1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,120 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: and a love of all things tech. And in our 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: last episode, we looked at how co founders Edwin Priddham 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,479 Speaker 1: and Peter Jensen, not only kept their young company alive 7 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: by creating a moving coil loudspeaker, but they also came 8 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: up with the name of the company and is Magnavox, 9 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 1: after first calling the loudspeaker that name, so originally Magnavox 10 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,559 Speaker 1: was the name for a type of technology, a loud speaker. 11 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: We also learned about how the two engineers created noise 12 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: canceling microphones for use in aircraft during World War One, 13 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: as well as how the company tried to get into 14 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: the consumer electronics business and the young business of radio 15 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: once the war was over. We also learned that in 16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty five, after having disagreements with leadership, Peter Jensen, 17 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: one of the co founders, left the company and he 18 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: would go on to found his own companies and later 19 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: on pass away in nineteen sixty one. But back to 20 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: Magnavox and the mid to late nineteen twenties, the company 21 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: was actually too pretty unsteady ground in nive. It wasn't 22 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: just because Jensen had left. Magnavox had overestimated the demand 23 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: for radio sets in the early days and had overproduced radios, 24 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: so it expanded operations. It had opened up a warehouse 25 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: and distribution center in New York, But by the end 26 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: of nineteen twenty five, with the costs of operation so 27 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: high in the radio business so cut throat, Magnavox chose 28 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: to close those New York offices because those offices weren't 29 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 1: really serving a purpose. Because the company was finding it 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: hard to sell consumer radios. There's just too many on 31 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: the market and there wasn't enough you know, demand there yet, 32 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: and the business owns began to consider alternatives to having 33 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: a base of operations in California as well. There was 34 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: no denying that California was a huge market, a lot 35 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: of people live there, but shipping components like copper wire, 36 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: which largely came out of the Midwestern states in America, 37 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 1: and and shipping them all the way across the states 38 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: to California and or the manufacture stuff that was really expensive. 39 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: Now the company also hit a stumbling block when it 40 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: started to produce its own vacuum tubes. The company was 41 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: trying to get off the dependence of other manufacturing companies 42 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: and to become more self sufficient and thus produce all 43 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: the different components that would go into things like a radio. 44 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: The earliest Magnavox tubes had a tendency to short out, 45 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: which is not good. Like some of them wouldn't even 46 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: last longer than a few hours of operation. Later tubes 47 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,279 Speaker 1: continued to have some reliability issues, and this gave Magnavox 48 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: a bad reputation among distributors and independent radio manufacturers. They 49 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: realized that if they built their radios and they used 50 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: Magnavox tubes as amplifiers, that they would frequently stop functioning 51 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: not long after they were first print in use. That's 52 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: not that's not good. And this was bad enough that 53 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 1: by mid ninety seven, the board of directors from Magnavox 54 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: ordered the two production facilities to shut down. They also 55 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: shut down consumer radio production, so for the next decade 56 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,920 Speaker 1: or so, Magnavox didn't make consumer radios. Instead, it would 57 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: make components for independent radio companies, and they just sold 58 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: those directly to manufacturers. Now, the reason for that shutdown 59 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: was that Magnavox still had more radios produced than it 60 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: could sell. They were literally taking up space and warehouses 61 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: in the company had built radio sets that had five 62 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: tubes in them for the purposes of tuning, you know, 63 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: receiving tuning and amplifying signals. And despite the fact that 64 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: analysts had predicted that people would want six tube radio 65 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: sets that had gray or functionality by nine, Magnifux said, 66 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: we're going to stick with the five tube design. The 67 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: reason they did that was that they were worried that 68 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: if they moved to a six tube design for the 69 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: new models, no one would ever buy the old sets 70 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: that were sitting around in warehouses, and so you know, 71 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: Magnifux would be stuck with all these obsolete radios. But 72 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: then no one bought the new five tube sets that 73 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: Magnavox produced, so it was an even bigger loss. Right, 74 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: Instead of a warehouse filled with old five tube sets 75 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: while the six tube sets were selling, there were warehouses 76 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: full full filled with even more five tube sets. And 77 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: all told, Magnifox lost around a million dollars due to 78 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:50,280 Speaker 1: the issues with tube reliability and performance of their radio sales. UH. 79 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: And remember we're talking about the nineteen twenties here. A 80 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: million dollars is a lot of money, don't get me wrong, 81 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: but when you factor in inflation, it's an astronomical amount 82 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: of money. Uh So, not only wasn't an expensive blow, 83 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: but also tarnished Magnavox's reputation, so it would make it 84 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: harder for Magnuvox to win back the confidence of distributors 85 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: and manufacturers in the future. Magnavox also tried to branch 86 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: out and diversify beyond loudspeakers and radios. In nineteen twenty 87 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: four of the company introduced an electric heater. Electric heaters 88 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: work on a pretty simple principle, which is that of 89 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: electrical resistance. So every conductor, every material that is electrically 90 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:35,280 Speaker 1: conductive under normal conditions, has some amount of electrical resistance, 91 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: and that's kind of like friction in the world of electricity. 92 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: Electrical resistance depends on a few factors, first and foremost 93 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: the material itself. So, for example, copper is a really 94 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: good electrical conductor, and as a fairly low resistance, silver 95 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: is an even better electrical conductor. In fact, silver would 96 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: be a great conductor if it weren't for the fact 97 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: that one it's pretty scarce and to will think it's 98 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: pretty so they want to turn it into jewelry and stuff. 99 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: But you know, the material is not just the only 100 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: factor that you know ends up affecting resistance. The gauge 101 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,720 Speaker 1: or thickness of a wire also matters. Thin wires, which 102 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: somewhat paradoxically on on casual glance, have a higher gauge, 103 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:27,479 Speaker 1: they have greater electrical resistance than thicker wires or wires 104 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: that have a low gauge. And again that might seem 105 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: counterintuitive in the gauge factor, right, like a sixteen gauge 106 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,599 Speaker 1: wire is actually thinner than a twelve gauge wire. Anyway, 107 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 1: the thicker the wire or cable, the lower the electrical resistance. 108 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: Other things, by the way, can also change electrical resistance. 109 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: For example, if you were too super cool a good 110 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: conductor like copper. In other words, if you were to 111 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: reduce the temperature of the copper too close to absolute zero, 112 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: you can reduce or even eliminate electrical resistance entirely. This 113 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: is what facilities like the large hadron collider do. It's 114 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 1: kind of like a playground slide if you want to 115 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:08,840 Speaker 1: think of it. That way, So the surface of a 116 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: slide resists stuff sliding down it to some degree, right, 117 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: Like you might slide a slide and you go like 118 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: it's kind of stop and start. On a hot day, 119 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: you might just stick to it um so you can 120 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: slide down, but you feel the friction between you and 121 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: the slide. But let's say you were to coat that 122 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: slide in I don't know, baby oil, you would drastically 123 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: reduce the friction and kids on that playground would just 124 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: zoom right off that slide. By the way, don't do that, 125 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: you'll hurt people. Don't hurt people. But anyway, even with 126 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: the baby oil, you'd still have some friction, but it 127 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: would be much much less than normal, and you would 128 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: slide much faster. Kind Of similar when we're talking about 129 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: electrical resistance. But let's get back to electric heaters, all right. 130 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: So electric current runs through a conductive material, which again 131 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: has some amount of electrical resistance. Well, that resistance means 132 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: that some of that electrical energy converts into heat. Now, 133 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: typically we think of this as waste. The electronics heat 134 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: up and the heat gets released into the environment, and 135 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: we don't typically do anything with that extra heat. In fact, 136 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: electronics like computers and such typically have fans in them 137 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: to help disperse the heat that's generated through electrical resistance, 138 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: because if electrical components overheat, they typically fail. An electric heater, however, 139 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: makes heat through electrical resistance on purpose. The electric circuits 140 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: in electric heater have resistors built into them specifically so 141 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,959 Speaker 1: that they heat up and convert more of the electric 142 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: current into heat. The resistors are made of materials that 143 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,439 Speaker 1: can with stand high temperatures for a long time, so 144 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:48,079 Speaker 1: they don't break down due to this heating process. The 145 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: same is true for the elements that are in an 146 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: electric toaster or in an electric oven, and that's how 147 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: electric heaters work in a nutshell, all right. Back to 148 00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: some of the other products that Magnavox was making around 149 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: this time. There was also an on demand water heater, 150 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 1: which you would mount directly onto a faucet, heating the 151 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: water just before it came out of the pipes and 152 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,839 Speaker 1: through the faucet itself. This, by the way, it works 153 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 1: in a very similar way to an electric heater. You 154 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: have pipes that are surrounded by electric or sometimes gas 155 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: powered heating elements, and so when you want hot water, 156 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: these elements turn on and they get really hot, and 157 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: the water passing through the pipes picks up some of 158 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: that thermal energy and heats up, so that eventually the 159 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: water comes out hot. The company also created a laying 160 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 1: cage for chickens and apparently also created an automatic egg cooker. 161 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: These designs never really went into full production, so they 162 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: were in very limited runs as far as I can tell, 163 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,559 Speaker 1: and I wasn't able to find much information on them 164 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 1: before I went to record this episode. So I wish 165 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: I could tell you more about an automatic egg cooker 166 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: from Magnifux, but I don't have that info. One item 167 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: that did come out that was success full was the 168 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: Magna Lux adjustable lamp, which was a death lamp that 169 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: was on an articulated arm, and it looks a lot 170 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: like common desk lamps of today, you know, like the 171 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: lamps that have the hinged arm in them so that 172 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: you can position them in different ways. Magnavox made one 173 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: of those that was pretty successful, but the bread and 174 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: Butter from Magnavox remained. The loud speaker. The company continued 175 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: to sell cone based loud speakers. This was the backbone 176 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:31,079 Speaker 1: of their business. Speakers were what the company really uh 177 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:35,839 Speaker 1: you know, made their name on literally and still were 178 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,679 Speaker 1: the most important product they were creating. They weren't generally 179 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 1: meant for the average consumer. They weren't selling these two 180 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: customers directly. They were selling them to other companies like 181 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 1: They became the component of choice for several independent radio 182 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,480 Speaker 1: manufacturing companies. So you might buy a radio set that 183 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: has a different brand on it, but it had Magnavox 184 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,320 Speaker 1: speakers in it. They did, however, try to create a 185 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: retail market for consumer speakers. By the time of nineteen 186 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: twenty nine to nineteen thirty, the leaders of Magnifux realized 187 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,439 Speaker 1: that they needed to change operations. Their main customers were 188 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: now independent radio manufacturers who were purchasing Magnafux speakers to 189 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,439 Speaker 1: go into their radio sets, and they were mostly located 190 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: in the Midwest of the United States. And as I 191 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,959 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, copper cable also primarily was coming out of 192 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: the Midwest. So in nineteen twenty nine, Magnavox opened up 193 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: an assembly plant in Chicago, Illinois, with the goal of 194 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: shifting operations to the Midwest. Then the stock market crashed. 195 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: Now this had a massive effect across nearly every industry, 196 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: not just in the United States, but in the world, 197 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 1: Magnavox was forced to go through a company reorganization to 198 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: stay afloat the leaders decided to shut down the California 199 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: operations and they moved everything to Chicago. Forty five employees 200 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: would actually make that move, although almost all of them 201 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 1: would end up leaving the company over the following couple 202 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,440 Speaker 1: of years and Magnafux would end up hiring all new 203 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: people to work the company. Magnafux would relocate again, however, 204 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: not long after relocating to Chicago. This time they moved 205 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: to Fort Wayne, Indiana. That's where the company set up 206 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: a new manufacturing facility, and it wouldn't produce consumer products 207 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: for several more years. Instead, it focused on tech that 208 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: would go into products coming out of other manufacturers. In 209 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:32,079 Speaker 1: nine Magnavox founded the Magnavux Company Limited. You might wonder 210 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: why it did that. This has to do with the 211 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: fact that the earlier incorporation of Magnavox was out of 212 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,760 Speaker 1: the state of Arizona. So even though the company headquarters 213 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 1: were located in California, the leaders chose to incorporate in Arizona. Well. 214 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: The business leaders now wanted to switch this to Delaware, 215 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: and you might wonder why that's so. I mean, if 216 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: you were to just look at a list of Fortune 217 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:56,679 Speaker 1: companies in the United States, you would see that more 218 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 1: than half of them are incorporated in Delaware. Delaware is 219 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 1: not a big state and it has less than a 220 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:05,720 Speaker 1: million people living in it, so you might wonder what 221 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: the heck is going on here. Well, the big reason 222 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,080 Speaker 1: is that Delaware leads the US when it comes to 223 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: laws that define what corporations can and cannot do. Plus, 224 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,719 Speaker 1: Delaware has a special court called the Court of Chancery 225 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 1: that only focuses on cases involving corporate law. So cases 226 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: appear before a judge. There's no jury trial, it's just 227 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: a judge, and they get fast tracked into that system. 228 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: So that means there's fewer delays compared to other court systems. 229 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:37,559 Speaker 1: If you were in a different state and you had 230 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: to bring a matter to court, you would be put 231 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: on a waiting list along with every other case that 232 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: was being tried by those courts. But because Delaware has 233 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 1: the specific court for corporate law matters, things are much faster. 234 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:55,239 Speaker 1: So being incorporated in Delaware, even if the company's headquarters 235 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: are in some other state, has legal advantages. Anyway, the 236 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,440 Speaker 1: Magnafucx Come and He Limited became a holding company. It 237 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: purchased all the stock from the Magnavox Company that was 238 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: incorporated in Arizona, so effectively it shifted the incorporation to Delaware. 239 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: So this was an example of jumping through some legal 240 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: hoops to change the incorporation status of the company. Uh, 241 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: Magnavox Company Limited didn't really do anything. It was just 242 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 1: a holding company for the Magna Magnafux Company Incorporated, that 243 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: was the company that was actually doing the manufacturing. Around 244 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: this time, Magnavox also acquired part of the AMRAD Corporation. 245 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: AMRAD stands for Amateur Radio Research and Development. It previously 246 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: merged with the Crosley Radio Corporation, which is a fastening 247 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: company in its own right. Crosley Radio made home radio sets, 248 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: including some budget models, but by the late nineteen twenties, 249 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 1: the am RED division had very little to do, and 250 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: this kind of gets back into that oversaturation problem in 251 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 1: the radio industry. And after the stock work crashed, the 252 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:05,080 Speaker 1: am RED division effectively shut down. So Magnavox purchased part 253 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 1: of the am RED division and brought it into the 254 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: fold of Magnavox am Red mostly created components for radios, 255 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 1: including tubes that would be used like gas tubes that 256 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: would be used rectifiers in radio. So Magnavox supplement its 257 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: own capabilities with this acquisition. In Magnavox purchased a stake 258 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,520 Speaker 1: of ownership in a company called Electro Acoustics Products located 259 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: out of New York. The company created stuff like the 260 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: Illustra vox, and you might wonder what the heck that was. Well, 261 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: the Illustra vox was a combination phonograph that's the vox 262 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: or voice and film strip projector presumably the Illustra part. 263 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 1: It looked a lot like a film projector that had 264 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: a record turntable smacked on top of it, so you 265 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: would load a film into the projector, which would indicate 266 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 1: where you were when you were to put the needle 267 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:00,200 Speaker 1: down on the accompanying phonograph that had the soundtrack for 268 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: the film strip, and then you would play the audio 269 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: back along with the projected film. Now, obviously getting it 270 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: just right was kind of an art in itself, so 271 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 1: that the sound and images would match up, and they 272 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: were used for a lot of stuff like training films 273 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: and that kind of thing. The acquisition of this company 274 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: would mean that Magnavox was poised to return to the 275 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 1: consumer market. By nineteen thirty six, seven Electroacoustics Products would 276 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:30,720 Speaker 1: initially be a subsidiary of Magnavox, and in nineteen thirty seven, 277 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: Magnavox introduced a tabletop radio unit designated as high Fidelity. 278 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 1: We'll talk about what that means after this quick break. 279 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: All right, it's time to talk high fidelity. And by 280 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: that I don't mean the Nick Hornby novel or the 281 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: movie adaptation of that novel starring John Cusack, or the 282 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 1: Broadway musical adaptation or the TV series adaptation. Now we're 283 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 1: talking the concept of high fidelity. So usually, though not always, 284 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:12,160 Speaker 1: when you record a sound, what you want the recorded 285 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: version of the sound to sound like is to be 286 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,679 Speaker 1: as close to the original sound as you can possibly 287 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:23,160 Speaker 1: make it. You are recreating the original sound through playback, 288 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: but there are a lot of things that can interfere 289 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: with the reproduced sound and it can make it fall short. 290 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: The recording itself could be faulty that would be a 291 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: big problem, or there could be issues with the playback 292 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 1: devices wiring, or the speakers might not be capable of 293 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,400 Speaker 1: playing back the sound without introducing distortion. Now, the word 294 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: fidelity describes how pure a reproduced sound is. That is, 295 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,919 Speaker 1: a high fidelity experience is one in which there is 296 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,959 Speaker 1: little or no distortion introduced into the experience of the sound, 297 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,239 Speaker 1: so that you get a more pure playback experience. If 298 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: you listen to a cordings of old gramophone or phonograph 299 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:07,640 Speaker 1: playback devices, you've probably heard teny warbly sounds that are interesting, 300 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: but they're clearly you know, they're not the identical to 301 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:15,119 Speaker 1: the original performance. You know, it's you're getting some components 302 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 1: in there that were not intended necessarily. By the late 303 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,160 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties, companies were refining the components and playback devices 304 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: and recording devices, and they were ferreting out the things 305 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: that were introduced distortion. This led to the marketing concept 306 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 1: of high fidelity. And to be clear, it's not just 307 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: a marketing concept, but high fidelity or hi fi became 308 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 1: a way to say, this audio device makes sound real good. 309 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 1: In seven Magnifux filed to reorganize with the federal government 310 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 1: under the Bankruptcy Act, and the reorganization allowed the Magnifux 311 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: Company Incorporated, which remember that's the subsidiary of the man 312 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:00,439 Speaker 1: Magnafux Company Limited. Magnifus Company incorporates the company that actually 313 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: makes stuff. Well, they were then able to absorb Electroacoustics 314 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:09,880 Speaker 1: Products Company and merge it directly with Magnavox Company Incorporated. 315 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: So what this means is the version of Magnavox what 316 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: actually made stuff, absorbed the subsidiary and gobbled it on up, 317 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,920 Speaker 1: while the holding company that doesn't make stuff remain the same. 318 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 1: This was also when Frank Freeman would become a vice 319 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:31,920 Speaker 1: president of Magnavox. Now, Freeman had founded Electroacoustics Products years earlier. 320 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: He was the head of that company when Magnavox acquired 321 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,000 Speaker 1: it as a subsidiary. So he joined Magnavox in the 322 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:42,480 Speaker 1: process of the merger, and he would become a vice 323 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,120 Speaker 1: president of Magnavox, and he'll be a very important part 324 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: of our story a little bit later on too. Now, 325 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: the corporate structure became a little bit simpler a few 326 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: years later, in nineteen forty two, that's when Magnavox Company Limited, 327 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: that is the holding company what doesn't make anything, changed 328 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 1: its name to the Magnavox Company. Meanwhile, the Magnavox Company Incorporated. 329 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,399 Speaker 1: As in the part of the company what made things dissolved, 330 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 1: So now there was just the Magnavox Company. It was 331 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: no longer a holding company. Now that was everything. It 332 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 1: was an electronics and components manufacturing company. So we've simplified 333 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: things dramatically at this point from a corporate structure point 334 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:30,120 Speaker 1: of view. In Magnavox introduced the first of its FM tuners, 335 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: which had the name of cright, because these model names, 336 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: they're great, really easy to remember. Now, keep in mind, 337 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,720 Speaker 1: AM radio uses a carrier wave of a specific frequency 338 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:48,120 Speaker 1: somewhere between five forty to sixty killer hurts and uh. 339 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 1: You encode information on this carrier wave by varying or 340 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:58,119 Speaker 1: modulating the amplitude of that wave. So if you were 341 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:02,200 Speaker 1: to visualize a wave plotted on a chart, this would 342 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: mean that you are changing the height of the peaks 343 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: and the depth of the troughs. And by doing this 344 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,399 Speaker 1: you can encode information on top of a carrier wave. 345 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: And by demodulating it, by essentially taking the carrier wave 346 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: out of it, you're left with the modulation part that 347 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:26,120 Speaker 1: that represents the original information. In this case audio like 348 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: you know radio waves, So FM radio that is frequency modulation. 349 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 1: That means we take a carrier wave, this time in 350 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: the eight mega hurts range, and we vary or modulate 351 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: the frequency of the wave to encode information on those waves. 352 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: FM radio had better audio quality or fidelity, and it 353 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: first had emerged in the nineteen thirties, but took a 354 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:54,640 Speaker 1: while for companies to start creating consumer radios that had 355 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: FM tuning capability to them. This was also around the 356 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: time that the United States got involved in World War Two, 357 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,399 Speaker 1: and again, like with the First World War, companies in 358 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:08,439 Speaker 1: America began shifting focus to create products and components to 359 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: support the war effort. Magnavox was no different and in 360 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,119 Speaker 1: fact received the first Navy E Award that was given 361 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:20,359 Speaker 1: to an electronics manufacturer That happened in ninety two. What 362 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 1: was Magnavox producing well, largely kept on making the stuff 363 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,600 Speaker 1: it was known for, loud speakers and the components needed 364 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: to drive them, and those were incredibly useful in military 365 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: vehicles like large ships and submarines and aircraft. At the 366 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: end of the war, Magnavox refocused on the consumer market 367 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: and the post World War two era would really be 368 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: the golden years for Magnavox. In general, the post war 369 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: economy in America was really really strong. You had all 370 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 1: these returning soldiers who were able to take advantage of 371 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,159 Speaker 1: government programs to establish a new life for themselves state side. 372 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: Uh And just to clarify, the returning white soldiers were 373 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: really able to take advantage of those programs. Other soldiers, 374 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 1: while technically being eligible for that same sort of aid, 375 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 1: found themselves effectively excluded from taking advantage of the programs 376 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: due to various policies that were you know, when you 377 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: get down to it racist, but that's a subject for 378 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: another podcast. It just feel we have to acknowledge it, 379 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 1: because if you don't acknowledge it, you are just denying 380 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: something that was a very important and painful part of history. Anyway, 381 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,119 Speaker 1: for Magnavox, the company, this meant that a return to 382 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: consumer electronics came right as the demand was on the 383 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: rise for them. In fact, demand was high enough that 384 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,479 Speaker 1: the company decided to make another important acquisition, and this 385 00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: time it wasn't an electronics company now. Instead, Magnavox opened 386 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: up a new subsidiary to build out the cabinets that 387 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: would house radios. Now, remember, in these days, pre transistor 388 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: radios were pretty big. Even the tabletop models were hefty, 389 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: and a lot of home models were effectively full pieces 390 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: of furniture, like almost you know, a full set of 391 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: drawers or a hutch or something. They were enormous. So 392 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: your average radio consisted of electronic components that the manufacturer 393 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: would then mount inside a wooden cabinet. So Magnavox opened 394 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: up the Greenville Cabinet Company in Greenville, Tennessee in ninety 395 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: seven to design and build the cabinetry that would house 396 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 1: Magnavox radio sets. Not only was there a strong market 397 00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: for radios, there was the temptation to get into another 398 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:36,199 Speaker 1: fledgling technology, television. Electronic television's predated World War Two, but 399 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,560 Speaker 1: the war had pretty much put TV evolution on hold 400 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:43,680 Speaker 1: for several years. Magnavux joined in the TV craze after 401 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,080 Speaker 1: World War two, announcing in nine that the company would 402 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 1: begin producing television sets. Now, at this point, Magnavox's reputation 403 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 1: was firmly aligned with the concept of audio quality and capability, 404 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:00,200 Speaker 1: not with moving pictures. An engineer named and Thank the 405 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: Right became the chief of television engineering at Magnavox, and 406 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,920 Speaker 1: his team got to work creating a technology the company called, 407 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:11,679 Speaker 1: of course, Magna Scope. Now, interestingly, the first TV that 408 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 1: Magnavox produced was called the Modular, which had the model 409 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 1: named MV ten, and the company introduced this first in 410 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: nineteen eight, so just a year after they announced they 411 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: were going to get into the TV business. Clearly they 412 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,680 Speaker 1: had already been working on it for a while before then. 413 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,840 Speaker 1: The Greenville Manufacturing Company provided the cabinet for the device 414 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:37,440 Speaker 1: which housed the electronics, which came out of Fort Wayne, Indiana. 415 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: In in set in the face of this cabinet was 416 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,120 Speaker 1: the MVY tens screen, which was not huge, little black 417 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 1: and white screen and add from the time claims quote 418 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: it provides the finest picture quality in television and sharper 419 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: contrast for better visibility end quote. The add by the way, 420 00:25:55,400 --> 00:26:00,240 Speaker 1: was really for a record player slash radio combination. The 421 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 1: one in the photo I'm looking at was called the Cosmopolitan. 422 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:09,040 Speaker 1: And these sets, the radio sets that had a phonograph 423 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: player built into them, ranged in price from a hundred 424 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: seventy nine dollars and fifty cents all the way up 425 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: to eight dollars. And remember we're talking like nineteen forties 426 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:24,360 Speaker 1: money that that would be truly astronomically expensive today. Uh. 427 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,879 Speaker 1: On top of that bass price, you could add on 428 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,919 Speaker 1: what they called a duo matic changer. This was a 429 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: piece of equipment that could hold up to twelve records, 430 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: and so you would play a record and when the 431 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,159 Speaker 1: the tone arm would get all the way to the 432 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 1: end of the record, it would automatically lift up, go 433 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: back to the beginning like the rest position, and set down. 434 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 1: Then the machine could drop the next record onto the spindle. 435 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: The tone arm would come back up, move back over 436 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 1: and start playing the next record. So you could hold 437 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 1: up to twelve records with this thing, and it would 438 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: automatic drop in the next record in the sequence. Uh. 439 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: And this would only cost you a cool two dollars 440 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,119 Speaker 1: or so. Then to have the television on top of that, 441 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 1: that would set you back an additional two and fifty 442 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,719 Speaker 1: cents all the way up to nine fifty bucks. And 443 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: keep in mind this is again all in the nineties, 444 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: so with inflation, these prices would be truly enormous, especially 445 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 1: if you wanted to top of the line system. Some 446 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,640 Speaker 1: thing's never change, right, So the TV receiver was called 447 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: the modular not because the television itself was made up 448 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 1: of modules. It's not like you could take the TV apart. Instead, 449 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 1: the TV on its own was a module. And as 450 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: the ad I alluded to hinted at Magnafucs, the company 451 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,119 Speaker 1: knew that it was most associated with audio equipment, and 452 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 1: so this company was essentially saying, hey, you could also 453 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: get a television to incorporate into the audio equipment and 454 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 1: enhance your audio equipment, rather than, you know, try to 455 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 1: create it on all new marketing line dedicated solely to 456 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: selling televisions. Now, I haven't found a specific source that 457 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,760 Speaker 1: confirms my suspicion, but I believe the m V ten 458 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,919 Speaker 1: did not have its own incorporated speaker system, or at 459 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:18,280 Speaker 1: least not a very robust speaker system. Instead, you would 460 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: actually connect the m V ten to your Magnavox Hi 461 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 1: Fi audio set, and the sound would play out through 462 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:27,200 Speaker 1: the audio set. You had the picture on the TV, 463 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: but the sound would come through the same speakers that 464 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:34,679 Speaker 1: you know, the radio and phonograph were attached to, which 465 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,400 Speaker 1: honestly would make this one of the first home entertainment 466 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,040 Speaker 1: all in one setups that I've ever heard about the 467 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: television market. You know, the whole industry as a whole 468 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: proved to be a profitable one. It was also a 469 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 1: very competitive one. Magnavox would go on to establish new 470 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: manufacturing facilities in Greenville, Tennessee that primarily focused on TV production, 471 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: building Facility number two in nineteen fifty two. Remember the 472 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: first facility was dedicated to building cabinetry for radios. And 473 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: it was around this time that Frank Freeman, originally the 474 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: founder of the Electroacoustics Products Company, became president of Magnavox. 475 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:18,160 Speaker 1: Freeman head and a reputation as a real high fidelity fanatic, 476 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: and under his leadership, Magnavox would develop a strategy to 477 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,560 Speaker 1: make sure that each of the components that produced for 478 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: its radios worked really well together. Now that seems like 479 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 1: a no brainer, but hear me out. Let's say you're 480 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:37,080 Speaker 1: making various components, and the components you're making are all 481 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 1: necessary to enable something like a radio set to work. Right, 482 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 1: So it's all the parts of a radio set. Now 483 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:49,479 Speaker 1: you could treat them all as separate individual technologies, So 484 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: you could make the best tuner, for example, and the 485 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,160 Speaker 1: best amplifier and the best loud speaker, and on their own, 486 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: when you hook them up with sensitive instruments, you can 487 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 1: of that they all work fantastic, that they are, you know, 488 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: best of class, They perform well within whatever your specifications are. However, 489 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 1: this does not necessarily mean that once you connect them 490 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: all together in your radio set that they're all going 491 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 1: to play nice with each other. Sometimes different components can 492 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,960 Speaker 1: start to introduce stuff like distortion when they are connected together, 493 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: and that obviously has a negative impact on the sound 494 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: produced by the end product. So Freeman's directive was that 495 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: the engineers had to create a more holistic system that 496 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:36,360 Speaker 1: would produce the best overall result when they all work together. 497 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,240 Speaker 1: And that meant that sometimes maybe the amplifiers not quite 498 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: as powerful, or the receiver might not be quite as 499 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:47,200 Speaker 1: sensitive as you could make it. But the end result 500 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,800 Speaker 1: for the customer was that you had a radio set 501 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 1: that produced great sound. It created a way to provide 502 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: the best experience on a per dollar basis. And while 503 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: there were audio files who were seeking out individual components 504 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 1: in order to produce their own systems, they would have 505 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort, 506 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,959 Speaker 1: and a lot of money to do this and swap 507 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,720 Speaker 1: out components to find out which combination would actually provide 508 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: the best experience. Magnavox was looking to create that rail 509 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,560 Speaker 1: the box, and as a result, the company's reputation for 510 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:23,640 Speaker 1: Hi Fi audio grew year over year. Freeman, by the way, 511 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: he was born in Austria Hungry, Hungary in nineteen or nine, 512 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 1: but his family had moved to America when he was 513 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: just nine years old. In the nineteen twenties. He had 514 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,320 Speaker 1: studied the young field of radio research, and that's when 515 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: he founded Electroacoustic Products in nineteen thirty. His tenure as 516 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:44,800 Speaker 1: president of Magnavox began in nineteen fifty, and during that 517 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:47,239 Speaker 1: time he would see the company reach its height as 518 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 1: far as its reputation and revenue were concerned. He would 519 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 1: lead Magnavox until his death in uh in the nineteen sixties. 520 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: He died at the age of sixty three. While he 521 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:04,400 Speaker 1: was president, Freeman oversaw Magnufux's explosive growth in sales, so 522 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty the company generated thirty two million dollars 523 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: in revenue. By nineteen sixty seven, the year before Freeman 524 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: passed away, annual revenue was up to four hundred fifty 525 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,640 Speaker 1: million dollars. Now, granted, revenue and profit are two different things. 526 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: You've got to subtract the cost of business from your 527 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,440 Speaker 1: revenue before you start getting to profits. So for profit, 528 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 1: that went from two million dollars in nineteen fifty to 529 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 1: thirty million dollars by nineteen sixty seven. So not only 530 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: was he making more revenue, he was making a greater 531 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:38,480 Speaker 1: profit in in turn, so it's not like the expenses 532 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:42,320 Speaker 1: rose at the same rate as revenue did. Rayman saw 533 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: a big technological advancement, and a couple of them actually 534 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: while he was in charge of Magnufux. One of those 535 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: was that he saw the birth of color television. Granted, 536 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,560 Speaker 1: color TV, actually the development of it had been around 537 00:32:56,560 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 1: for a few years, but it really emerged in the 538 00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: early nineteen fifties. However, rival company r c A would 539 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: have a pretty effective monopoly on that uh color TV 540 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:10,680 Speaker 1: area first, and that was largely because there were a 541 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: few different ways you could create color television. CBS initially 542 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,160 Speaker 1: had a lock on creating the standard, but our c 543 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: A was able to push really hard to have its 544 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:27,000 Speaker 1: version adopted as the standard. Um you know, the only 545 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 1: reason why CBS is didn't take hold was because the 546 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 1: Korean War put everything on standby for a while. But 547 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:36,760 Speaker 1: I've covered that story before in my series about r 548 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: c A, and it's a heck of a story. If 549 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,760 Speaker 1: you were curious about how our c A and CBS 550 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:47,120 Speaker 1: battled it out to try and determine what standard would 551 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: be used for color television, you should check out those series. 552 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: It's a heck of a story, has elements of political 553 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,080 Speaker 1: intrigue as well as technical evolution. But anyway, our CIA 554 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,760 Speaker 1: eventually one out and other TV manufacturers had to figure 555 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:02,880 Speaker 1: out how to make color TVs without violating our c 556 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:05,160 Speaker 1: S patents or they would have to, you know, pay 557 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: a licensing fee to our c A in order to 558 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:11,720 Speaker 1: create their own technologies, which of course drives up production costs. 559 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,920 Speaker 1: So while color TV essentially launched in the US in 560 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 1: the early nineteen fifties, Magna Bux didn't really get into 561 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: the color TV space until the early nineteen sixties. However, 562 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 1: another big jump in tech came in the form of 563 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,920 Speaker 1: the transistor. Just as the vacuum tube had revolutionized electronics 564 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:33,000 Speaker 1: decades earlier, the transistor would really shake things up. We'll 565 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,160 Speaker 1: talk about a little bit more after we take this 566 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:46,360 Speaker 1: quick break. So the transistor emerged out of Bell Labs 567 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,120 Speaker 1: in the late nineteen forties. But early transistors were large 568 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,799 Speaker 1: and unfit for practical application. They were more of a 569 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:56,440 Speaker 1: proof of concept, and they proved that it was possible 570 00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:00,600 Speaker 1: to create an amplifier or switch using semiconduct your material 571 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 1: rather than a vacuum tube. And over time engineers figured 572 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:07,440 Speaker 1: out how to reduce the size of the original transistors 573 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,959 Speaker 1: so that they were small, much much smaller than vacuum tubes, 574 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 1: and they would emit less heat as well. Uh And 575 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:16,399 Speaker 1: they also weren't quite as delicate as vacuum tubes were. 576 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 1: You know, if you were carrying a case of vacuum 577 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 1: tubes and they dropped, you might end up shattering all 578 00:35:21,239 --> 00:35:24,480 Speaker 1: of them. Transistors were a little bit more sturdy than that. 579 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:27,720 Speaker 1: So transistors can do the same job as a vacuum 580 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:30,840 Speaker 1: tube amplifier. That is, they can take an incoming weak 581 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 1: electric signal and then they can boost the strength of 582 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 1: that so that it comes out greater than the way 583 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,239 Speaker 1: it came in. And the way it does this is 584 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:41,800 Speaker 1: a little different from a vacuum tube, but the basic 585 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:44,480 Speaker 1: principle is the same. So you've got a weak signal 586 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:48,399 Speaker 1: going into the transistor, you apply voltage to another part 587 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 1: of the transistor, and this induces a stronger output signal. 588 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 1: So you are having to put energy into a transistor 589 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:57,600 Speaker 1: to make this happen. It's not like you've got a 590 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:01,240 Speaker 1: magical switch that just takes a week signal and boosts 591 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,920 Speaker 1: it into a strong signal without you having to do anything. 592 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:07,680 Speaker 1: But you didn't need big, bulky hot vacuum tubes in 593 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 1: your giant radio set cabinet in order to amplify a 594 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:13,880 Speaker 1: signal so that it could drive loudspeakers. So it was 595 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,880 Speaker 1: possible for transistors to do that job, which meant you 596 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: can miniaturize the design of the overall product without compromising 597 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:24,960 Speaker 1: on the end user experience. So Magnavox produced its first 598 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 1: all transistor radio in nineteen fifty seven. It cost seventy 599 00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:32,600 Speaker 1: nine dollars and cents. Now I did go ahead and 600 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,799 Speaker 1: run that through the inflation calculator just to see how 601 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,640 Speaker 1: much it would cost today if it were at the 602 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:42,759 Speaker 1: same you know, cost level. So brace yourselves, because that 603 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,319 Speaker 1: eight is dollar transistor radio would set you back more 604 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:51,840 Speaker 1: than seven eight bucks today. Seven dollars for a transistor radio. 605 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,640 Speaker 1: That means the inflation between nineteen fifty seven and today. 606 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,720 Speaker 1: It means it means a dollar today is worth about 607 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:03,279 Speaker 1: a tenth of what it was earth back then Yelsa. Anyway, 608 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:07,480 Speaker 1: the price tag probably drives home the fact that these 609 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: electronics were adopted really by people who are well off right. 610 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,840 Speaker 1: The average person could not afford to buy these sorts 611 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:19,000 Speaker 1: of things. Now that has largely always been the case, 612 00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:22,440 Speaker 1: particularly in the world of consumer electronics. We see new 613 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 1: technology hit consumer shelves and when it first debut is 614 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,960 Speaker 1: it is exorbitantly expensive, like we saw that with h 615 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:31,240 Speaker 1: D t V s. We saw it with DVD players, 616 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,120 Speaker 1: we saw it with Blu ray players, we're seeing it 617 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:39,399 Speaker 1: now with oh LED screens. But then eventually manufacturers, once 618 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:42,760 Speaker 1: they see that there's a demand for these technologies, invest 619 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:46,880 Speaker 1: in more ways to make the manufacturing process more efficient 620 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,959 Speaker 1: and less expensive, and the cost starts to come down 621 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:53,880 Speaker 1: and becomes more accessible to the average consumer. Um we 622 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:56,040 Speaker 1: would see this happen a lot more frequently today if 623 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,520 Speaker 1: it weren't for the fact that obsolescence is a really 624 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:01,799 Speaker 1: big thing. It drives a near constant cycle of new 625 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:06,919 Speaker 1: tech that drives up prices. So while the television's five 626 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:10,640 Speaker 1: years from now should be less expensive, they're gonna have 627 00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:12,880 Speaker 1: new features we don't even think about right now that 628 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:15,960 Speaker 1: we'll drive those prices up even more. Whether we want 629 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,680 Speaker 1: those new features or not, that remains to be seen. 630 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:21,000 Speaker 1: I mean, we saw that with three D television's that 631 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:23,799 Speaker 1: was a big failure. I'm getting off track. Let's get 632 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,720 Speaker 1: back to Magnavox. So in nineteen fifty eight the company 633 00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:31,560 Speaker 1: produced its first Hi fi stereo system. So up to 634 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:35,239 Speaker 1: that point, the sets that Magnavox were selling were mono. 635 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:38,880 Speaker 1: That is, each speaker in the system was getting the 636 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:42,560 Speaker 1: same output signal. So even if you had multiple speakers 637 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:45,240 Speaker 1: attached to your system, they were all playing the exact 638 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 1: same sound. Right, the sound in the left channel and 639 00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:49,839 Speaker 1: the sound in the right channel. There's no such thing there. 640 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:53,120 Speaker 1: It's the same channel going to two speakers, and the 641 00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:57,360 Speaker 1: sound is identical. Stereo allowed for left and right channels 642 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:00,360 Speaker 1: independent of each other, so you could have some sounds 643 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:02,960 Speaker 1: coming out of one speaker and other sounds coming out 644 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,520 Speaker 1: of the other, or maybe it's really loud in one 645 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:07,839 Speaker 1: speaker and softer in the other. I've done a whole 646 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:10,640 Speaker 1: episode on the history of stereo sound. The history of 647 00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:13,440 Speaker 1: StereoSound dates much further back, by the way, but it 648 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:17,799 Speaker 1: took a while for artists to really embrace stereo, particularly 649 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,000 Speaker 1: in genres like rock and roll. That's because a lot 650 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:24,120 Speaker 1: of artists knew that their fans were relying on older 651 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:29,239 Speaker 1: mono sets, so they were more interested in developing records 652 00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:33,880 Speaker 1: that were really engineered for mono sets, not for stereo sets. 653 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:38,759 Speaker 1: The Beatles famously would spend countless hours in the studio 654 00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:42,760 Speaker 1: engineering their mono recordings, but they would leave the stereo 655 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:45,680 Speaker 1: recordings to other people because they knew most of their 656 00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:50,279 Speaker 1: fans were using mono sound systems well. In nineteen three, 657 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:54,560 Speaker 1: Magnavox built a third manufacturing facility in Greenville, Tennessee. It 658 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:57,879 Speaker 1: was at the time the largest TV manufacturing facility under 659 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,200 Speaker 1: one roof in the United States, and for the following years, 660 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:05,880 Speaker 1: Magnifux continued to produce stereo systems and televisions, and it 661 00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:09,920 Speaker 1: also developed plasma panels for the military. So a plasma 662 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,080 Speaker 1: display is just pretty cool technology. So for a while, 663 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:16,280 Speaker 1: plasma displays were really competitive with L E D screens, 664 00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:20,320 Speaker 1: largely because plasma displays have a much better contrast ratio, 665 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:24,320 Speaker 1: which would be the difference and the number of differences 666 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:27,640 Speaker 1: between the darkest colors you can display and the brightest 667 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:30,600 Speaker 1: colors you can display. So with L e D screens, 668 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:36,239 Speaker 1: essentially every section of the screen has a backlight behind it. 669 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:38,319 Speaker 1: So even if you're watching something that has a lot 670 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 1: of dark colors in it, there's a backlight and some 671 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:44,360 Speaker 1: of that light bleeds through the screen, So the darkest colors, 672 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:48,719 Speaker 1: like like black, might come out more like a charcoal gray. 673 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:52,160 Speaker 1: But plasma is different. Each pixel, each point of light 674 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: in the panel has a little bit of gas in 675 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:59,480 Speaker 1: a cell that represents that pixel, and the controller sends 676 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,799 Speaker 1: an electric current to the cells that are associated with 677 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:05,399 Speaker 1: a picture. Let's say you're just showing up the letter 678 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,560 Speaker 1: A on screen. Well, the cells that make up that 679 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:11,759 Speaker 1: letter A will get current sent to them, and the 680 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:15,799 Speaker 1: current excites a gas something like mercury vapor, And when 681 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:20,360 Speaker 1: mercury vapor gets excited, it's electrons jump to higher energy levels. 682 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:22,560 Speaker 1: Those electrons have to come back down, but in order 683 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:25,080 Speaker 1: to come back down, they have to release that energy. 684 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:28,279 Speaker 1: They do that in the form of ultra violet radiation. Well, 685 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:31,560 Speaker 1: we can't see ultra violet light. However, if we pair 686 00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:36,319 Speaker 1: that mercury vapor with say certain noble gases, then the 687 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:41,520 Speaker 1: ultra violet light will stimulate those gases to release energy 688 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:44,000 Speaker 1: in the form of visible light. So if you were 689 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:47,320 Speaker 1: to look at a color plasma display like a color 690 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:51,640 Speaker 1: plasma television, every single pixel that represents a point of 691 00:41:51,719 --> 00:41:55,640 Speaker 1: light on that display has three subpixels. There's one for red, 692 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:57,800 Speaker 1: one for green, and one for blue. And by timing 693 00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:01,799 Speaker 1: out the electric pulses going to these subpixels and selectively 694 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:06,040 Speaker 1: choosing which subpixels need to fire, plasma display can create 695 00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:09,160 Speaker 1: images of lots of different colors. Now, in the early 696 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:13,520 Speaker 1: panels of the nineteen sixties, we're talking monochromatic displays, so 697 00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:16,719 Speaker 1: we didn't have to worry about the subpixel part. They 698 00:42:16,719 --> 00:42:20,799 Speaker 1: were expensive. They were generally reserved for stuff like military use, 699 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:24,040 Speaker 1: and eventually plasma televisions would come on the scene for 700 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:27,600 Speaker 1: consumers much much much later. Uh, they would struggle to 701 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:32,279 Speaker 1: be profitable because other types of televisions would ultimately win 702 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,920 Speaker 1: out and manufacturers would drop out of plasma TV production. 703 00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:40,000 Speaker 1: There's some other issues that plasma displays have, but that's 704 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,000 Speaker 1: not really important for this episode, so we're gonna move on. Now. 705 00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:44,879 Speaker 1: We're running up to the end of our story here, 706 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,600 Speaker 1: and I already talked a bit about Ralph Bayer and 707 00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:51,160 Speaker 1: Bill Harrison and Bill Rush in some recent episodes I did, 708 00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:53,880 Speaker 1: or an episode I did about the nineteen three video 709 00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:57,480 Speaker 1: game crash. So, these three guys, working for a company 710 00:42:57,520 --> 00:43:02,320 Speaker 1: called Sanders Associates Incorporated, developed a video game console that 711 00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:05,640 Speaker 1: could play an electronic version of table tennis. Uh. There 712 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:07,799 Speaker 1: were also some other programs that the machine could run. 713 00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:10,360 Speaker 1: It was a limited number because it was hardwired to 714 00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:13,600 Speaker 1: play certain number of games. Uh. There was a checkers game. 715 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:16,000 Speaker 1: There was a game that used a very early light gun. 716 00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:18,920 Speaker 1: The detector for the light is built in the gun itself, 717 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,200 Speaker 1: so the gun can tell if it's pointed towards the 718 00:43:22,239 --> 00:43:25,640 Speaker 1: pixels that are should be created on a display. Uh. 719 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:28,480 Speaker 1: The bears thought was that he could create a system 720 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:30,520 Speaker 1: that would give people the chance to play games on 721 00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:34,280 Speaker 1: their TVs. So by the late nineteen sixties, TV prices 722 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,399 Speaker 1: had declined enough so that the average family could afford one, 723 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:41,280 Speaker 1: and this would give more functionality to the television. Sanders 724 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:44,200 Speaker 1: Associates shot this idea around because you know, they weren't 725 00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:46,640 Speaker 1: gonna make it. They just wanted to, you know, license 726 00:43:46,719 --> 00:43:50,040 Speaker 1: the idea to someone else, and Magnavox was interested, so 727 00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:53,120 Speaker 1: In the early nineteen seventies, Magnavox entered into a licensing 728 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,960 Speaker 1: agreement with Senders Associates for the brown Box that was 729 00:43:57,000 --> 00:43:59,400 Speaker 1: the nickname given to Beyar's invention. He had covered it 730 00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:02,239 Speaker 1: with vinyl tape that had a wood grain pattern on 731 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:03,920 Speaker 1: it in order to make it a little more attractive 732 00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:06,040 Speaker 1: and not look like, you know, a big metal box 733 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:09,319 Speaker 1: with switches and knobs on it. Magnavox would design a 734 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:12,840 Speaker 1: new console to house the electronics and introduce the device 735 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:16,640 Speaker 1: as the Magnavox Odyssey in nineteen seventy two, the first 736 00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:21,040 Speaker 1: home video game console, and had a handful of programs 737 00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:23,839 Speaker 1: that were coded into the console itself, and you would 738 00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,799 Speaker 1: activate it by putting in a what they called game 739 00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:30,600 Speaker 1: cards that sort of a predecessor for cartridges, and the 740 00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:34,000 Speaker 1: game cards completed circuits that would allow the console to 741 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:37,120 Speaker 1: play a specific game. It was different from later video 742 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:41,560 Speaker 1: game consoles. You couldn't like, program a new game for 743 00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:45,000 Speaker 1: this to run. It was a limited number of pre 744 00:44:45,680 --> 00:44:49,040 Speaker 1: determined games that this would run, So you couldn't build 745 00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:51,880 Speaker 1: Pac Man for the Magnavox Odyssey. In other words, so 746 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:54,920 Speaker 1: the Odyssey could only display very blocky graphics and it 747 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:58,759 Speaker 1: can only display monochromatic graphics, so black and white. To 748 00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:03,239 Speaker 1: compensate for that limited Asian, Magnavox also produced color screen overlays. 749 00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:08,160 Speaker 1: So it's like a plastic overlay that had color in 750 00:45:08,280 --> 00:45:11,400 Speaker 1: specific spots on there, and you would slap that onto 751 00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:14,279 Speaker 1: your TV screen and thus the light coming from the 752 00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:17,840 Speaker 1: TV screen would show through this clear plastic and you 753 00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:21,040 Speaker 1: would get quote unquote color graphics. Pretty low tech work 754 00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:25,160 Speaker 1: around for the limitations of the device. Well, the Odyssey 755 00:45:25,239 --> 00:45:28,080 Speaker 1: ended up being a modest success. Magnavox sold a few 756 00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:32,200 Speaker 1: hundred thousand units, but that would be later dwarfed by 757 00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:35,359 Speaker 1: other video game consoles that would enter the market later 758 00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:39,560 Speaker 1: in the seventies and into the eighties. In nineteen seventy four, Phillips, 759 00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:42,880 Speaker 1: the electronics company based in the Netherlands, made an offer 760 00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:46,600 Speaker 1: that Magnavox couldn't refuse. So Phillips was looking to establish 761 00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:49,440 Speaker 1: a foothold in America, primarily as a way of creating 762 00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:54,160 Speaker 1: a distribution network for Phillips products. Magnavox would become a 763 00:45:54,239 --> 00:45:59,360 Speaker 1: subsidiary of Phillips, while Magnafox would continue producing products, it 764 00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:02,040 Speaker 1: was doing so under the direction of Phillips, with the 765 00:46:02,080 --> 00:46:06,200 Speaker 1: goal of pushing Phillips based technologies. So Magnavox did play 766 00:46:06,239 --> 00:46:09,600 Speaker 1: a part in certain Phillips products, like the manufacturer and 767 00:46:09,640 --> 00:46:14,000 Speaker 1: distribution of the LaserDisc format, but the division didn't do 768 00:46:14,040 --> 00:46:16,200 Speaker 1: a whole lot more. They did make some home pinball 769 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:18,920 Speaker 1: machines in late nineteen seventies. That's kind of cool, but 770 00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:22,640 Speaker 1: that was pretty much the end of Magnavox the company. 771 00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:26,240 Speaker 1: It still existed as a brand, so Magnavox the brand 772 00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:29,600 Speaker 1: was still a thing, but that was something that Phillips 773 00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:34,399 Speaker 1: would sometimes slap on certain products because the brand recognition 774 00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:39,320 Speaker 1: was important in the American market. Also, today, around the world, 775 00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:42,239 Speaker 1: there are different companies that own the rights to the 776 00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:46,239 Speaker 1: Magnavox brand in those specific regions, which means you could 777 00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:49,440 Speaker 1: buy two different products, each of them have the Magnavox 778 00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:51,800 Speaker 1: logo on them. You buy one in one part of 779 00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:53,480 Speaker 1: the world, you buy another one in the other part 780 00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:57,680 Speaker 1: of the world, and ultimately they were made by two unconnected, 781 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:01,520 Speaker 1: different independent companies. Right, they have no connection to each 782 00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:03,920 Speaker 1: other apart from the fact that they each have the 783 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:07,640 Speaker 1: regional rights to use the Magnavox brand. So we don't 784 00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:11,040 Speaker 1: really have a Magnavox company anymore. But it was really 785 00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:14,520 Speaker 1: fun tracking down the history of Magnavox and talking about 786 00:47:14,600 --> 00:47:20,080 Speaker 1: its role in the consumer electronics UH industry, particularly in 787 00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:23,560 Speaker 1: the United States. If you have suggestions for topics I 788 00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:26,640 Speaker 1: should cover on tech Stuff, whether it's another company or 789 00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:29,680 Speaker 1: a specific technology or trend in tech, anything like that, 790 00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:32,120 Speaker 1: let me know the best way to do that is 791 00:47:32,160 --> 00:47:35,800 Speaker 1: on Twitter. The handle we use is tech stuff hs 792 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:40,279 Speaker 1: W and I'll talk to you again really soon. Y. 793 00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:47,600 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more 794 00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:51,040 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, 795 00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:54,320 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.