[ARC5] deathwatch for radio shack?

[Robert Nickels]

On 9/25/2014 5:18 PM, Joe Connor wrote:
>  I didn't think the Predicta sold well. Wasn't Philco forced to dump a 
> pile of Predictas (at a big loss) to a major motel chain? Didn't the 
> poor sales drive Philco into bankruptcy?

I don't know if that is true or not;  you'd have to take a deeper dive 
into Philco history than I have time or interest to do to prove it.   
But it sounds like someone is confusing "coincidence" with "causation" 
to me - if the Predicta hadn't sold well, why are there so many around 
yet today?    I see far more Predictas than any other single brand or 
model of vintage TV at swapfests, so someone must have liked and bought 
them.

I can think of a number of factors that might also have contributed to 
Philco's demise - such as their significant investment in transistors 
and transistorized products that were unable to compete price-wise vs. 
tubes at that time, the company's venture into computers, and their role 
in the early space program - all of which are cash-hungry endeavors.    
I worked  on a project for the successor to Philco in the 70s  
(Aeronutronic Ford) which was a major supplier of communications and the 
control consoles for the Manned Spaceflight Center in Houston.  My stuff 
was part of the Apollo-Soyuz mission and they were as good to work with 
as any of the aero-defense contractors.   Space Systems/Loral is the 
surviving remnant today.

A poster on one of the vintage television websites seems to have 
captured it well in saying: "Like all businesses, many factors go into 
the Philco Corporate history. Its overall management philosophy worked 
well in the early years, but failed as it expanded into fields beyond 
consumer products."

I suspect the advent of color TV had a major impact.  After Philco had 
already invested millions of R&D dollars in the development of its 
innovative "Apple" CRT tube through the 50s,  the company was unable to 
come up with the cash to put it into production and was under threat of 
lawsuit for patent infringement by RCA.     The Apple tube and receiver 
is extensively documented here:
http://www.myvintagetv.com/philco_apple_tube.htm

73, Bob W9RAN