was another where they recorded audio onto sellotape covered in rust.
There's a large collection of them on YouTube, in particular this person's channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/askmyarse&rclk=cti#g/uI thought some people on here may find this interesting. My favorites are the Television, the VCR and Photocopier.