WEBVTT - The GE Story, Part 2 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.000 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.960 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:17.759 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.840 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polette 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:23.680 and I am an editor at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:25.639 Sitting acrush from me is he always does when we 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.600 record podcast, because hey, what else are we gonna do? 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.319 That would be senior writer Jonathan Strickland. There was a 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.599 boy called Eustace Clarence Scrub and he almost deserved it. 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.839 All right, then, welcome to part two of our g 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:46.640 e extravvagance. If you're just joining us, Uh? Five or 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:50.400 no sorry? Four people founded ge and based on on 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:54.680 a merger between two companies, Yes, Edison General Electric and 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:59.040 Thomason Houston Electric. Yes, and you know those three guys 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:01.320 plus a guy named Charles Coffin who was a business 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:05.280 person who brought the companies together in a merger. And um, 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:08.760 they went from a brand new field, um, you know, 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:12.760 wiring homes for electricity lighting homes. Uh and and really 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.279 uh decided to create a company that could make things 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:21.679 that could use electricity and would sell equipment to generate electricity. 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:26.039 UM and really uh turned into a a eight hundred 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:29.160 pound guerrilla as they say in marketing speak of the 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:31.800 electric world. And we got all the way up to 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:34.399 nineteen thirty one in GES history. That was the year 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:37.959 that Thomas Alva Edison died. So we pick up in 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:42.800 nineteen thirty two when GE formed the GE Credit Corporation, 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.400 which was to help finance sales of products to families. 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:49.880 And that reason for this is, uh, GE had already 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:55.720 weathered one major economic depression, but now the country was 0:01:55.760 --> 0:02:00.320 still reeling from the Great Depression, which was not that great. No, 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:04.640 it was huge, but it wasn't great now now and uh. 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.120 And in the last podcast several years earlier, we talked 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:15.040 about well several years earlier in the g E timeline right, Um, 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:19.080 we we talked about how GE had started helping companies, 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:23.360 financing companies that were starting out, um and basically to 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:27.919 help them get off the ground and hopefully use electricity 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:31.799 and buy stuff from them. UM. So this is this 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.560 is GE getting into a different segment of the financial market. UM. 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:38.680 Which again, if you're if you're looking at it on paper, 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:40.760 you may say, why would they get into financing, Well, 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.760 they're they're working in their own business interests as well. Yeah, 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:47.040 they're they're financing the sale of their products to people, 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:50.480 so you know, there's there's definitely self interest in there. 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.360 But it also was very helpful to families who needed 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:57.800 to have these these sort of appliances in order to, uh, 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:02.720 to have an efficient and cost effective home. So it was, 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:05.280 you know, a mutually beneficial sort of thing. It's not 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:07.920 we don't want to say that it was completely altruistic, 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:09.160 but at the same time, we don't want to say 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:11.880 it was some sort of how can we get those 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:14.919 last few pennies out from their clutches. It wasn't either 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.040 of those things. No, no, no, no no. UM and UH. 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.320 Also in the last podcast, we discussed how GE had 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:25.480 started very early on for the company, really one of 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:30.160 the very first research and development labs UM for corporations, 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:31.920 because they realized that if they could come up with 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:35.920 more cool scientific breakthroughs UM. Again this this is sort 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.040 of in that same bucket that they could, uh, they 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:39.920 could come up with things that would help people and 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.320 that they could monetize and add value to the company. 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:46.360 And UH one of the first things that they could 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:49.680 really brag about UM not that they couldn't some of 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:52.200 the others, but one of the scientists won a Nobel 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.640 Prize in that year as well, Irving Langmuir won a 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:59.080 Nobel Prize for his work in surface chemistry, and that 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:02.920 was the very first United States industrial scientists to win 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:05.360 a Nobel Prize. So that's a that's a big bragging 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:08.080 point for g. E. H. Skipping ahead a couple of 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:15.080 years produces the first electric food waste disposal unit, the Disposal. Yes, 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.560 it was creatively named the Disposal. Uh yeah, so this 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:23.240 is um I personally love this kind of invention. It's 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.799 a fantastic invention. I have a have an electric food 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:29.960 waste disposal unit in my house and uh, very useful 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:34.159 because I don't have to make a compost heap in 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:37.960 my house. I don't live in San Francisco. But yeah, 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:40.880 so this was this was definitely one of those inventions 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.360 introduced to try and make the whole home life more 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:48.120 simple and clean and efficient, which was kind of like geez, 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:50.600 thing like that was that was there. That was their 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:53.880 space was that we're going to make your life easier 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:59.560 and here's how through electricity. They also had the very 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.960 first night baseball game played in the United States thanks 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:07.880 to some lights provided by ge Yes Crossley Field. Yes 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.360 in Cincinnati, Cincinnati Reds versus the Phillies and who won. 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:13.960 The Reds beat the Phillies two to one. Thank you 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:18.880 awesome take that Phillies. As a Braves fan, I can't 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:23.400 say that enough that from two to one and nine. 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:29.920 My wife's from Philadelphia. Yeah, these were the Nova Lux lamps. Um. Yeah, 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:34.040 and Chicago was skeptical of these. I'm I'm kidding Chicago. 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.200 The Cubs were skeptical of these lamps up until I 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:42.280 don't know, just a few years ago. Now I'm I'm teasing. Um. Oh, 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:46.680 I like how we've something become a baseball podcast. No, uh, 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:50.040 and uh, I just find it kind of interesting that 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.080 they were so successful that they took off. And uh, 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.320 the if you're not a baseball fan, if you live 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:57.160 in a different part of the world where baseball is 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.600 sort of a curiosity rather than a national pastime. Um, 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:03.400 the Chicago Cubs are a team that has been around 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:05.559 for a very very long time, and they didn't uh 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:08.920 set up electric lights in their ballpark until, um, just 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:11.000 a few years ago at the time we're recording this. 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:13.200 And I have absolutely no problems with that. I'm just teasing. 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.920 I actually kind of like the Cubs. Yeah. Everyone everyone 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:21.560 loves an underdog, right So anyway, oh the poor cubs. 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:26.400 A nineteen thirty six, that's when ge starts a small 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:30.799 appliances division essentially, I mean they really get into creating 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.080 small appliances for the home. So again, if you remember 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:39.040 from our last podcast, I talked about how the president 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.200 and CEO during this time really wanted to focus on 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:47.080 targeting the consumer, the average consumer as a customer for 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:50.039 GE because a lot of Gees customers were big companies, 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:53.760 not consumers. Um. This was a continuation of that, and 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:59.200 they started to make stuff like juicers, roasters, mixers, countertop cookers, 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.160 that kind of stuff, you mean, like the juice so 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.440 Matt juicer and the Olive Carte table cooker like if 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:06.280 you need to eat a whole table, I'm gonna say, 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:08.359 if you need to cook your table yep. And the 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.760 Dorchester coffee maker. Yes, um, actually this is this is 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.400 kind of interesting. We talked about in the HP series 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:19.560 of podcasts. Um they Hewlett Packard over its history, which 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:22.800 is quite a bit shorter than g ees. UM got 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:26.560 into a number of fields and then later divested themselves 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.920 of it UM. As we look at GE, note that 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:34.880 they get into a wide range of different UM businesses, 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.880 but they pretty much are working in the same fields 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.880 that either they created or UM augmented in such a 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:45.520 significant way that they are a big part of them. 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.800 And really they didn't let go of a whole lot 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.080 of this stuff. They continue to be involved in in 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:52.280 these So there's a there's a few that they did 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:57.520 divest themselves and sometimes not choice. Well, that's true. Our 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:00.360 c A was taken from them, and it's states who 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:03.120 gave it to them in the first place. I know, 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.000 I'm sorry that was the last podcast. I'm not gonna 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.440 go off on that again, but yes, that's true. GE 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:12.200 was more known for developing these different technologies, getting involved 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.400 in it and staying with it UM. They were very 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.360 careful too about what they got into. Like you know, 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:22.040 there was there was a stressed innovation, but they weren't 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:23.920 so much about innovation that they were going to go 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:28.160 and embrace something that was unproven. Right there that have 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.240 done that, right, yeah, I mean in the last podcast 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:33.440 I talked talked about Google. You could argue that Google 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:36.280 has done that as well, where they've embraced stuff that 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:39.200 wasn't quite proven and not fully baked, maybe and it 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.640 just didn't work out, maybe for one reason or another. 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.720 Who each one is is fairly complex. But GE was 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:50.800 pretty good about identifying innovative designs that would be sustainable. 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.000 So that's part of the reason for the company's success. 0:08:55.679 --> 0:09:00.760 But in UH, the final of the four founders passes away, 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:05.400 Ali who Thompson he actually passed away if you had 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.080 listened to our last podcast. The other three founders had 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:13.040 had passed away before this. So now the four guys 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:15.840 who had built the two companies that eventually became General 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:19.760 Electric are no more. They have shuffled off the mortal coil. Yeah, 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:24.720 and UH we were talking about the different tabletop appliances 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:30.000 or kitchen appliances. This is again the uh diversity of GE. 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:32.360 We talked about a guy in the last podcast named 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.440 Sanford Moss who at sixteen figured out that if you 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.400 burn fuel in a compressed air environment, you could really 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:41.679 put out some energy compared to a typical engine. Uh. 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.200 That's called the supercharger. If you're familiar with these types 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:48.240 of things, well, Howard Hughes, you know the Billy jillionaire 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.880 with the boxes on his feet set a transcontinental air record. 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.160 You know, if you know you're familiar with Mr Hughes, 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:57.960 you know that he was very much into aviation. He 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:00.720 made it across the country in seven hours, twenty eight minutes, 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:05.400 twenty five seconds using that supercharger technology of Gees. Yeah. 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:07.720 I have so many jokes I want to tell, but 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.719 I'm going to I'm going to abstain. Okay, So in 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:15.000 nineteen thirty eight, ge invinced the fluorescent lamp. Yeah, they 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.280 were kind enough to wait until Mr Edison passed before 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.320 they invented the fluorescent lamp. Yeah, because of course Edison 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.480 is famous for his work in the incandescent lamp, as 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:28.160 well as other multiple inventions. How be fitting there. Anyway, 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:30.880 it's a very tiny spaces. We have another joke that 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:34.680 I can't tell. Anyway. The fluorescent lamp, of course, was 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:38.160 a new development. And yeah, yeah, you would think for 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:42.600 a company that was that was so centered around incandescent 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:46.840 lighting for it to develop fluorescent lighting. That's that's interesting. Well, 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.240 it's it's not the first time, I mean sorry, it's 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:52.800 not the last time ge will work on a completely 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:56.719 different lighting technology. So they really weren't married to it. 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:58.080 It was more of a joke that I made, but 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.839 uh yeah, I mean that was that significant really when 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.000 you think about it. They made a significant enough of 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.360 provement in an incandescent light bulb that they were able 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:09.320 to really make a business out of it, and now 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.559 they are innovating by creating the fluorescent lamp well and 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:16.160 and again it's something that sets ge apart because you've 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:20.480 got companies that will try their hardest to ignore or 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:25.520 or dismiss technologies that would significantly impact their business model 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:29.439 by by changing whatever it was they were making. So 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:31.480 if you've got a company that's making a product and 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:33.760 a new way of making a new kind of product 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:35.640 that competes directly with the old one and is in 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:39.800 many ways superior to the old one, oftentimes that first 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:41.880 company is going to resist it. In this case, we 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.520 have a company that's actually innovating in that space because well, 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:47.600 multiple reasons, one of the one of them being that 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.480 I assume that the people in charge of g E 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:54.440 knew that you can't just innovate and then rest on 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:57.000 that you have to keep pushing in order and keep 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:00.320 changing and keep keep growing in order to stay liable 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.480 as a company. Yeah, and that's I mean, I'm assuming 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:06.520 that I've never I haven't read any of these these 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:09.800 men's works directly, so I can't say for sure, but 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:13.160 based upon the way the company has grown over the years, 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:16.240 I think it's a fairly safe assumption. Corporate body language, 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:21.120 you might say. Uh. Catherine Burr Blodget, Yes, the first 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.600 female scientist at GES Research Laboratory. Hey you said laboratory. 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.600 I know I had to think about it too. Um 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.719 she made this is. I love what they call it 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:36.439 because it sounds so uh well, duh. Invisible glass. That's 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:39.920 what Wonder Woman's jet is made. But no, we're talking 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:42.440 about glass that doesn't reflect. It's got a coding on 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:47.360 it that prevent prevents the glass from being reflective, and 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:52.240 that's very useful in a number of different technologies and 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.680 and basically it was the forerunner of a lot of 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:59.960 the glasses used in different applications today. Things like cameras 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.120 may be useful for a camera lens, also optical lenses 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.480 in general anti reflective coatings. If you have a smartphone, 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:08.560 you probably have a very tiny bit of that glass 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:12.760 or something very much like it. Um and another chemistry 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:18.720 in ninety silicone. They got into silicone, well actually invented 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:23.640 it really, and it's used in all kinds of things, uh, 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:28.440 insulating electronics, it's excellent for that, baking now they use 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:34.640 it for that, now, industrial sealants, aquariums, um, lots of 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:40.600 different applications and and and great for advertising what uh 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:44.600 causes you believe in on your wrist if you're so inclined, 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.360 although that's sort of passed out of fashion here. Yes. 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.920 So also in nineteen forty they created a television station 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.400 called w r g B in a little town of 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:58.240 New York called and it was the first television network, 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.400 or grew into the first television network. It was kind 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.560 of funny to call it that. Um, you might not 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:04.800 necessarily think about it, but remember when we talked about 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:09.319 uh computer networks, we said that basically a computer standing 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.560 on on its own is not a network. But if 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.880 you put, you know, connect another net computer to it, 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.120 you've created a network. Well, yes, this was a network 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:21.280 of two. W r g B was simultaneously broadcasting the 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:25.200 same signal that the New York City TV station was 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:29.080 and so in in doing that, they created their first network. 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.720 Pretty cool and U r g B also I think 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:35.240 that's kind of funny, red, green, and blue being the 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:37.480 colors that you see on a computer screen or TV screen. 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:41.760 Of course that's pre color TV. I know that's that's 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:45.200 the ironic party. So in nineteen forty also, that's when 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:48.920 Gerard Swope and Charles E. Wilson stepped down for the 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:53.360 first time. Because this gets complicated and I'll explain why. 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.920 So they stepped down in nineteen forty and UH from 0:14:57.080 --> 0:15:03.320 being president and CEO respectively, and then UH, Charles E. 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:09.040 Wilson becomes the president. By the way, Charles E. Wilson, 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:11.240 there are two Charles E. Wilson's that are important during 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.640 this particular era. One of those, Charles E. Wilson's, is 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.160 the CEO of General Motors. The other, Charles E. Wilson, 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:22.080 became the president of of G UH. And you can 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:25.320 change tell them apart because the one at at General 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:28.280 Motors was known as Engine Charlie. The one of g 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.520 was known as Electric Charlie. That's kind of funny. I'm 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:33.720 not even making that up. Also, when you think about 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.480 a General Motors in General Electric, they're both major generals, 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:40.520 that's true, the very model of a modern major general. UH. 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:42.320 And then oh, and d Young, you know, he stepped 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.320 down as well, and Philip D. Reid took his place. 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:48.240 Now that happens in nineteen forty I'm gonna go ahead 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.320 and explain what happens over the next few years, because 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.920 it's gonna get confusing otherwise. So nineteen forty you have 0:15:54.080 --> 0:16:00.960 this regime change. Essentially. In nineteen forty two, Uh, both UH, 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:07.400 Charlie Wilson and Philip Read leave GE and and Owen 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:11.680 Young and Gerard Swope stepped back into their roles as 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:16.320 UH CEO and president respectively. Wait what Now, Here's what happened. 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:19.560 So in nineteen forty two, there was a little event 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.480 going on in nineteen forty two, and had started a 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:24.800 few years earlier, and it was really in full swing 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:30.320 by forty two, which is World War two. The jitterbug. Uh, 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.440 world War two. We're gonna stick with that. So, yeah, 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.080 world War two was in full swing. Not actuee what 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:38.600 you're doing for there with the jitterbug. Now, in nineteen 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:43.160 forty two, UH and both Read and Wilson left GE 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.320 to go serve on the United States War Production Board. 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:49.880 So they left, they left the company to serve with 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:53.000 the United States government. On this board and they were 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.240 there for three years. So in nineteen forty five, when 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:59.560 the war came to an end, Swope and Young step 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:03.960 down again and Wilson and Reid took their place again 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:07.520 as the the CEO and president of the company or 0:17:07.600 --> 0:17:09.960 president CEO, I should say, because Wilson was the president. 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:14.480 So yeah, it's this weird little moment in GEES history 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.840 where the outgoing president and CEO were replaced, then they 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:21.560 came back in to replace the incoming president and CEO, 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:23.800 and then they left for the incoming president and CEO, 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:26.359 who were coming back again a few years later. But 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:29.000 all had to do with World War two. Confused, You 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.960 won't be after this episode of tech stuff. Actually, that's 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:36.040 never true. So and so that's that. That's the whole 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:40.520 confusing little moment in GEES executive history. Moving on though, 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:47.040 So in ninety one, transportation strikes again. Well there's yeah, 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:51.160 g E built the I A, which is the very 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:56.520 first United States jet engine i A. Uh. And then 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:02.960 in nineteen forty three ge developed something autopilot. Ah, why 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:06.200 you skip nineteen forty two, which surprised me. Oh, well, 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.440 what was the world world first turboprop? Oh? Yes, yes, yes, 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:13.520 by designed by Sir Frank Whittle. Yeah, I did skip that. 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:18.200 You're right because the Bell xpfte era comet used two 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:22.960 of those engines to be the first American jet ino um, 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:26.080 which they then put on automatic pilot and it crashed 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.840 into a barn. No I'm kidding. Yeah. The autopilot, of 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:33.280 course is setting, which allows a aircraft to continue on 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:39.919 a set course without adjustments. So very helpful, uh feature 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.720 there that g E developed. Uh. And in ninety five 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:47.320 they demonstrated the first commercial, non military use of radar, 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.439 which they used to help vessels navigate through dark conditions 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:53.679 so that they wouldn't bump into stuff as long as 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:57.280 it's not farther than twenty miles away. And also in 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.920 forty five, that's when we now have Wilson and Read 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.560 in places executive leaders for GE. They've they've actually come 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.080 back from the war effort and now they are there 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:12.159 to stay for the rest of their tenure. Uti you 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.280 have the J forty seven, which became the most produced 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:21.440 jet engine in history, uh, five thousand pound thrust um production. 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.800 So you know, powerful engine there. And also that ye're 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:30.840 a GE scientist named Vincent Schaefer developed an interesting technique 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:35.200 for areas that are suffering from drought. Yes, cloud seeding. Yes, 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:38.440 he was the one who figured out that by seeding clouds, 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:42.120 by putting in tiny particles and clouds for water droplets 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.280 to form around, you could make rain. Oh I thought 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:48.960 you could grow sunflowers and clouds. No. No, you must 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:52.480 be playing a super advanced version of plants versus zombies 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:57.320 sky sky plants versus sky plants versus zombies. So yeah, 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:01.680 that that was another interesting development. Forty seven uh G 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:06.280 produces the first two door refrigerator which has a separate 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.639 door for the freezer. Yes, before they had developed the 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:14.080 first hermetically sealed refrigerator, which was a nice invention, this 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:16.720 is an improvement on that technology. He had seven point 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:20.720 five cubic feet. Uh, not big by today's standards, but 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:23.800 you know, it's pretty significant at the time. Yeah. And 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:26.040 also the fact that it had a separate door for 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:28.320 the freezer meant that you didn't have to worry about 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:31.960 defrosting the refrigerator all the time because it had its 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:35.840 own separate compartment. Yes. Yeah, and it's important to note 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.639 to um uh and I this just occurred to me. 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:41.680 This is not something that I found through research. But 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:45.480 we're talking about right after World War Two, which in 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:48.600 America was a time of enormous prosperity. He had a 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:50.399 whole lot of people coming back from the war that 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:58.320 the American UH manufacturing machine was completely geared up. Um. 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:02.600 The Americans produced UH, if you'll pardon the pun, UH 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:06.560 really don't intend it to be boatloads and boatloads of 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:12.399 all kinds of weaponry. Uh. There were huge advancements in technology, 0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:15.560 not just from GE, but from other corporations in the 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:19.240 United States, and so as the UH the men came 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:25.080 home from Europe and the Pacific theaters, UM, they found 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.080 themselves in an opportunity to do to get more stuff 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:31.920 than they had ever had before, all sorts of new things. UM. 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:35.760 So this, these bursts in technology came at a perfect time. 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:38.760 And I'm sure, again this is not based on my reading. 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:41.560 I'm sure that in no small part this caused GE 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:45.240 to grow significantly because they had invested in all these 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:51.280 different areas, especially home appliances, small appliances. UM. I'm sure 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:55.560 they made uh tons and tons of cash simply through 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:59.399 being having it available at the right time, geared up 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:02.840 in the right a. Um. So this this was a 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:06.040 huge time for them. So in introducing U two door 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:08.119 refrigerator freezer that was brand new and that would be 0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:10.600 something that people are gonna want in their homes. They 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:14.159 also introduced now this was for commercial restaurants, not for homes, 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:19.840 but they introduced an electronic oven that was it was 0:22:19.920 --> 0:22:25.240 programmable in a sense and actually made an entire industry possible, 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:28.600 something that maybe we shouldn't thank ge for the fast 0:22:28.640 --> 0:22:33.920 food industry. Yeah, they made custom matching gear all sorts 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:36.000 of different appliances that you would find in a fast 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:39.760 food restaurant, uh, for different types of cooking, toasters and 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:44.280 fryers and all sorts of other stuff. Um and uh yeah, 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:45.960 I mean the fast food and industry really took off 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:48.639 after the war was over as well. Um, So you 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:51.160 could gear up your stuff and have it looked sweet, 0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:53.080 you know, have it all behind the counter where everybody 0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:56.280 could see it. It looked nice. Um. That was that 0:22:56.640 --> 0:23:00.159 you know. It added to the the atmosphere in a 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:04.719 fast food restaurant. Yeah, in nineteen fifty Wilson, as it is, 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:07.239 I was supposed to say, I don't have a lot 0:23:07.240 --> 0:23:09.560 of atmosphere. Most the fast food restaurants have been in 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:11.439 in nineteen But if you you went out, you know, 0:23:11.560 --> 0:23:14.920 for a date or something like that, it would you know, 0:23:15.119 --> 0:23:17.439 I'm learning a lot about Chris on this podcast. In 0:23:17.520 --> 0:23:23.480 nineteen fifty, Charles Wilson steps a complicated guy. Charles Wilson 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:26.080 stepped down as the president in nineteen fifty and Ralph J. 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:29.399 Cordner became the new president of ge UH and in 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:32.280 fifty one they developed the company developed the J seven 0:23:32.359 --> 0:23:36.520 nine military jet engine and very popular military jetting. I 0:23:36.520 --> 0:23:38.920 like the story that that was on the g S 0:23:38.960 --> 0:23:42.960 website about how when the engineers were testing the engine, 0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:45.720 they thought that their instruments must have been broken because 0:23:45.760 --> 0:23:48.560 the efficiency levels were way higher than they expected them 0:23:48.560 --> 0:23:51.719 to be. Like, that's not gonna work this this this 0:23:51.880 --> 0:23:54.159 meter is broken. Go give me a new one. Uh. 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:58.680 In nineteen fifty two, I think the gate is broken. Yeah, sir, sir, 0:23:58.760 --> 0:24:01.600 you've switched off your targeting COMPU or nineteen fifty two, 0:24:01.800 --> 0:24:06.040