1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to text Tuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to Tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And you know, guys, 5 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: it has been a while since I have done a 6 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: deep dive on the history of a tech company. And 7 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: that's partly because I've covered, you know, a lot of 8 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: tech companies on this show. And when I think I 9 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: should do a series about such and such a company, 10 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: I'll then go and do a quick search and discover that, 11 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: you know, I already did that. And that's the challenge 12 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: of having a tech podcast that has more than twelve 13 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: hundred episodes in the archives is that often I have 14 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: already covered things that I thought I should cover. But 15 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: one company I have never done a full rundown on 16 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: is Panasonic. Now I've talked about Panasonic and other shows, 17 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 1: particularly ones about stuff like televisions, but I've never really 18 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: sat down to research the company's history. So we're fixing 19 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: that today now. For me, when I think Pana Sonic, 20 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: I often think about c e S, you know, the 21 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: Consumer Electronics Showcase. And that's because whenever I attended C. E. S. 22 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: Panasonic was one of the companies that always had a 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: very large, impressive presence there. Panasonic traditionally has a long 24 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: and comparatively narrow space in the central Hall at C. E. S. 25 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: That would be the central Hall of the Las Vegas 26 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: Convention Center, which has three massive exhibition halls North, Central, 27 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: and South. Now when I say it had a narrow space, 28 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: I just mean that really the space was longer than 29 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: it was wide right. It wasn't a square, It was 30 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: more of a rectangle. Now, the central Hall typically has 31 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: a few other heavy hitters in that space as well. 32 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: In that general exhibition space, Sony has a booth in 33 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: the central hall, Samsung and l G among others. Panasonic 34 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: often has a spectacular stage area. It's just it's one 35 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: of those booths that really grabs your attention as soon 36 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: as it comes into your view. But I had no 37 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: idea how old the company was or what sort of 38 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: things led to it becoming a major player in the 39 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: electronics space. The company's story actually stretches back more than 40 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 1: a century, though the company has only officially gone by 41 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 1: the name Pana Sonic since two thousand eight. Before that, 42 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: it was known as the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company. And 43 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: it all begins with a guy named Kotosuke Matsushita and 44 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: his business of producing attachment blugs. You know, we all 45 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: have humble beginnings, I suppose, or most of us. Kanasuke 46 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: was born in eight in Japan, back when Japan was 47 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: still an empire, and his family was fairly well off, 48 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: at least initially it was. Konosuke was the youngest of 49 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: eight siblings. His father was a landowner and one of 50 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: the more influential members of the small community where the 51 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: family lived. But his father invested poorly and he lost 52 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: much of the family's wealth due to speculation gone wrong, 53 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 1: a theme we find quite often in the world of technology, 54 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: but that's another story. The family moved into a nearby 55 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: city in a small house, and when Konosuke was about 56 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: to graduate elementary school or or the equivalent to elementary school, 57 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: his family apprenticed him to a habachi store in Osaka, 58 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: which required him to leave his family behind. He actually 59 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: had to get on a train and traveled to Osaka 60 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: to work there. He cleaned the shop and he would 61 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: clean the habachi and he was also in charge of 62 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: looking after the shop owners children. But the Habachi shop 63 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: wasn't long for this world and it went out of business. 64 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: Konosuke was able to find new apprenticeships with a store 65 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: that sold an exotic new import from the UK bicycles. Now. 66 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: It was during this apprenticeship that Kinda Suke learned how 67 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: to use metalworking tools and stuff like lathes Kinasuke became 68 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: interested in using tools to craft things, and he spent 69 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: five years in his apprenticeship. He considered actually leaving the 70 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: apprenticeship in order to further his education, but he actually 71 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: got some advice from his father. His father said, Hey, 72 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: you know what, don't worry about education so much. Stick 73 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,559 Speaker 1: to this. You're learning a lot. You're learning about how 74 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: to use these tools, you're learning the craft, you're learning 75 00:04:44,279 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: about business. Skip the education. You're getting the education you 76 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: need where you are. What you should do is just 77 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: study this until you can have your own business. Then 78 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: you can hire people who have an education. And I 79 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: kind of dig that story. It has a charm to it, 80 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: and it also kind of falls in line with so 81 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: many other entrepreneurs who either didn't finish or never even 82 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: started further education and instead focused on their businesses. It's 83 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: another one of those themes we see in tech now. 84 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: That being said, dropping out of school is not exactly 85 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: a shure fire way to go into, you know, a 86 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: successful business. A lot of other factors have to come 87 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: into play as well, but it is something that we've 88 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,920 Speaker 1: seen a lot of in the tech sphere. In nineteen ten, 89 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: Konosuke joined the Osaka Electric Light Company. He was fifteen 90 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: years old and electricity was just coming to Japan and 91 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: Konosuke was fascinated by it. He was kind of thrown 92 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: into the deep end pretty early on. His first really 93 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 1: big job was to work on wiring up a theater 94 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: in Osaka, and this was an enormous undertaking. I mean 95 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: you're installing wires in a very large building that has 96 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 1: never had electricity. The whole project ended up taking half 97 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: a year. Konosuke became a bit of a taskmaster. According 98 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: to the official Pana Sonic History, he led his team 99 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: at age fifteen no less, to work very long hours 100 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,679 Speaker 1: in order to get this job done, and that effort 101 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: took its toll on him. Konosuke's immune system was weakened, 102 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 1: probably from all the exhaustion, and he actually contracted pneumonia, 103 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: but fortunately he did recover by the time he was 104 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:29,560 Speaker 1: twenty two, Konosuke was married and had risen to the 105 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: highest level he could at Osaka Light Company in his 106 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,600 Speaker 1: in his division, that was a rank of inspector. That 107 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: was the name of the job title. In his spare time, 108 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: he developed an improved electrical socket, and he attempted to 109 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: convince his boss that this would be a really great investment. 110 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: It would be a great product, people would want it. 111 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 1: He'd they'd be able to make a bunch and sell 112 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: a bunch, But his boss wasn't convinced, and so on 113 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: June fifteenth, nineteen seventeen, he left to secure job at 114 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: the Osaka Light Company to start his own manufacturing company, 115 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: and he did this despite having next to nothing in savings. 116 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 1: His workshop, which is being generous, was out of his 117 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: own small home that he was renting now. And a 118 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: lot of stories about startups I talked about how founders 119 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: got started out of a garage. That's another kind of 120 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: common thread, but this is even more humble than that. 121 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,679 Speaker 1: Konosuke's home had dirt floors, and he had convinced two 122 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: other Osaka Electric Light Company co workers to join him 123 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: in his business, and then his wife's brother also signed 124 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: on but the odds were stacked against Konosuke, and by 125 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: the end of nineteen seventeen, poor sales convinced his two 126 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: former co workers from Osaka Electric Light Company to just 127 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: jump ship. That left the business to Konosuke, his wife, 128 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: and his brother in law, and things were pretty grim. 129 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: But then the company received a giant order one thousand 130 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: insulator plates for electric fans, and they were kept afloat. 131 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: Konosuke took that money and immediately put it to work. 132 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: He decided to rent out a two story home and 133 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: move everything in there with the workshop downstairs. He was 134 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: quite the upgrade from the small place he had rented 135 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: with his wife, and he also created a new company 136 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: called Mattsushida Electric Devices Manufacturing Works. This was in nineteen eighteen, 137 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: and it was this company that would eventually, over the 138 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: course of a hundred years, essentially evolve into Panasonic, and 139 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: so the company traces its history officially to nineteen eighteen. 140 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: Nineteen eighteen is also the year that the First World 141 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: War would come to an end. Japan had played an 142 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: important part in World War One. The Empire of Japan 143 00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: supported the Allied forces, and the young Japanese manufact tring 144 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: industry had found an eager customer in European countries, which 145 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:06,840 Speaker 1: had a need for more material to support war efforts. 146 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,319 Speaker 1: Japan was undergoing a bit of an economic boom as 147 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: a result, though this would have other consequences, but all 148 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: that is outside the realm of this episode. My point 149 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: here is that Japan's economic, social, and entrepreneurial situations we're 150 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:28,119 Speaker 1: all evolving quickly. The rapid expansion created a challenge for Konsuke. 151 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: Entrepreneurs were establishing new factories every single day, and those 152 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 1: factories needed employees. And so while he was trying to 153 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: grow his business and higher on new workers to fulfill 154 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: bigger and bigger orders, it was also becoming difficult to 155 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,839 Speaker 1: hold onto those employees. Because new businesses would open up, 156 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,679 Speaker 1: they would offer more competitive wages to fill out their 157 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: own workforces, and so employees would often shift from one 158 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,079 Speaker 1: job to the next. It reminds me a lot of 159 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: the early days of the dot com boom, where people 160 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: were jumping ship left and right from one company to 161 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,319 Speaker 1: the next, getting more stock options and all that kind 162 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:12,959 Speaker 1: of mess. Konosuke took some unusual steps to build employee 163 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:18,199 Speaker 1: loyalty and trust. He including forming an internal work organization 164 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: called hoichi Kai, which means one step society. He and 165 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: his twenty seven employees were all members of this society, 166 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: and they would engage in different recreational activities such as sports. 167 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: He would also teach anyone in his company who was 168 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: interested that the trade secrets of how they made stuff 169 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: like insulating material that was a trade secret of his company, 170 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,079 Speaker 1: and typically companies at the time would keep that secret 171 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 1: to maybe one or two special employees, but Konosuke wanted 172 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,200 Speaker 1: to build trust, so he shared it with anyone who 173 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: was willing to learn. Kona Suke also designed a two 174 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,439 Speaker 1: way socket as well as an attachment plug and began 175 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: to manufact acture and sell them out of his shop. 176 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: Electricity was becoming a more common utility in Japan, and 177 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: Kona Sukes products were in great demand. He had a 178 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: reputation for selling reliable components at a reasonable price. By 179 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty two, business had grown enough for Konosuke to 180 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: commission a new factory and office, and he moved operations 181 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: out of his own home for the first time, so 182 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: now he was in an actual space. He was running 183 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: specifically for it to be a manufacturing center, and he 184 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: kept on hiring people. This whole time too, and he 185 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: also expanded operations. He established a sales team in Tokyo 186 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:39,679 Speaker 1: so that he could get his products into more wholesalers. Unfortunately, 187 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: in September nineteen three, Tokyo and the surrounding area, including 188 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:49,319 Speaker 1: the port of Yokohama, were devastated by a massive earthquake, 189 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:54,080 Speaker 1: and there's the destruction was almost total in certain parts 190 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: of Tokyo. It was unprecedented. Kona Suke's two sales representatives 191 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: were are unharmed, but they had nowhere to work anymore, 192 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: so they returned to Osaka. It would take another year 193 00:12:06,559 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: for the company to re establish its sales presence in Tokyo. Meanwhile, 194 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,680 Speaker 1: back in Osaka, Konasuke designed a new product that took 195 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: some effort to sell. Like many in Japan, Konasuke used 196 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 1: a bicycle to get around, and he also worked really 197 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: long hours. But he had a heck of a time 198 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: riding his bicycle at night. The bike lamps at the 199 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,959 Speaker 1: time were mostly either oil lamps or they were candle lamps. 200 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: These were not always reliable they could snuff out in 201 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: mid ride. There were a few battery operated lamps at 202 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: the time, but they were generally thought of as being 203 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 1: of poor quality, like not as good as oil or candles, 204 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: and most of those battery operated lamps could only light 205 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: an electric lamp for three hours before you would have 206 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: to replace the batteries, so they were seen as wasteful 207 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: and impractical. Konasuke wanted to create an improved battery powered 208 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: bicycle lamp, so he got to work on it. Ultimately, 209 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: he designed a lamp shaped kind of like a bullet, 210 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: and it would hold three batteries and it lit an 211 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: electric bulb for up to forty hours between thirty and 212 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 1: forty He took his invention to wholesalers to try and 213 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: convince them to order the lamp, but the reputation of 214 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: battery powered lamps in general was so poor that no 215 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: one really gave him the time of day. They said, 216 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: we can't sell these things anyway, no way he wants them, 217 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,320 Speaker 1: So he decided to take a different approach. He went 218 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 1: to bicycle shops and he provided lamps to the owners 219 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: to for free for them to to try out, to test, 220 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 1: and then to to talk him up if they liked them, 221 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: and they started to place orders directly with him through 222 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: his company, so if they liked the lamps. They would 223 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:52,320 Speaker 1: just order more from him, and then before long the 224 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 1: wholesaler said, oh wait a minute, maybe we're a little 225 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: too hasty. So they came back around and started signing deals. 226 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: So how does a battery operated lamp work? I mean, 227 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 1: this is tech stuff, after all, so I have to 228 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: explain how a couple of pieces of tech work in 229 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: the context of history. Right, And this is a really 230 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 1: simple thing. This is one of the easiest circuits to understand. 231 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: So you've got your source of electricity. In this case, 232 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: it's three batteries that are providing the electricity. And that 233 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: also means that the current we're going to talk about 234 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: is direct current, meaning the current is always flowing in 235 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: the same direction. The circuit is essentially a one way street, 236 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: and as opposed to something like alternating current. Batteries have 237 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 1: a negative terminal and a positive terminal, and that means 238 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: that between the negative and the positive not physically between 239 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: in the battery itself, but rather the difference in that 240 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: negative and positive means there's an electric potential between the two, 241 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: or voltage. So if you were to attach a conductive 242 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: path to those two terminals that would allow current to low, 243 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,840 Speaker 1: then current will flow, and we describe current as moving 244 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: from positive to negative. Though you could talk about electricity 245 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: as electrons flowing through a circuit, and in that case 246 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: you're talking about negative to positive. So the flow of 247 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: current is opposite the flow of electrons. Thanks Benjamin Franklin. Now, 248 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: if there's nothing more than a connective path, you know, 249 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: just like copper wire, from one end of the battery 250 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: to the other, the battery is gonna heat up, current's 251 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: gonna flow, and then it'll just keep doing that until 252 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: the battery goes dead, when all the electrochemical processes inside 253 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,640 Speaker 1: the battery slow down because the active elements have all 254 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: been used up. But that would make no sense, there'd 255 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: be no point in doing that. You're just using up 256 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: a battery. So we use batteries to do work. So 257 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,000 Speaker 1: we connect them to circuits, and those circuits have a 258 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: load on them. A load in a circuit is a 259 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: component that consumes electric power, typically so that it'll do 260 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 1: something right. It's it's a load that typically corresponds with 261 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 1: some sort of action. Not necessarily, there are components and 262 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: circuits that don't, you know, actively do anything. But it's 263 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: a good rule of thumb. So a lightbulb is an 264 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: electric load. Lightbulbs use electricity to flow through a filament 265 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: that has a fairly high electrical resistance. That means a 266 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: resistance to electricity flowing through that substance. And the electricity 267 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: wants to flow through the filament, it has to go 268 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,600 Speaker 1: through the filament if it wants to get to the 269 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: other end of the circuit, and it really badly wants 270 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: to do that because of that electric potential that voltage. 271 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: So the electricity, assuming that the voltage is high enough 272 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: and the electrical resistance isn't too high, we'll just hike 273 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: up its metaphorical breeches and push through that filament despite 274 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: the electrical resistance. But some of the electricity converts over 275 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: into another form of energy, that of heat, and the 276 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,280 Speaker 1: filament heats up to the point that it incandesses or 277 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: glows with a bright light. And I've talked a lot 278 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 1: about incandessing in fairly recent episodes, so I won't do 279 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:10,400 Speaker 1: that again here. Now. One thing I did not see 280 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:13,680 Speaker 1: while I was researching these bicycle lamps was whether Kona 281 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,159 Speaker 1: Suke had the batteries mounted in series or in parallel. Now, 282 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: if I had to guess, I would say parallel, because 283 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: the two arrangements have different effects. There are different reasons 284 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: why you would do this. Each battery has a particular 285 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: voltage or electric potential between the two terminals. If you 286 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: link batteries in series so that you have one right 287 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: after the other, the the positive terminal on battery A 288 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: is against the negative terminal of battery B, and the 289 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 1: positive terminal battery B is against the negative terminal battery C. 290 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:50,439 Speaker 1: Then what you have managed to do is increase the 291 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: overall voltage by using these three batteries in series. So 292 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: and that means you could do a job that requires 293 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: more voltage, a harder job with three batteries and series 294 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: then you would be able to do with a single battery. Now, 295 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:08,399 Speaker 1: if you mountain batteries in parallel so that the terminals 296 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: of the batteries are all connected to a common conductor, 297 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: so all three positive ends are connected to the same conductor, 298 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:18,360 Speaker 1: all three negative ends are connected to the same conductor, 299 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,720 Speaker 1: you increase the capacity of the batteries how long they 300 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,679 Speaker 1: can work before you need to replace them. You know, 301 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: you can't do a harder job than one battery can, 302 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: but you can do the same job a single battery can, 303 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:37,119 Speaker 1: but for longer. Kona Suke had begun to create full 304 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: electronic products, branching out from the components he had been producing, 305 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,199 Speaker 1: and soon it would be off to the races. But 306 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: before I get into that, let's take a quick break. 307 00:18:56,040 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: Kona Sukes Company signed an agreement with Yamamoto Trade Company 308 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 1: to sell these bullet shaped lamps under a brand name 309 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:09,959 Speaker 1: called Excel, very much like the Spreadsheet program. Konosuke found 310 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: the arrangement somewhat vexing, as he had ideas on how 311 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:19,360 Speaker 1: they should market the lamp, but Yamamoto's president, taken Nobu Yamamoto, 312 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: felt that the lamps were no more than a passing fad, 313 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 1: and so he shut down those ideas. In when Konosuke 314 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:31,399 Speaker 1: was thirty two, he introduced a new type of bike lamp. 315 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: This one was square in shape, and he called it 316 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: the National Lamp, and National would become an important brand 317 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: name within the company, not just for lamps, but for 318 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 1: other products as well. Now, Yamamoto claimed that the marketing 319 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: agreement they had put in place for the Excel lamp 320 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: also applied to the National lamp, and he said, if 321 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: you want to market this, that's fine, but you gotta 322 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: pay me ten thousand yen to get the marketing rights, 323 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 1: because right now I hold those marketing rights. So Kona 324 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,199 Speaker 1: Suke paid it off and the National brand would be 325 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,400 Speaker 1: under his control and he could market it the way 326 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: he wanted to. The same year, he created a new 327 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:16,560 Speaker 1: division within his company to produce thermal products, that is, 328 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: electronics that produce a lot of heat, like electric irons 329 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:24,679 Speaker 1: for ironing clothes. Konosuke saw an opportunity in Japan's The 330 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 1: electric appliances at that time in Japan were really a luxury, 331 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: and therefore they were also a very small market. Only 332 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: a tiny slice of the overall population of Japan could 333 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 1: even afford to buy them. Konosuke wanted to take aim 334 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: at a larger market. He wanted to produce lower cost 335 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: appliances for people who weren't ludicrously wealthy, and the first 336 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,919 Speaker 1: product his company made with this goal in mind was 337 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 1: the National Super Iron. Remember when I said the filaments 338 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: in a lightbulb generate heat due to electrical resistance, and 339 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: then they luminess or in candath, I should say, well, 340 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 1: an electric iron does a similar thing with heating coils. 341 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,120 Speaker 1: The coils have a high electrical resistance and they heat 342 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: up as current passes through them, and the same thing 343 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: is true for stuff like toasters and electric stovetops, or 344 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,399 Speaker 1: at least the type of electric stove types that have 345 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:21,719 Speaker 1: the electric coils on them. With irons, the heat from 346 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: the coil typically transfers to something like a base plate, 347 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: and that's the actual surface you use to iron your 348 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: wrinkled clothing. You wouldn't want to use the heating coils themselves, 349 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: you'd probably end up scorching your clothes. Kona Suke put 350 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: a man named Tetsugio Nacao in charge of the new 351 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,120 Speaker 1: electrothermal division, and the goal was to set up a 352 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,320 Speaker 1: mass manufacturing process in order to bring the cost of 353 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,359 Speaker 1: production down on a per unit basis, which means they 354 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: could market the super iron for less money than competing 355 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: irons on the market. The danger was that the company 356 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,479 Speaker 1: could end up producing way more irons then the market 357 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,640 Speaker 1: would support. But Konosuke felt that if price low enough, 358 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 1: a lot of people in Japan would buy these. They 359 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 1: just couldn't afford them as they currently stood. But this 360 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,200 Speaker 1: was a big risk. I mean, setting up a mass 361 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: manufacturing facility is complicated and it is expensive. If it 362 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 1: didn't pay off, his company would have been in a 363 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: really tough position financially. The goal was to sell the 364 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: irons for three point to yen. Now that's a tiny amount, right, 365 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: except that at the time, the average starting salary for 366 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:40,439 Speaker 1: a teacher in Japan was fifty yen a year, so 367 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: three point two was a significant amount. However, it was 368 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,399 Speaker 1: still lower than the competing products on the market. To 369 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: be able to reach that price, his company was going 370 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: to need to produce ten thousand irons per month, and 371 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: at the time, Kona Suke's company had kind of estimated 372 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: that demand for electric irons was capping out somewhere around 373 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: one hundred thousand units in a year, so that would 374 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: mean Konosuke's company would be producing more supply than the 375 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: demand called for a hundred twenty thousand a year versus 376 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 1: one hundred thousand, So this was risky, but the gamble 377 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: paid off. The product was a market success, easily justifying 378 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: the investment in the mass manufacturing process and serving as 379 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: a model in Japanese business and manufacturing. By the end 380 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: of nineteen seven, the company was selling an electric foot warmer, 381 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: which used some of the same technology as the company 382 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: had in their irons, and Also, Nico became the head 383 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: of a research and development division, a new R and 384 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,359 Speaker 1: D division within the company, with the goal of working 385 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: on new emerging technologies that could find their way into 386 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: future products. In the early nineteen thirties, radio was coming 387 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: to Japan, but like other electronics, radio sets were really 388 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,200 Speaker 1: expensed of and this wasn't just in Japan. Radios were 389 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:07,720 Speaker 1: expensive everywhere and often they were enormous pieces of furniture 390 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: because this was before the invention of the transistor, so 391 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 1: they were using vacuum tubes as amplifiers. Kona Suitcase Company 392 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: developed a three tube radio and he entered the radio 393 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,920 Speaker 1: into a competition that was being held by the Tokyo 394 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: Public Broadcasting System, and the radio set he entered took 395 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:31,560 Speaker 1: home first prize. Kona Suke also did something fairly remarkable. 396 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:35,160 Speaker 1: He purchased the rights to two radio patents. Now that's 397 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: not unusual. Companies do this all the time. So sometimes 398 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,040 Speaker 1: companies will, you know, file a patent and get awarded 399 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 1: a patent. Sometimes companies will license patents. Sometimes companies will 400 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: sell patents, and the patent can act just like any 401 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 1: other piece of property. It will pass from one person 402 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: to the next, so even though Kona suit Case Company 403 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: didn't come up with the patents themselves. By purchasing them, 404 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 1: it was as if they were the ones who had 405 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: written those patents in the first place. But here's the 406 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: remarkable part of it. He then released those two patents 407 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: to the public domain. Now that is unusual, and he 408 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: said that his goal was to encourage growth in the 409 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: radio industry in Japan. And in many ways, this kind 410 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: of hearkens back to the days when Konasuke would supply 411 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 1: bicycle shops with free lamps to help test and promote 412 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,680 Speaker 1: the technology. In nineteen thirty two, Konosuke established the company's 413 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: guiding principle, the one that would hold sway during his leadership. 414 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 1: And it's kind of astonishing, particularly if we view it 415 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: through the lens of a post Jack Welch world of business. 416 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: And of course, we should retain our ability to think 417 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 1: critically and consider that this guiding principle might not always 418 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,720 Speaker 1: be applied, or it might only be applied at a 419 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:55,359 Speaker 1: surface or superficial level. But hey, I hear you saying, 420 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 1: what the heck was this guiding principle? Well, I'm gonna 421 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: quote Konosuke. According to Panasonic's own history, and this is 422 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,879 Speaker 1: what he said. Quote. The mission of a manufacturer is 423 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: to overcome poverty by producing an abundant supply of goods. 424 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,440 Speaker 1: Even though water can be considered a product, no one 425 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,719 Speaker 1: objects if a passer by drinks from a roadside tap. 426 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,199 Speaker 1: That is because the supply of water is plentiful and 427 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:24,960 Speaker 1: the price is low. Our mission as a manufacturer is 428 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: to create material abundance by providing goods as plentifully and 429 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,880 Speaker 1: inexpensively as tap water. This is how we can banish poverty, 430 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:37,399 Speaker 1: bring happiness to people's lives, and make this world a 431 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:42,919 Speaker 1: better place. End quote. Now, I don't know about you, 432 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: but to me, there's a pretty big gap in his 433 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:53,120 Speaker 1: philosophy and what we would see in business in general 434 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,439 Speaker 1: around the nineteen eighties, the nineteen nineties and later, with 435 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: companies turning towards focusing on shareholder value you above everything else. 436 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: And again, I don't want to go so far as 437 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 1: to claim that Panasonic has kept this idea as the 438 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,680 Speaker 1: central core component of its business practices, but I think 439 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: you know that would be disingenuous. I just I dig 440 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:17,360 Speaker 1: the idea of using success in order to help others, 441 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,920 Speaker 1: with the ultimate goal of banishing poverty. That's a great goal. 442 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 1: And that might be because I just watched so much Mr. 443 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,400 Speaker 1: Rogers when I was a kid. So whether or not 444 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,679 Speaker 1: the company succeeded in this or was sincere in this, 445 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,359 Speaker 1: I can't really speak to, but man, I do love 446 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: that philosophy. Anyway, Let's get back to the history. The 447 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: company was growing more complex, and so in nineteen thirty three, 448 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: Konosuke formally organized his company into three branches, each capable 449 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: of doing business as if it were a separate entity. 450 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: One division oversaw batteries, one oversaw radios, and the third 451 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: oversaw electro thermal products. And to those divisions had other 452 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 1: stuff that they handled as well, But the goal was 453 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,159 Speaker 1: to make the head of each division have the authority 454 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: and investment to make the right decisions for their particular branch. 455 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,400 Speaker 1: Kanasuke recognized that his company as a whole had really 456 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,959 Speaker 1: grown quite large and too complex to handle as if 457 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: it were a single, unified entity, because a decision that 458 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: might be great for one part of the company might 459 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 1: be a setback for another. So this gave more flexibility 460 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 1: to things now. That July, the company expanded into a 461 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:36,160 Speaker 1: new factory northeast of Osaka. UH had a lot more 462 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,480 Speaker 1: employees at this point, and it was producing more than 463 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: two hundred different products and growing in importance in the 464 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: Japanese economy. In ninety four, Konosuke oversaw the opening of 465 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: an employee training institute. Japanese students could go there and 466 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: attend a three year course where they would learn and 467 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:59,480 Speaker 1: practice skills in business and engineering. The company also obviously 468 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: would benefit it from this relationship as well. UH In fact, 469 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: it could be a very effective recruiting program for promising 470 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: students to be brought into the workforce full time. Now, 471 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,520 Speaker 1: what came as a surprise to me was to learn 472 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: that it wasn't until nineteen thirty five, which was seventeen 473 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: years after Konosuke founded his company, that he actually incorporated it. 474 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: It became Mattsushida Electric Industrial Company Limited. He also began 475 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,480 Speaker 1: to develop overseas markets, which was a bit of a 476 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:38,720 Speaker 1: novelty in Japan, particularly in the electronics manufacturing sector. Konosuke 477 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 1: hoped to expand sales to countries around the world. But 478 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 1: if you're keeping track of the years, you realize we're 479 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:47,800 Speaker 1: getting up to some years where there was some major 480 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: conflicts that would really throw a whole monkey wrench into 481 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 1: that plan, so Japan and China went to war in 482 00:29:55,520 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: July ninety seven. That whole story is incredibly complex, aided 483 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: and is outside the scope of tech stuff. But the 484 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 1: following year, met Sushida's R and D division produced the 485 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: company's first television set prototype with a twelve inch screen. 486 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: In ninety nine, the set was able to display broadcasts 487 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: that were originating from the Tokyo Broadcast Center, and the 488 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,000 Speaker 1: company also showed off this set to the general public 489 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: at a special innovation exhibition. There were high hopes that 490 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 1: television would play a huge part in the following years, 491 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 1: but that also got sidelined because in nineteen forty, Japan 492 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,880 Speaker 1: entered the larger conflict of World War two, and the 493 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,440 Speaker 1: United States would impose sanctions on Japan as a result 494 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: of that, severely restricting Japan's access to steal kana Suke 495 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: was concerned that this restricted access to raw materials would 496 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:53,719 Speaker 1: have a negative impact on the products that his company 497 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 1: was manufacturing, and he actually spoke quite passionately to his 498 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 1: employees that they make you or that they don't compromise 499 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: on quality. By ninety one, Kanasuke was obligated to turn 500 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: his company's capabilities towards fulfilling military contracts. I don't know 501 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: what Kanasuke's opinion was of Japan's stance in World War Two. 502 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:22,120 Speaker 1: It's kind of irrelevant because whether he chose eagerly to 503 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: fulfill military contracts or he was actually compelled to by 504 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: the government, the outcome is the same. The company, Matt Sushieda, 505 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:35,800 Speaker 1: began to build stuff for the Japanese military. In fact, 506 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: they founded two new companies to do this, the Matt 507 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: Sushida Shipbuilding Company and the Matt Sushida Airplane Company, and 508 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: they built wooden ships and wooden planes, like three planes 509 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 1: and a couple of dozen ships. Now, to say that 510 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,760 Speaker 1: the war was disruptive would be an understatement. It was 511 00:31:55,800 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: certainly disruptive for Matt Sushida. The company had never were 512 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: made this kind of stuff before. They were not familiar 513 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 1: with it. They had to create all new processes and 514 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 1: facilities to do it, They had to train in new 515 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:10,880 Speaker 1: skills to do it, and it took a lot of 516 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,880 Speaker 1: their focus off of the things that the company had 517 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: been doing as their prime business. By the end of 518 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,040 Speaker 1: World War Two, upon Japan's surrender, the company had lost 519 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:26,080 Speaker 1: thirty two factories and offices, mostly in Osaka and Tokyo. 520 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: Their home office was unscathed. The prime office in Osaka 521 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 1: was still untouched. The company's employees, at a peak during 522 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 1: World War two, reached twenty six thousand, but then thousands 523 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:45,280 Speaker 1: of those employees left after Japan surrendered. Most of them 524 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,760 Speaker 1: had who had left were drafted into working for the 525 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: company um as part of the war effort, and then 526 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: some actual matt Sushida employees also resigned, making matters worse 527 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: at Sushida, like a lot of Japanese companies, was deeply 528 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: in debt after the war. The company, again, you know, 529 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,800 Speaker 1: they had been forced to really produce military vehicles. If 530 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 1: they had been able to choose, I'm sure they wouldn't 531 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: have gone that route. They had never done it before. 532 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: It was a very expensive thing for them to have 533 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: to try and switch over to and they were counting 534 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,959 Speaker 1: on the government to you know, compensate them for it. 535 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,280 Speaker 1: But then they were on the losing side and the 536 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:33,000 Speaker 1: government didn't exist anymore. So now with the Japanese government defunct, 537 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 1: there was no one to pay those expenses. The company 538 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 1: had to shoulder it itself, and Mattsushida had been forced 539 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:41,880 Speaker 1: to expand and then shoulder all that debt, and the 540 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,960 Speaker 1: company tried to pivot a little bit. They began to 541 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:50,280 Speaker 1: manufacture stuff like prefabricated wooden houses and even wooden wagon 542 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:54,600 Speaker 1: wheels because they had all this infrastructure to produce wooden stuff, 543 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: but there was no need to produce military vehicles. In fact, 544 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 1: they wouldn't be allowed to the day after Japan's surrender, 545 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,720 Speaker 1: Konosuke held a meeting and said that the company was 546 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:08,759 Speaker 1: going to get back into producing consumer products, but there 547 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,759 Speaker 1: was a little thing standing in the way, and that 548 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:17,040 Speaker 1: would be the United States military. See, many of the 549 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:22,919 Speaker 1: businesses in Japan were ones that were under scrutiny from 550 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 1: the US government. A lot of them had been controlled 551 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: by a single family for multiple generations, and those families 552 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,759 Speaker 1: were holding onto these companies in a way as kind 553 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,920 Speaker 1: of establishing and holding onto power. The US forces directed 554 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,439 Speaker 1: those companies to kind of abandon that approach, to either 555 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:45,399 Speaker 1: break apart or to change leadership, and they identified Matt 556 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:49,120 Speaker 1: Sushida as one of those companies, and this really offended 557 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: Konosuke because he had founded the company himself. This was 558 00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 1: not a generational thing. He actually was the founder and 559 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,800 Speaker 1: The company wasn't even thirty years old yet at this point, 560 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:03,640 Speaker 1: but Matt Sushida had built vehicles for the Japanese military 561 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: during wartime, and so the company had a really big 562 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,800 Speaker 1: target painted on it. As a result, the US forces 563 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,319 Speaker 1: were demanding that Konosuke stepped down and for someone else 564 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:20,240 Speaker 1: to take control. Konosuke, however, had won his employees loyalty. 565 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:23,160 Speaker 1: He had demonstrated his own commitment to them. He had 566 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:26,520 Speaker 1: helped them unionize, which is something that you don't typically 567 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:32,040 Speaker 1: see a business owner doing, and so the employees protested 568 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,560 Speaker 1: the directive even as Konosuke prepared to step down so 569 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:39,160 Speaker 1: his company could survive. UH. Several retail stores also joined 570 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:43,120 Speaker 1: in the protests, because these stores were stores that carried 571 00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:47,080 Speaker 1: the products the company made. Some of his other companies 572 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:51,160 Speaker 1: or companies that had worked with Matt Sushida, also ended 573 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:55,680 Speaker 1: joining this protest, and so, faced with resistance and demand 574 00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:59,400 Speaker 1: that Konosuke was the driving force behind Matt Sushida, the 575 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:03,080 Speaker 1: US government reverse their course. They decided that he did 576 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:06,359 Speaker 1: not need to step down. And it sounds like I'm 577 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,920 Speaker 1: talking about something that was a fairly fast process, but 578 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,040 Speaker 1: it wasn't the demand he stepped down was issued in 579 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,840 Speaker 1: nineteen forty six. The reversal did not happen until the 580 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 1: middle of nineteen seven, and the push to designate the 581 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:22,560 Speaker 1: company as a family controlled entity wouldn't be reversed until 582 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:26,360 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty. One. Person who left the company around this 583 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:30,520 Speaker 1: time was Konosuke's brother in law. He had been with 584 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:34,440 Speaker 1: the company since its founding, but he stepped down. Some 585 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:36,759 Speaker 1: people say he stepped down as an effort to kind 586 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:39,840 Speaker 1: of take the pressure off of Konosuke if he left, 587 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,200 Speaker 1: this brother in law, if he left, then everything maybe 588 00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:47,120 Speaker 1: would be okay. But he went on to found a 589 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:54,080 Speaker 1: different manufacturing company called Sanio. In the meantime, Mattsushida saw 590 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:58,560 Speaker 1: several divisions and acquisitions removed from their company, and as 591 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:00,839 Speaker 1: we all know, this would not be the into Panasonic. 592 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:03,279 Speaker 1: And when we come back, I'll talk about how the 593 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:07,080 Speaker 1: company went through the recovery process post World War Two. 594 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:18,720 Speaker 1: But first let's take another quick break the restrictions Matsushida 595 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:22,200 Speaker 1: was under post World War Two. We're pretty tough. The 596 00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:25,400 Speaker 1: company was not allowed to borrow money. This was actually 597 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,680 Speaker 1: done kind of on a national level in Japan. It 598 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,880 Speaker 1: wasn't just singling out the company. It was all in 599 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:34,719 Speaker 1: an effort to kind of stave off inflation, but Matsushida 600 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:38,760 Speaker 1: also had to pay employees wages and installments. They couldn't 601 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:41,640 Speaker 1: just pay everybody in full every payday. There wasn't enough 602 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,399 Speaker 1: cash on hand to do that. On top of that, 603 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:50,000 Speaker 1: despite streamlining workflow and really just saving wherever they could save, 604 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: the company was forced to operate factories for half days. 605 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,480 Speaker 1: They just couldn't afford to run them full time. By 606 00:37:56,560 --> 00:38:01,440 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty, the company was employing four thousand, four hundred 607 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:04,080 Speaker 1: thirty eight people, but in March of that year, five 608 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:08,200 Speaker 1: hundred sixty seven of those people would get laid off. However, 609 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 1: something else happened that brought about a new period of 610 00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:15,879 Speaker 1: productivity and prosperity in Japan. And I wish I could 611 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,719 Speaker 1: say that it was something to celebrate, but no, it's not. 612 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,120 Speaker 1: It's war again, but this time it's the Korean War. 613 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,320 Speaker 1: The Korean War started on June twenty five, nineteen fifty, 614 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:31,160 Speaker 1: when North Korean forces backed by the Soviet Union invaded 615 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,719 Speaker 1: South Korea. China would also side with North Korea and 616 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:37,600 Speaker 1: the United Nations and the United States would side with 617 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:42,239 Speaker 1: South Korea, and the Japanese economy rebounded demand in the 618 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,440 Speaker 1: region was calling for Japanese companies to ramp up production. 619 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:49,800 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty one, Konosuke decided to do a grand 620 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:53,360 Speaker 1: tour of the United States and also of Europe to 621 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:57,279 Speaker 1: learn how companies operated in other countries, to learn more 622 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:00,879 Speaker 1: about the electronics industry as a whole. All he saw 623 00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:03,960 Speaker 1: a need to become a global citizen and to expand 624 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:08,040 Speaker 1: his company's operations on a more grand scale. And after 625 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:11,399 Speaker 1: the first of two US tours in nineteen fifty one, 626 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:13,920 Speaker 1: Kana Suke came back to his company and told his 627 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,399 Speaker 1: engineers about this cool thing he wanted them to make. 628 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:21,480 Speaker 1: He wanted them to build a washing machine. He had 629 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:24,000 Speaker 1: seen washing machines in the United States and he felt 630 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,320 Speaker 1: that there'd be a good market for them in Japan. 631 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,880 Speaker 1: This turned out to actually be a pretty big request. 632 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:33,040 Speaker 1: It was something that the engineers had never really seen before, 633 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:35,920 Speaker 1: and they were depending upon materials that had been produced 634 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:38,440 Speaker 1: in other countries, so there was a language barrier when 635 00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:43,440 Speaker 1: they were looking at the various manuals and descriptions of 636 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:45,759 Speaker 1: these things, and they sort of had to suss out 637 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,680 Speaker 1: how to build a washing machine, and not just the machine, 638 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:52,520 Speaker 1: but the components that would make up that machine, stuff 639 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:57,200 Speaker 1: like various seals and switches and motors. However, eventually they 640 00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:01,200 Speaker 1: did succeed. The company created an agitator washing machine called 641 00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:04,879 Speaker 1: the m W one oh one, which could hold up 642 00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:08,320 Speaker 1: to two kims of clothing or about four and half 643 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,920 Speaker 1: pounds or so. And my favorite bit about the washing 644 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:17,480 Speaker 1: machine story is that the quality assurance team was perplexed 645 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,880 Speaker 1: as to how to test these devices once they were finished. 646 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:23,560 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you would throw a sullied cloth 647 00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:26,560 Speaker 1: into them to see that it would actually come out clean. 648 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:30,360 Speaker 1: But the testers were upset because there was no standard 649 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:33,799 Speaker 1: dirty cloth they could rely upon. They didn't have a 650 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:38,319 Speaker 1: set dirty cloth that would be a reliable test and 651 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:41,920 Speaker 1: a completely consistent and repeatable test. So you just had 652 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:43,880 Speaker 1: to get a cloth and get it dirty. But you 653 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:45,960 Speaker 1: know what, if one one on one cloth is too 654 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:48,279 Speaker 1: dirty or one wasn't dirty enough, and you don't know 655 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:51,760 Speaker 1: if it really worked, it drove them nuts. The company 656 00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,799 Speaker 1: also began to re establish its sales network, which had 657 00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:58,400 Speaker 1: been essentially wiped out after World War Two, and initially 658 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,400 Speaker 1: they focused on building out the state network in Japan itself, 659 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:03,680 Speaker 1: but the company would also play a big part in 660 00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:07,799 Speaker 1: establishing a new effort to get an autonomous economy in 661 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:12,080 Speaker 1: Japan and then expand beyond it. Kanasuke had another ambition 662 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:14,200 Speaker 1: upon his return from his tour, which was to find 663 00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:18,359 Speaker 1: another company, an electronics company that he could partner with 664 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:22,279 Speaker 1: to gain some technical guidance. So find someone who has 665 00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:26,799 Speaker 1: already experienced in the sector and then partner with them 666 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:30,720 Speaker 1: to learn from them. Ultimately, after a lot of negotiations 667 00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:34,280 Speaker 1: and back and forth, he chose the Dutch company Phillips, 668 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:37,720 Speaker 1: which had started off selling lightbulbs and at this point 669 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:41,759 Speaker 1: was already a large electronics company. Together, they formed a 670 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:46,080 Speaker 1: new subsidiary called Matsushida Electronics Corporation or m e C 671 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:51,640 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty two. Around that same time, Matsushida Engineers 672 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,799 Speaker 1: also built a new black and white television set, the 673 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:59,759 Speaker 1: seventeen K five thirty one, under the National brand. This 674 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,600 Speaker 1: had a rectangular screen, which kind of set it apart 675 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:05,839 Speaker 1: from other early television sets in Japan. Most of them 676 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:09,080 Speaker 1: had circular screens, which was you know, weird to us 677 00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:14,719 Speaker 1: now through rectangle being the more common appearance, and it 678 00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:18,839 Speaker 1: was technically a new product, but it was also extremely expensive, 679 00:42:18,920 --> 00:42:21,399 Speaker 1: so it wasn't like they were selling a ton of these, 680 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:23,800 Speaker 1: not a lot of people could afford it. In nineteen 681 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:29,520 Speaker 1: fifty three, Matt Sushida established the Central Research Laboratories. This 682 00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:32,000 Speaker 1: was a dedicated R and D facility that took what 683 00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:35,520 Speaker 1: engineers were learning through their partnership with Phillips and then 684 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:38,120 Speaker 1: putting it to practical use. And the group developed new 685 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:41,560 Speaker 1: products as well as worked on ways to automate production 686 00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:45,480 Speaker 1: to make the manufacturing process more safe and efficient and cheap. 687 00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:49,160 Speaker 1: And this wasn't just for the sake of innovation. Towards 688 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:51,880 Speaker 1: the end of nineteen fifty three, the Japanese economy was 689 00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:55,120 Speaker 1: showing signs of slowing down a lot, and kind of 690 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:58,120 Speaker 1: Suke saw a need to create more efficient production systems 691 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:01,480 Speaker 1: in order to stay a viable business US without massive cutbacks. 692 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:05,760 Speaker 1: The company also began to develop dry cell batteries. Starting 693 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:09,640 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty four, they introduced the hyper brand. But 694 00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:12,480 Speaker 1: that kind of begs the question what the heck is 695 00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:16,719 Speaker 1: a dry cell battery? And yes, I know I technically 696 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:21,040 Speaker 1: used begs the question wrong. Well, remember that a battery 697 00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:23,960 Speaker 1: is a way to store energy, and the way it 698 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:27,160 Speaker 1: releases energy is to have chemical reactions that go on 699 00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:30,880 Speaker 1: inside the battery, and part of that chemical reaction means 700 00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:33,839 Speaker 1: that it converts some of that stored chemical energy into 701 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:37,840 Speaker 1: electrical energy. And in the early days of batteries, batteries 702 00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:40,440 Speaker 1: were wet cells, and that means the batteries themselves had 703 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:44,160 Speaker 1: liquid components inside them, and sometimes they could slash out 704 00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:48,560 Speaker 1: if you weren't careful. And sometimes those components are toxic 705 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,919 Speaker 1: or corrosive, like sulfuric acid type stuff. You don't want 706 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:55,799 Speaker 1: that to get on you. That's a bad thing. But 707 00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:59,800 Speaker 1: a German chemist named Dr Carl Gastner created the first 708 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:03,880 Speaker 1: dry cell battery, which uses dry components rather than liquid ones, 709 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,920 Speaker 1: and this was all the way back in six However, 710 00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:12,000 Speaker 1: producing them in large quantities wasn't easy at first. Originally, 711 00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:15,080 Speaker 1: Konosuke was looking to partner with an American company to 712 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:19,000 Speaker 1: develop dry cell batteries from Matsushida, but ultimately he decided 713 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:22,880 Speaker 1: against that and the company's own engineers developed their version 714 00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:25,680 Speaker 1: of the dry cell battery. And in general these are 715 00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:29,239 Speaker 1: safer and more convenient than wet cell style batteries. Like 716 00:44:29,239 --> 00:44:32,360 Speaker 1: with a wet cell battery, you can't just mount the 717 00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:35,279 Speaker 1: battery any which way, right because if you turn it 718 00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:38,120 Speaker 1: upside down, the liquid can come out, whereas the dry 719 00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:41,560 Speaker 1: cell battery, it doesn't matter the orientation of the battery. 720 00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:43,520 Speaker 1: It's gonna you know, all the components are just gonna 721 00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:46,360 Speaker 1: stay where they're at, So it's better in that regard. 722 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:50,600 Speaker 1: The company also produced its first electric refrigerator, the n 723 00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:54,800 Speaker 1: R S Threete. So let's remind our cells have electric 724 00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:58,600 Speaker 1: fridges work. It's tech stuff after all, and we're about 725 00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:02,080 Speaker 1: to wrap up, don't worry. So in the very old days, 726 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,360 Speaker 1: you had an ice box, and that was literal. You 727 00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:08,160 Speaker 1: had a box and it had a compartment where you 728 00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:10,440 Speaker 1: would put a big old block of ice and that 729 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:14,600 Speaker 1: would keep the neighboring compartment cool. But it wasn't exactly 730 00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:17,160 Speaker 1: convenient and you had to replace the ice regularly. So 731 00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:20,960 Speaker 1: how does something running on electricity keep things cool has 732 00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:24,359 Speaker 1: to do with physics, and those physics rely on a 733 00:45:24,360 --> 00:45:28,880 Speaker 1: compressor and a valve and some heat exchange coils. But 734 00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:31,720 Speaker 1: that doesn't really explain things, doesn't, all right, So let's 735 00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:36,239 Speaker 1: imagine this. You've got a continuous path, You've got a 736 00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:41,200 Speaker 1: compressor on one end of that path, and you have 737 00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:44,680 Speaker 1: an expansion valve on the opposite end of the path 738 00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:46,919 Speaker 1: and on either side. So think of those the top 739 00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:49,120 Speaker 1: and bottom. Let's say that the compressors at the top, 740 00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:53,399 Speaker 1: the expansion valves at the bottom, And then you've got 741 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:56,239 Speaker 1: a coil on your left and a coil on your right. 742 00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:58,120 Speaker 1: And we'll say the coil on your left is the 743 00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:01,799 Speaker 1: one that represents the coil that inside a refrigerator, and 744 00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:04,920 Speaker 1: the coil on the right is one that represents the 745 00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:08,240 Speaker 1: coil that's outside the refrigerator. Both of these are called 746 00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:12,880 Speaker 1: heat exchange coils. The one that's on the outside is 747 00:46:12,920 --> 00:46:17,000 Speaker 1: also known as the condenser. So ultimately the whole idea 748 00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:20,200 Speaker 1: is to transfer heat from the inside of the fridge 749 00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:23,200 Speaker 1: and dump it on the outside of the fridge. The 750 00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:26,880 Speaker 1: compressor's job is to circulate the refrigerant through the system 751 00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:30,400 Speaker 1: and to compress it. The refrigerant is made of something 752 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:33,960 Speaker 1: that has a really low boiling point, like below the 753 00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:37,160 Speaker 1: freezing point for water, So this is something that we 754 00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:42,359 Speaker 1: would typically encounter as a gas, but uh, you want 755 00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:45,080 Speaker 1: to get it low enough so that you can actually 756 00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:49,879 Speaker 1: turn it into a liquid. The compressor pumps gas from 757 00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:53,279 Speaker 1: the fridge side, the cold side, and it compresses that 758 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:58,280 Speaker 1: gas right and and pressurizes it, and this also causes 759 00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:02,279 Speaker 1: the gas to heat up. As you pressurize a gas, 760 00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:07,320 Speaker 1: it's temperature increases, and this hot refrigerant gas then moves 761 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:12,440 Speaker 1: into the heat exchange coil on the outside of the fridge, 762 00:47:12,760 --> 00:47:16,480 Speaker 1: and that's where the heat will dissipate. Typically it transmits 763 00:47:16,520 --> 00:47:20,520 Speaker 1: the heat to a series of thin fins and then 764 00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:24,600 Speaker 1: the heat just uh dissipates into the environment. The gas 765 00:47:24,719 --> 00:47:29,360 Speaker 1: inside the coil starts to condense, and it condenses into 766 00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:33,440 Speaker 1: a liquid that's still held under high pressure. The pressure 767 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:36,239 Speaker 1: allows the refrigerant to stay a liquid even though it 768 00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:38,480 Speaker 1: would normally boil off into a gas, because it was 769 00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:41,560 Speaker 1: still warmer than what it's typical boiling point would be. 770 00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:45,680 Speaker 1: The refrigerant then will flow through the expansion valve, and 771 00:47:45,719 --> 00:47:48,840 Speaker 1: that maintains the difference in pressure between the condenser side, 772 00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:51,560 Speaker 1: which is again high pressure that's where the compressor is 773 00:47:51,680 --> 00:47:58,000 Speaker 1: pumping refrigerant into, and then low pressure on the fridge side. 774 00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:01,759 Speaker 1: So on the other side, the expansion valve is that 775 00:48:01,840 --> 00:48:06,160 Speaker 1: low pressure coil, and when the high pressure liquid passes 776 00:48:06,200 --> 00:48:10,120 Speaker 1: through the expansion valve, it immediately boils off, and as 777 00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:14,640 Speaker 1: it boils off, the temperature drops drastically. Uh, it drops 778 00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:18,600 Speaker 1: down to whatever the boiling temperature is for that refrigerants. 779 00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:22,399 Speaker 1: So since the boiling temperature is below zero, that means 780 00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:25,920 Speaker 1: the coils go to below zero, and then that cold 781 00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:30,439 Speaker 1: refrigerant can start to absorb the heat from inside the fridge, again, 782 00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:33,480 Speaker 1: carrying the heat from the food that's in the fridge away, 783 00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:39,000 Speaker 1: and the whole process starts up again. Mattsoshida's fridge was 784 00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:42,080 Speaker 1: part of the National line of products, and it was 785 00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:45,200 Speaker 1: an expensive appliance. In fact, the company itself described it 786 00:48:45,239 --> 00:48:49,560 Speaker 1: as quote highly acclaimed by people in high income households. 787 00:48:49,719 --> 00:48:55,000 Speaker 1: In the quote by Mattsushido was starting to market radios 788 00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:57,279 Speaker 1: to the United States, which was a big step for 789 00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:00,239 Speaker 1: the Japanese company. The radio market in the US was 790 00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:04,000 Speaker 1: already a mature one. On top of that, American consumers 791 00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:08,279 Speaker 1: weren't really familiar with Japanese brands that much. Japan had 792 00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:11,239 Speaker 1: not gained a reputation for electronics in the unit US 793 00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:13,000 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties. It was going to be a 794 00:49:13,040 --> 00:49:16,120 Speaker 1: really tough battle. And you know, we haven't even reached 795 00:49:16,160 --> 00:49:20,439 Speaker 1: the point where Matt Sushida introduced Panasonic as a brand name. 796 00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:24,080 Speaker 1: But we've got to save some stuff for the next episode, right, 797 00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:27,840 Speaker 1: and so in our next episode, we will continue the 798 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:31,040 Speaker 1: story of Panasonic, including the introduction of the Panasonic brand 799 00:49:31,560 --> 00:49:34,000 Speaker 1: and leading up to what the company has done in 800 00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:37,400 Speaker 1: more recent decades. But in the meantime, if you have 801 00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:40,400 Speaker 1: suggestions for future topics of tech Stuff, whether it's a company, 802 00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:43,720 Speaker 1: a technology, a person in tech, a trend in tech, 803 00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:46,200 Speaker 1: anything like that, let me know. Reach out to me 804 00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:49,640 Speaker 1: on Twitter. The handle is tech stuff hs W and 805 00:49:49,680 --> 00:49:58,360 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff is 806 00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,560 Speaker 1: an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from I 807 00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:05,279 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 808 00:50:05,400 --> 00:50:11,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H