"PTF Talk at Manchester College" Fall 1960 Side 1, 1960

Item — track: 1

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Philo and his wife went from Hollywood to San Francisco, and the Crocker Bank agreed to put up $25000 in addition to the $8000 dollars they had already invested.
His brother in law worked as his lab assistant.
They were able to find a scientist from Cal who could blow the glass tube they needed.
Philo says that it took approximately six months to get the lab set up.
After eighteen months, he says that they could see a distinguishable picture on the screen.
Early on, there was no competition and the competition that came to exist wasn't necessarily designed in the same way and didn't work as well.
In 1932 the first commercial message sent using his tube by the Institute of Radio Engineers in San Francisco.
Many people began to visit as it became more and more clear that his version of the television would actually work.
They applied for 35 patents the first year, and again about that many the second year.
He built the first electron microscope in 1927, and then a field emission ion microscope.
By 1932 Philo felt that the picture quality was pretty good. He felt that the television helped to pull the United States out of the great depression, as did Dr. Tethering of General Motors.
In 1934 he went to the Franklin Institute to demonstrate the television, which was a 15 inch tube. 500 people at a time came to watch the demonstration and this continued from 11 am to 11 pm each day every twenty minutes for three weeks.
They were going to sell an interest to United Artists, but when they were going to demonstrate the capabilities of the television it didn't work very well. They managed to fix it, but the deal fell through when the attorney in charge of the deal was found to be taking bribes.
By 1934 Philco and the American Telephone Telegraph Company as well as a German and British company were licensed to use his technology. He then discusses how the technology actually works. He holds 165 American patents and 140 foreign patents.
He talks about the implications of national and international television and its possible impact on the world. He also discusses the changing technology in color, number of stations, etc.
He launches into a longer dialogue about Russia, home improvements, bomb shelters, and more.

Dates

1960

Language of Materials

From the Collection: Collection material in English.

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