[GreenKeys] Bell Labs - Science and Innovation

[COURYHOUSE at aol.com]

Don -   good explanation!   - 
 
I recommend that everyone   look  though the Bell system  technical 
journals to see that  BTL  touched EVEY aspect of  our  lives...
 
 
Bell Labs  did a lot of government connected  work I have   boxes of  
reports  Bob Ryder did in relationship to  semiconductors  for them..
 
I have transistors that were  brought to BTL  from the USSR   by the CIA in 
the old  days...   there  were 3    one  was  autopsied according to James  
Early  to  see  what  levels of manufacturing they were involved in...  
there were  large horsey cased devices... funny...
 
Also one of the  early books  on the transistor  was also  produced under 
government contract... 
 
Government was very interested in the transistor... and also interested in  
seeing it  being  made and improved upon  buy more than just bell  and 
pushed  for  open manufacturing...
 
Read  Morgan McMahon's accounting of that 1951 symposium that if you  chose 
to spend even more than the $25,000 meeting entry fee... you would be  
licensed to manufacture the transistor.
_http://www.smecc.org/attending_the_1951_symposium.htm_ 
(http://www.smecc.org/attending_the_1951_symposium.htm) 
 
McMahon was to take information back to Hughes... who did license...  read  
this  below...
_http://www.smecc.org/duplicating_ma_bell%27s_cooking.htm_ 
(http://www.smecc.org/duplicating_ma_bell's_cooking.htm) 
. 
 
by the  way James Early just was  inducted into Electronic  Designs hall of 
fame... see this article and I got to say a few things in  it  also. 
_http://electronicdesign.com/article/analog-and-mixed-signal/James-Early-Tra
nsistor-Wizard-s-Name-Conjures-Engineering-Magic.aspx_ 
(http://electronicdesign.com/article/analog-and-mixed-signal/James-Early-Transistor-Wizard-s-Name
-Conjures-Engineering-Magic.aspx) 

 
In a message dated 2/28/2012 11:54:39 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,  
k9tty at dls.net writes:

Larry  DeSoto has come close to reality.

Bell Labs was part of the Bell System  but so was Teletype Corporation.
Both of these so-called subsidiaries  operated as independent companies.

This arrangement allowed for much  simpler accounting and customer focus.
Similarly Western Electric was  funded by it's customers, not just by  
telephone bills.
One former  Bell entity that still comes close to it's original purpose  
is  Sandia Labs.

A major portion of the systems on our U.S. Navy P2V  Neptune was  
developed
by Bell Labs and manufactured by Western  Electric.  These two companies
also supported the submarine service  and the monitoring of most of the  
oceans
and seas in the  world.

The bottom line here is that the cost of the telephone call did  not  
pay for most
of the important work of Bell Labs.  You  have to include the DOD,  
NASA, CIA,
NSA and others who paid their  share.

It is also interesting to note that by January of 1983, over  70  
percent of equipment
purchased by Illinois Bell, then the  largest revenue generator in the  
Bell System,
was purchased from  companies other than Western Electric. We pretty  
much used
WECo  for stocking, distribution and repair of older systems.  WECo   
also had much
expertise in installation and maintenance.

After  divestiture expertise was thrown out the window and the lowest   
bidder or a
minority contractor had to be selected for installation  and  
maintenance.  This led
to doubling the technical support  forces within the operating  
companies and also
led to the major  central office fire at the Hinsdale, Illinois toll   
center.

Bell Labs was a real bargain when you remember the pure  science and  
ultimate
discoveries made at the Labs.  A good  book is Bell Labs... Life in the  
Crown Jewel.

I was part of  the Bell System and am very proud of my Bell service,  
second
only  to my service to our country in the U.S. Navy.

Don R  House
Communications Serviceman - Special Services
Data Test Center  Foreman
Special Service Circuit Designer
Data Transmission  Engineer
Network Systems Engineer
Senior Technical Manager
Senior  Member Technical Staff
Now  Retired...


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