1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,120 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: and how the tech are you? It is time for 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,760 Speaker 1: a classic episode. We are going to conclude the two 6 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: parter that we started last Friday. So if you didn't 7 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: listen to last Friday's classic episode, I recommend you go 8 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: listen to that first because this is the Phillips Story, 9 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: Part two, and this originally published on January two, thousand sixteen. Now, 10 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: clearly we could do an update because it has been 11 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 1: quite a few years since I did these episodes, so 12 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: maybe I will do that in the future, But first 13 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: let's listen to this classic episode from We'll begin this 14 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: episode with a discussion about what happened to Anton's son, 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: Fritz Phillips as much of the world was plunged into 16 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: the con flick known as World War Two. So if 17 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: you remember from our last episode, Anton and his son 18 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: in law Franston or Franz Aughton, fled the Netherlands. They 19 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: went to North America. They had established a North American 20 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: base of operations to work from during the course of 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: World War two. Much of Phillip's management followed suit, but 22 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: but Fritz Phillips stayed behind in the Netherlands, and Fritz 23 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: really tried to protect the interests of the company as 24 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: well as the company's employees during the entire Nazi occupation. 25 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: Now from nineteen forty until nineteen forty three, Fritz kept 26 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: things running at Phillips, even resisting the moves by the 27 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: Nazis to switch the operations to more warlike efforts to 28 00:01:53,480 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: support Germany's UH operations. And Fritz really was all to 29 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: resist that fairly effectively. But in April nineteen forty three, 30 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:12,239 Speaker 1: things took a very dark turn for Fritz, and obviously 31 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 1: was a terrible time for much of Europe because in 32 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: April nineteen forty three, the Nazis made a declaration that 33 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: was pretty much the doom for Fritz Phillips at least 34 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: for the next two years. So when Germany invaded the 35 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: Netherlands back in nineteen forty, the three thousand members of 36 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: the Dutch Army had been essentially captured but then released 37 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: after the Netherlands officially surrendered to Germany. So the three 38 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: thousand members of the Dutch army were under German supervision 39 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: for a while and then allowed to go back and 40 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 1: rejoin Dutch society under the Nazi occupation. But in ninety three, 41 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: Germany declared that those three hundred thousand soldiers would be 42 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: conscripted and forced into labor on behalf of Germany, so 43 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: they'd become, you know, essentially slave labor to the Nazis, 44 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: and the Phillips employees decided to go on strike to 45 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: protest this move. It wasn't and move against Fritz Phillips, 46 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: it was a move against the Nazis. But Germany held 47 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: Fritz Phillips personally responsible and captured him and put him 48 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: in a concentration camp and essentially was trying to use 49 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: him as leverage to force Phillips employees back to work. Meanwhile, 50 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: while in captivity, Fritz was put in charge of a 51 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: camp workshop in that concentration camp, and it was staffed 52 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: by Jewish prisoners. So again he did his best to 53 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: protect his workers in the concentration camp, trying to make 54 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: sure that he he made it clear that each one 55 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: of them was necessary for him to do the work 56 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: that the Nazis were demanding. Tragically, uh he started with 57 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: four hundred sixty nine Jewish employees. Only two of them 58 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: survived to the end of the war. Um and I 59 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: say only three two because it's just a tragedy for 60 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: any of those lives to be lost. Obviously, however, it's 61 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: almost I can't even say it's a silver lining, but 62 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: he did manage to protect quite a few of those people. 63 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: In fact, if you compare those numbers with the Dutch 64 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: Jewish population, overall, almost all the Jews in the Netherlands 65 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:52,599 Speaker 1: had been completely eliminated eradicated. So Fritz Phillips actually did 66 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: succeed in saving lives, and I'm sure that he would 67 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: have wish that he could have saved all of them 68 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,600 Speaker 1: for his efforts. Israel actually decorated Fritz Phillips with the 69 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,919 Speaker 1: Yad Vashiam Medal in nineteen and he was alive to 70 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: accept that that honor. Fritz survived the war, as I 71 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: just indicated. After his release, he dedicated the next several 72 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: years to rebuilding the Phillips presence in the Netherlands because 73 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: during the course of World War Two, Phillips factories were 74 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: hit hard. They had been bombed by the Allies twice 75 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: and then once by the Germans. When the Germans were withdrawing. 76 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: During their retreat, they also bombed the Phillips manufacturing factories. 77 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: He would eventually become the president of Phillips in nineteen 78 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: sixty one. He retired in nineteen seventy one, and he 79 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: passed away in two thousand five at the age of 80 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,600 Speaker 1: one hundred years old. But going back to just after 81 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: World War Two, during that era, uh, you know, it 82 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: was it was a period of rebuilding and by most 83 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: of the facilities had recovered. Meanwhile, Phillips research focused on 84 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: things like transistors and integrated circuits. Over the next couple 85 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: of decades. Really the nineteen fifties was the era of 86 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: the integrated circuit and the transistor. Uh that work was 87 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,960 Speaker 1: really being pioneered at places like Bell Labs. But Phillips were, 88 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: you know, the companies like Phelips were able to jump 89 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: on that bandwagon, as it were, and add their own 90 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:41,840 Speaker 1: expertise in advancing the technology of integrated circuits and building 91 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: a foundation for future work in electronics. In nineteen forty nine, 92 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: Phillips introduced the syncro cyclotron, which sounds like a really 93 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: wicked amusement park ride, but the syncros cyclotron was actually 94 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:02,160 Speaker 1: a particle accelerator. Now that might sound unusual. You're talking 95 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: about a company that's largely known for its work in 96 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: electronics and stuff, so that's fairly simple things like radios 97 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: and lamps, and a little bit in the medical field 98 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: with X ray technology. But this was another example of 99 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: how Phillips was really valuing pure scientific research. Not only 100 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: was Phillips looking to join and create new markets and electronics, 101 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: but also push our understanding of the fundamental nature of 102 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: the universe. Uh. There was a physicist, a famous physicist 103 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: named Kasimir who worked on this project, and Kasimir was 104 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: a notable scientist. His name was actually used to describe 105 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: a certain physical force that results from a quantized field. 106 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: It's called the Casimir effect. That research would later become 107 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: important for micro electro mechanical systems known as mems. So 108 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: there's another good example of how some fundamental understanding of 109 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,040 Speaker 1: science can end up being a huge benefit further on 110 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: the line, something that you could not possibly have anticipated 111 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: when you first set out to study it. I know 112 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: I'm beating a dead horse here, but I really do 113 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: believe deeply in this philosophy that pure science has value, 114 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: and often it has value that we cannot anticipate when 115 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: we set out to answer questions. And so if you 116 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: happen to ever be in a position where you can 117 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: help fund pure science, I urge you to do it, 118 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: even if you don't have an immediate return on what 119 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 1: that investment will mean, because you never know what's going 120 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: to turn into in the future. All right, let your over, 121 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: let's get back to it. In ninete, skipping ahead quite 122 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: a bit, Phillips introduced the compact audio cassette. This is 123 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: what we in the eighties called a cassette tape. Cassette 124 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: tape is essentially a little plastic cartridge, inside of which 125 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,960 Speaker 1: is a real that has a ribbon of magnetic tape 126 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: upon which you can record audio. So magnetic tape was 127 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: not a brand new medium. It's not like Phillips invented 128 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: magnetic tape. Previous versions were already in existence and had 129 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: been used for both commercial and home uses. But the 130 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: home use was pretty limited because really, the predecessor to 131 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: the cassette tape was real to real audio. Some people 132 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: had real to real audio sets, but they were pretty expensive. 133 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 1: So it was one of those things that only people 134 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 1: with a lot of money and a lot of interest 135 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: in technology actually owned. The average person didn't have a 136 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:43,599 Speaker 1: real to real tape player, and the cassette tape was 137 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 1: kind of uh an effort to bring this sort of 138 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,079 Speaker 1: technology into the realm of the consumer market, creating a 139 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: brand new space. UH. The Phillips innovation meant that you 140 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: had a compact, portable, and eventually an expensive alternative to 141 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: real to real tape, and that was great. They debuted 142 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: the cassette tape at the nineteen sixty three Berlin Radio Show. 143 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: It would be introduced to the United States the following year, 144 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty four. Other companies were also attempting to 145 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: establish a standard for personal audio at the same time. 146 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 1: So that raises a question, how did Phillips end up 147 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: making its design the cassette tape the standard. Why? Why 148 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: is that the standard and not something else that was 149 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: being developed at the same time by another company? And 150 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: the answer is mostly due to a strategy that was 151 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: forced on Phillips. Phillips ended up licensing the design for 152 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: free to Sony. The design of the cassette tape to Sony. 153 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: Sony had really been pressuring Phillips to do this. At 154 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:59,439 Speaker 1: that time. Japanese companies were really on the rise, they 155 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: were hapidly overtaking other companies in other parts of the world, 156 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: and so Phillips the writing was on the wall. If 157 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: Phillips did not do this, than some other company stood 158 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: to gain the most by becoming the standard in home 159 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: audio formats. So they agreed, and as Sony adopted that 160 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: Phillips form factor for cassette tapes, the standard was set, 161 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: and and that is how we have cassette tapes and 162 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: not some other format format. But it wouldn't be until 163 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: the late nineteen seventies that the cassette form factor really 164 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,440 Speaker 1: became popular among consumers. So it was more than a 165 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: decade later that people actually started to buy cassette tapes 166 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: in large amounts. And the big reason for that was 167 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: because the quality just wasn't there early on, but for 168 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: both playback and for recording, and vinyl records had much 169 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:02,120 Speaker 1: higher fidelity. The sound was better from a vinyl record. 170 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: If you bought a cassette tape and try to listen 171 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: to the same music that you can get on vinyl, 172 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: you'd be disappointed in the noise that would be present 173 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: on the recording. So cassette tapes originally could not really 174 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 1: compete with the fidelity of records, but as soon as 175 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: that quality reached a good enough standard, cassettes began to 176 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: overtake vinyl. So this is an example of a format 177 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: that you could argue is of an inferior quality. There 178 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: are people who will argue to their deathbed that vinyl 179 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: records are the highest fidelity you can possibly achieve um 180 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 1: because it's a very true representation of the sound that 181 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 1: was generated at the time of recording. But you could 182 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: also argue that ultimately that doesn't matter to the consumer. 183 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: You just have to make the quality good enough and 184 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: make it super convenient, and if it's more convenient than 185 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 1: the alternative and it's not prohibitively expensive, people will switch 186 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,959 Speaker 1: to that format. That's what happened with cassette tapes. They 187 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: weren't superior in quality to vinyl records, but you could 188 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: carry them around with you much easier than you could 189 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: with records. You could even install something like a tape 190 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: deck in your car and listen to him on the go. 191 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: Couldn't really do that with vinyl, at least not without 192 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,000 Speaker 1: taking the smoothest roads possible, because any bump would totally 193 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: ruin your record collection, and it didn't matter that the 194 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,200 Speaker 1: quality wasn't as good because the convenience was there. We'll 195 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: be back with more about the Philips story after this 196 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: quick break. You might wonder how does magnetic tape work? 197 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:53,959 Speaker 1: And I thought it might be cool to just quickly 198 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:58,800 Speaker 1: cover the basics to explain what magnetic tape is actually doing. So, 199 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: the tape itself is a plastic base, So the ribbons 200 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:06,199 Speaker 1: is plastic, and it has a coating of feric oxide 201 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: powder which is ferro magnetic um, and it's usually paired 202 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,560 Speaker 1: with some sort of binding agent so it sticks to 203 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: the plastic film properly. Now, if you expose that feric 204 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: oxide to a magnetic field, the magnetic field will cause 205 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: the particles to align in a particular way. So if 206 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: you move a ribbon coated with feric oxide powder through 207 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: a varying magnetic field, so you're changing the magnetic field 208 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: over time as the ribbon passes through it. The ribbon 209 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: actually becomes a record of the changes in that magnetic field. 210 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: Like in other words, if you were to visually represent 211 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: the changes of that magnetic field across the ribbon, it 212 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: would be like a timeline your reconstruction, reconstructing the time 213 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: from the beginning to the end of how that magnetic 214 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: field changed. Now that magnetic field represents music or or sound, 215 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: you get an electric current, you put it through an 216 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: electro magnet. The changing current in the electromagnet creates this 217 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: variable magnetic field that gets recorded onto this tape. You 218 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: play the tape back through a playback device. Moving this 219 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: ribbon with the magnetic material past an electro magnet that's 220 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,920 Speaker 1: not turned on will expose the electro magnet to a 221 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: changing magnetic field that ends up inducing electric current to 222 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: flow in the electro magnet, which then can be sent 223 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 1: to an amplifier, which then can be sent to speakers, 224 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: and then you get your sound. It's really amazing, like 225 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: it's it's actually pretty simple when you think about it. 226 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:00,080 Speaker 1: It's it's translating one type of energy into another and 227 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: then using magnetic field to record it. But there's something 228 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: in my mind that refuses to dismiss the possibility that 229 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: all of this is magic. I understand on a physical 230 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: level what's happening, but it's so phenomenal to me that 231 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:18,760 Speaker 1: you might as well have a wand in your hand 232 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: and be speaking faux Latin at any rate. That's how 233 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: magnetic tape works. So let's get back to Phillips. They 234 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: had set the standard for home audio with the cassette tape, 235 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: and as a result they they managed to change the 236 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: world of home media, but it took more than a 237 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: decade for that to really take hold. The nine seventies 238 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: were really challenging for Phillips. I mentioned that Fritz Phillips 239 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: had retired in nineteen seventy one as president after a 240 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: really prosperous decade. The sixties were pretty good, but the 241 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 1: seventies were getting tough. Uh. The replacement was Hank fun 242 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: reems Ditch. That's my best s at how to pronounce 243 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: his last name, and he became the new president, but 244 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: he was facing some pretty hefty challenges. Those Japanese companies 245 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: were becoming increasingly powerful and competitive, and that really forced 246 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 1: another round of reorganization over at Phillips. So one of 247 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:21,479 Speaker 1: the things that reems Ditch did was shut down some 248 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: of the smaller factories that were owned by Phillips because 249 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: these smaller companies, these smaller factories weren't as efficient as 250 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:34,399 Speaker 1: larger operations. So the smaller ones got shuttered and the 251 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: larger ones were prioritized. In nineteen seventy two, Phillips introduced 252 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: the first successful consumer home video cassette recorder system. The 253 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: company called it Video Cassette Recording or vc R, but 254 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:56,400 Speaker 1: you shouldn't confuse this with the VHS or Beta Max formats. 255 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,879 Speaker 1: It was a different style of cassette tape. The v 256 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,719 Speaker 1: see our cassettes were actually kind of these chunky squares 257 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,000 Speaker 1: rather than rectangles, and they housed two coaxial reels of 258 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: magnetic tape. They were available in three different varieties. You 259 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:13,679 Speaker 1: could get them in thirty minute, forty five minute, or 260 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:18,400 Speaker 1: sixty minute versions, although supposedly the sixty minute ones were 261 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: particularly tricky. They could snag and and foul pretty easily, 262 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: so they were not reliable. Uh and unless you're from Europe, 263 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,640 Speaker 1: you're probably not terribly familiar with the format. Because Phillips 264 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,920 Speaker 1: never sold the devices in any other regions. They were 265 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: looking at getting into North America, and in fact it 266 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: even started marketing campaigns in North America to try and 267 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:48,400 Speaker 1: introduce the VCR, but before they could, the VHS debuted 268 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: in America and became adopted as the standard um and 269 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: that pretty much foiled the plans of Phillips. During the 270 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 1: late nineteen seventies to to bring the v CR to 271 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: the US. In nineteen seventy four, Phillips purchased another company 272 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:09,640 Speaker 1: called Magnavox. Magnavox was an American electronics company that started 273 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: all the way back in nineteen seventeen, and it produced 274 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,200 Speaker 1: a lot of different types of devices, but my favorite 275 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: was the Magnavox Odyssey, which was the first home video 276 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 1: game console. Now Phillips purchased it, and in the nineteen 277 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:27,040 Speaker 1: eighties they would combine Magnavox with a couple of other 278 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: acquisitions that the company had made, phil COO and Sylvania, 279 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: so you had Magnavox, Philco, and Sylvania all combined into 280 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:39,479 Speaker 1: one division underneath the Phillips brand by the mid nineteen eighties. 281 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: The president, Reems ditch Uh, stepped down in nineteen seventy seven. 282 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: He was replaced with a man named Nico Rawdenburg, and 283 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: the next few years saw an increase in sales, but 284 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: revenue didn't really go anywhere. So even though they were 285 00:19:55,840 --> 00:20:01,200 Speaker 1: selling more products, revenues were m meaning kind of static. 286 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:09,080 Speaker 1: And in Visa Decker became president and chairman of the 287 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: board of Phillips and he restructured the company again so 288 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: you could almost argue that the history of Phillips is 289 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: a series of restructuring and reorganizing to try and uh 290 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:27,560 Speaker 1: get more focus. It seemed like the company would pare down, 291 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,719 Speaker 1: then build up again, and then the next regime, if 292 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,160 Speaker 1: you will, would come in and pare down all over 293 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: again in order to try and get some some laser 294 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:42,080 Speaker 1: like focus for this company. Well, Decker's plan ended up 295 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,359 Speaker 1: closing more than a quarter of all the plants located 296 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: in Europe, and so this leanard company was able to 297 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: turn things around and increase revenues once again. But Decker 298 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: also started making some big acquisitions, including buying a lighting 299 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:01,520 Speaker 1: division from Westinghouse. So again an example of paring down 300 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: but building back up again. Over the next several years, 301 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: Phillips would have a few different presidents, so I thought 302 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: I would lump them all together in this section rather 303 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: than peppering them throughout the rest of the podcast. So 304 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: I'm gonna just tell you all the people who have 305 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: led Phillips from Decker to present day, so and keep 306 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 1: in mind restructuring was pretty much a a go to 307 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 1: strategy with each person. There was a Cornelis van der Kut, 308 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: who led the company in nineteen six. Jan Tremor came 309 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 1: on board in nineteen nine, Core Boonstra in nine six, 310 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: Gerard Cloister Lee in two thousand eleven, and the current 311 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: CEO is Franz von Houghton. So I decided to just 312 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,000 Speaker 1: sum them up all now so that we could get 313 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 1: back into the technology. So Phillips the company partnered with 314 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: m c A to develop a new product called the 315 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: Laser Disc that originally was marketed in the United States 316 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,639 Speaker 1: under the name of the m c A Disco Vision, 317 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,640 Speaker 1: which I think is a phenomenal product name I wish 318 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,920 Speaker 1: Disco Vision had been its name forever. Uh. The first 319 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:20,120 Speaker 1: place it went on sale was actually Atlanta, Georgia in ninet. 320 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 1: It went on sale there before it appeared anywhere else 321 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,879 Speaker 1: in the United States, so shout out to my hometown 322 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: of Atlanta, Georgia. Now, both m c A and Phillips 323 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: have been working on an optical video technology separately optical 324 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 1: meaning that you're using some form of light to record 325 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,360 Speaker 1: and read the information off a disk in order for 326 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: you to get the video and audio that has been 327 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,600 Speaker 1: put on that disc. And both m c A and 328 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 1: Phillips have been working on this at the same time, 329 00:22:55,920 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: but They both also noted there had just been this 330 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 1: massive war of formats between VHS and Beta Max and 331 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 1: m c A, and Phillips came to the conclusion that 332 00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: it made more sense for them to join together and 333 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: to combine their knowledge and come out with a united 334 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: product rather than try and have another format war which 335 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:29,119 Speaker 1: could hurt both companies. So they entered a partnership and 336 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 1: created LaserDisc, which never really met with widespread success here 337 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: in the United States. There are other markets like in 338 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: Asia where it did quite well, but in the US 339 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: there was a passionate market, but it was very small. 340 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: So there were some home theater enthusiasts, again mostly people 341 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,119 Speaker 1: who had a decent amount of money at their disposal 342 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 1: who adopted LaserDisc technology, but for the most part it 343 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 1: was kind of an afterthought. Part of that was because 344 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,399 Speaker 1: you couldn't use it to right stuff to the discs. 345 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: Now you're you're consumer products. They were read only, so 346 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: you could buy movies and watch them, but you couldn't 347 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: record anything. VHS had an advantage there you could record 348 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 1: stuff from television onto tape and keep it forever. So 349 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 1: even though LaserDisc quality was better than VHS quality at 350 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 1: least initially. Again, it didn't matter that the quality was better. 351 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 1: It wasn't It wasn't practical and convenient enough for people 352 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:37,399 Speaker 1: who wanted to have that home theater experience. So ultimately 353 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,480 Speaker 1: it didn't really take off here in the US, and uh, 354 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: it still was a very interesting story, but it did 355 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: lead to another partnership. This time it was a partnership 356 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:53,679 Speaker 1: between Phillips and Sony. They decided to work together to 357 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 1: develop a digital audio disc. The two companies poured time, money, 358 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: and other resources into research into element and the result 359 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: was the Compact Disc, which became a worldwide standard. And 360 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: there are a lot of interesting stories about the history 361 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 1: of the Compact disc, including things like how did they 362 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,919 Speaker 1: come to decide what were the standards for things like 363 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,919 Speaker 1: bit rate that you record to on a disk. Maybe 364 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 1: one day I will do a full episode just about 365 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 1: the Compact disc and why compact discs are the way 366 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 1: they are because those were decisions that were made. It's 367 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 1: not like it it was just the magical properties of 368 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: the CD. But in order to make sure that this 369 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,880 Speaker 1: standard survived the test of time, Sony and Phillips decided 370 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 1: to do something similar to what Phillips had done with 371 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: cassette tapes. They granted manufacturing rights for CD players to 372 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:51,160 Speaker 1: other manufacturers. In other words, they gave competition the right 373 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: to make their own CD players because if they didn't, 374 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: the fear was that these other manufacturers would try to 375 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,399 Speaker 1: create standards of their own and that would fracture the market. 376 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,679 Speaker 1: So just imagine that you're trying to buy music and 377 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,479 Speaker 1: there are five different formats out there, hard hard copy 378 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 1: formats that are similar to c d s, but they 379 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: aren't compatible with each other. So, in other words, you 380 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: have a system at home, it will only play one 381 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: version of the media. You have to go out there 382 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,679 Speaker 1: and hope that whatever album you want is available on 383 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: the media. You have advantage, you know, you can take 384 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 1: advantage of. That's what Sony and Phillips wanted to avoid. 385 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: They did not want that world to happen because consumers 386 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: wouldn't be very happy. It would end up hurting all 387 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,240 Speaker 1: the parties involved. So that's why they granted the rights 388 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 1: to other manufacturers to make things like CD players. We 389 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,200 Speaker 1: will conclude the Phillips story to parter. At least as 390 00:26:51,240 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: of two thousand sixteen. After these messages in, Phillips would 391 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:11,960 Speaker 1: change its name to Phillips Electronics Envy, which finally is pronounceable, 392 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: so I thank them for that decision. They also introduced 393 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: a console in the home video game market called the 394 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:24,240 Speaker 1: Phillips c d I c D DASH lowercase I that 395 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:28,120 Speaker 1: actually stood for Compact Disc Interactive and it was meant 396 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,920 Speaker 1: to combine the functionality of a CD player and a 397 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,199 Speaker 1: video game console while still being less expensive than a 398 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,880 Speaker 1: PC that had a CD ROM drive. In the mid nineties, 399 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,200 Speaker 1: Phillips increased the functionality of the c d I by 400 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: introducing Internet connectivity and making it one of the first 401 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: consoles capable of browsing the web or playing games online. 402 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 1: In order to do that, you actually had to buy 403 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,640 Speaker 1: an expansion for the c d I, which caused something 404 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 1: like a hundred and fifty bucks, which at the time 405 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: was pretty expensive, I mean six US of now, but 406 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:03,480 Speaker 1: you have to adjust for inflation because that was the 407 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,399 Speaker 1: mid nineties, with a D fifty dollars on top of 408 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,200 Speaker 1: the price of the c d I by itself. Now, 409 00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: what was really interesting to me is that the c 410 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: d I was able to do something that most video 411 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: game consoles have not been able to do, at least 412 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: non Nintendo video game consoles, they were able to license 413 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: characters from Nintendo like Mario and Link and Zelda. They 414 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,120 Speaker 1: were able to license all of those characters and make 415 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: games featuring those characters for a non Nintendo video game system. 416 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: How did that happen? Well, the reason is that originally 417 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,959 Speaker 1: Nintendo was looking into building a CD ROM add on 418 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and so Nintendo and 419 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: Phillips were going to partner together. Phillips was going to 420 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,480 Speaker 1: build the hardware, the CD ROM hardware that would connect 421 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,520 Speaker 1: to the Nintendo console and that would give Nintendo the 422 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 1: ability to increase it's its range by adding CD capability 423 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: to the Nintendo Entertainment System or Super Nintendo Entertainment System. 424 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: But other CD based video game consoles were not doing 425 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: so well in the market, so Nintendo changed its mind. 426 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: The company said, you know, maybe we were a little hasty. 427 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: To me. It looks like this is not the right 428 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: path for us to take right now, so we're gonna 429 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 1: back off. We're gonna cancel this arrangement. But as sort 430 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:45,480 Speaker 1: of a consolation prize to Phillips for having to cancel 431 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:50,719 Speaker 1: this agreed upon partnership, Nintendo said, when you make your 432 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: video game console. You can use these properties for certain 433 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 1: number of video games, and that's where we got things 434 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: like Hotel Mario Fat A lot of good it did Phillips, 435 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: though the video games were widely considered to be pretty awful, 436 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: so they were not enough to save the system and 437 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:14,120 Speaker 1: push it to popularity. In fact, a lot of publications 438 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: out there will list the Phillips c d I as 439 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: one of the worst consoles ever in the history of ever. 440 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: It was considered to be that bad, largely not because 441 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:28,280 Speaker 1: of the hardware, but because of the lackluster games that 442 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:32,480 Speaker 1: were developed for it. It's a very forward thinking kind 443 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: of console, it just didn't execute well and didn't have 444 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: the support as far as software is concerned. Now, in 445 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:43,360 Speaker 1: the mid nine nineties, Phillips and Sony would join forces again, 446 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 1: but this time they also had Teshiba and Panasonic with 447 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: them to develop what was called the Digital Versatile Disc 448 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: or DVD. Now. The reason for that alliance was again 449 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 1: to avoid another home media format war like that VHS 450 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: Beta MAX battle. Before the DVD, there were two primary 451 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 1: formats that were racing to become the standard. One of 452 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,560 Speaker 1: those formats was backed by Sony and Phillips and was 453 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 1: called the Multimedia Compact Disc or mm c D. The 454 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: other was called the Super Density Disc or s D, 455 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 1: and it was supported by companies like Pioneer, Tshiba, and 456 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: j v C. The alliance actually allowed these various parties 457 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 1: to collaborate together and incorporate some of the technology they 458 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: had developed separately into a single format, which became the 459 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: new standard DVD, and it also headed off that format 460 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:42,400 Speaker 1: war in the process. While that strategy worked, it seems 461 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:45,880 Speaker 1: that Toshiba kind of forgot all about the importance of 462 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: it a few years later when it tried to pit 463 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: its HD DVD standard against Blu Ray. So Phillips was 464 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: part of the Blu Ray Disc Association or b d A, 465 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 1: and their companies in the b d A included Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, 466 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: a whole bunch of others, essentially everyone who wasn't Ta Shiba. 467 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,520 Speaker 1: And so you had this this fight between Blu Ray 468 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 1: and HD DVD, and for a while it looked like 469 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:20,080 Speaker 1: h D DVD might even win, but ultimately they had 470 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: to pull out of the race. Blue Ray obviously one 471 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: you don't see h D DVD sets out there these days. 472 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: I actually got to see the results of this battle 473 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 1: in person, because when I went to c e S 474 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:36,040 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, there was a big empty spot 475 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:39,960 Speaker 1: on the show floor where h D DVD was supposed 476 00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:44,960 Speaker 1: to be, and that is unusual. Usually every square foot 477 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: of c E S has some sort of booth attached 478 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: to it. If it's not a booth, it's a pathway 479 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: between booths. So to have a big area that had 480 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: nothing in it was pretty conspicuous. It was made even 481 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: more conspicuous by the fact that Ray that year had 482 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:05,000 Speaker 1: designed their booth to look like an enormous pirate ship 483 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 1: that was modeled after the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, 484 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:12,640 Speaker 1: So it was very obvious that h D DVD was 485 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 1: the ship that sunk in that particular battle. In two thousand, 486 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:22,000 Speaker 1: Phillips closed a chapter in its history by transforming the 487 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: nat Lab that's the research and development facility I talked 488 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: about in Part one. They changed it into the High 489 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: Tech Campus Eindhoven, which is an open research facility that 490 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: has multiple participating organizations. Phillips is one of them, but 491 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:41,320 Speaker 1: it's not the only one anymore. This followed nearly three 492 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 1: decades of decline in that lab. It's actually kind of 493 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 1: a sad story. So Phillips during these restructuring UH processes 494 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:52,560 Speaker 1: where they kept on having to reorganize and and and 495 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: kind of leaned down. One of the things that was 496 00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:00,280 Speaker 1: happening was that they were pulling resources away from search 497 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:04,680 Speaker 1: and development. In the process UH, they started to de 498 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:09,880 Speaker 1: emphasize the importance of pure scientific research and really looked 499 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: at the NAT lab is more of a standard R 500 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:18,919 Speaker 1: and D lab rather than pushing the envelope of science exploration. 501 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,880 Speaker 1: And then finally they just opened it up to other organizations. 502 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:26,719 Speaker 1: So now it's no longer a Phillips based organ It's 503 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,760 Speaker 1: Phillips is still involved, but it's no longer the parent 504 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:36,760 Speaker 1: of that particular facility. Recently, Phillips has also introduced interesting 505 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:40,160 Speaker 1: systems and healthcare. They've been involved in healthcare since the 506 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:43,640 Speaker 1: twenties when they were working with X rays, but now 507 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:46,680 Speaker 1: you can find stuff like the Ambient Experience. That's what 508 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:50,799 Speaker 1: it's actually called. UH. It's an integrated solution that incorporates 509 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:55,839 Speaker 1: dynamic lighting, sound, and architecture to improve patient care and 510 00:34:55,920 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 1: hospital efficiency. So kind of a hospital that bonds to 511 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:03,839 Speaker 1: the needs of the doctors and patients who are who 512 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,600 Speaker 1: are there, which is kind of cool. A neat idea. 513 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 1: Phillips also launched a three D scanner in two thousand 514 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,880 Speaker 1: six that is used to create high quality CT scans, 515 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:15,760 Speaker 1: and the company continued to invest in X ray development, 516 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 1: creating new systems that use lower dosages of X ray 517 00:35:18,719 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: radiation to really limit that exposure both to patients and 518 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,600 Speaker 1: to healthcare professionals and UH and reduce the risk of 519 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:31,919 Speaker 1: causing damage with that radiation. But Phillips has also pulled 520 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,520 Speaker 1: back from a few industries in an effort to simplify 521 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,520 Speaker 1: and focus its efforts. I've already mentioned that Phillips is 522 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:40,799 Speaker 1: you know, they no longer manufacture their own branded televisions, 523 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:44,319 Speaker 1: but they've also pulled out of semiconductor operations. They did 524 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:47,160 Speaker 1: that back in two thousand five, two thousand six, And 525 00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,760 Speaker 1: there's been some other troubles as well. In two thousand twelve, 526 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,960 Speaker 1: the European Union find Phillips, along with several other companies, 527 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:59,320 Speaker 1: with a charge of fixing prices for TV cathode ray tubes. Essentially, 528 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:03,280 Speaker 1: they said that these companies all colluded to fix cathode 529 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:07,520 Speaker 1: ray to prices rather than compete against one another. In 530 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:11,600 Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen, the company renamed itself again. This time 531 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,600 Speaker 1: they called themselves Royal Phillips, which is the current name 532 00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:18,520 Speaker 1: of the company, and in two thousand fourteen, the company 533 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:23,000 Speaker 1: announced it would split into two separate entities, so one 534 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:26,560 Speaker 1: company would be a lighting business and the other company 535 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:31,719 Speaker 1: would be consumer lifestyle and healthcare. So Royal Phillips would 536 00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:36,160 Speaker 1: become the consumer Lifestyle and healthcare business, and the new company, 537 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:38,759 Speaker 1: which will launch with an I p O sometime in 538 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 1: two thousand sixteen, at least that's the belief as I 539 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:47,439 Speaker 1: record this podcast, will become uh Phillips Lighting, So you'll 540 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,879 Speaker 1: have two different Phillips companies at that time, independent one 541 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,360 Speaker 1: of the other h So you have Royal Phillips and 542 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:57,040 Speaker 1: Phillips Lighting. So let's let's bring this whole story back 543 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:02,200 Speaker 1: full circle. We started the discussion about Phillips by talking 544 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:07,240 Speaker 1: about carbon filaments for lightbulbs. I thought it would conclude 545 00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:10,360 Speaker 1: by talking about one of the products Phillips has introduced 546 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,279 Speaker 1: over the last few years, Philips Hugh, which is a 547 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:16,000 Speaker 1: special kind of light bulb. It's sort of the fitting 548 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:19,600 Speaker 1: end to the series. So we're talking about LED light 549 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:23,359 Speaker 1: bulbs that are capable of displaying light in various light 550 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:27,759 Speaker 1: temperatures in other words, that can change color. UM it's networked, 551 00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:31,399 Speaker 1: so it actually connects to your wireless network at home, 552 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:34,359 Speaker 1: and you can control the light bulbs using something like 553 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:38,880 Speaker 1: a tablet or a smartphone. You can set it so 554 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:41,960 Speaker 1: that they're different colors, or even change colors over time. 555 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:46,920 Speaker 1: You can even there's certain UM television programs that have 556 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,760 Speaker 1: been designed so that if you have a huge system 557 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:55,759 Speaker 1: at home and you haven't connected, so that you're television 558 00:37:55,800 --> 00:37:59,120 Speaker 1: viewing and your Hugh lighting are all integrated with each other, 559 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:03,000 Speaker 1: the hue ight bulbs will change color in reaction to 560 00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:05,400 Speaker 1: what you are watching. In other words, it becomes this 561 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:10,719 Speaker 1: coordinated immersive experience. So as an example, if there were 562 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,560 Speaker 1: an explosion on the television show you're watching, the lights 563 00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:20,240 Speaker 1: might quickly flash a certain color to create that explosion effect. 564 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:23,680 Speaker 1: So it's even more immersive in your home, which I 565 00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:26,960 Speaker 1: think is kind of neat. It's also pretty dorky, but 566 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:32,239 Speaker 1: I'm also extremely dorky, thus pretty neat. Also, it's really expensive, 567 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,919 Speaker 1: you know, to to buy these these bulbs. You first 568 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:39,000 Speaker 1: have to have a bridge to connect the bulbs to 569 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 1: your WiFi system, and I think your typical kit comes 570 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:45,920 Speaker 1: with a bridge and three light bulbs, and it's still 571 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:49,560 Speaker 1: pretty hefty price. And then you have to add more 572 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:53,560 Speaker 1: lightbulbs if you want to have, you know, a greater 573 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:55,919 Speaker 1: amount of lighting in your house. So it gets more 574 00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:57,880 Speaker 1: and more expensive the more light bulbs you add, and 575 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:00,160 Speaker 1: you have a certain number that you could add up 576 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:02,759 Speaker 1: to the to a point, and then after that the 577 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:07,080 Speaker 1: bridge can't handle anymore. So it's not necessarily a practical solution. 578 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:09,959 Speaker 1: It might be considered more of a toy for people 579 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,719 Speaker 1: who really like electronics and lighting effects. I personally have 580 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:18,480 Speaker 1: not purchased Phillips Hugh lightbulbs. I've thought about it a 581 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:21,959 Speaker 1: few times, just haven't made the plunge yet, but maybe 582 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:23,920 Speaker 1: I will. We'll see, because I do think it's a 583 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,680 Speaker 1: cool idea and I think it's neat to see how 584 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:31,520 Speaker 1: a company that was founded on creating lightbulbs is still 585 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,560 Speaker 1: innovating in that space. Although of course now there are 586 00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,839 Speaker 1: competing products on the market. They're similar to Phillips Hugh, 587 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:42,840 Speaker 1: so obviously more innovation will be required in order to 588 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:48,000 Speaker 1: remain relevant. I hope you enjoyed that classic episode from sixteen. 589 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:51,080 Speaker 1: Like I said, there's a lot that's happened in the 590 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,440 Speaker 1: years since, so we could probably do an update on 591 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,560 Speaker 1: the Philips story. Of course, I always feel weird about 592 00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:59,359 Speaker 1: doing that. I almost feel like I should redo the 593 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:03,239 Speaker 1: older episodes because the style has adapted over time, and 594 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:06,360 Speaker 1: it just feels like whenever I do it addendum to 595 00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:10,799 Speaker 1: older episodes, there's a big disconnect. It means a lot 596 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:14,240 Speaker 1: more work, but it ends up being a more coherent series. 597 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:16,440 Speaker 1: So I don't know. Let me know what you think. 598 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,840 Speaker 1: Does it make sense for me to go back over 599 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:24,799 Speaker 1: older material and give it a fresh start, or do 600 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:28,960 Speaker 1: you prefer me just um doing an update, like not 601 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:33,040 Speaker 1: going back and redoing the older stuff. I'm curious to 602 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,040 Speaker 1: hear what you think. You can get in touch with 603 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:36,719 Speaker 1: me in a couple of ways. One is you can 604 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,240 Speaker 1: download the I Heart Radio app. It's read to download 605 00:40:39,239 --> 00:40:41,160 Speaker 1: and us. You can navigate over to tech Stuff using 606 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:44,520 Speaker 1: the search field and leave a little voice message by 607 00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:47,920 Speaker 1: clicking on the microphone icon, or if you prefer, you 608 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:50,239 Speaker 1: can head on over to Twitter send a message to 609 00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:54,000 Speaker 1: me the uh the handle almost an address, but the 610 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:57,400 Speaker 1: handle we use for this show is tech Stuff H 611 00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:01,080 Speaker 1: s W and I'll talk to you again really soon. 612 00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:11,160 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production For more podcasts, 613 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:13,920 Speaker 1: from I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, 614 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:17,200 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.