Woman who helped invent television appears on old nemesis

[WA3VJB]

picked this up from a broadcasting blog www.dcrtv.com

Pem Farnsworth, 98, the woman who helped her husband Philo invent electronic television in 1927, is still very much alive and will be featured on Monday's (3/13) NBC Today show, according to a news release from Philo's biographer

I'm related by marriage to the Farnsworth tree, and have enjoyed the research and archival documentation of Philo and Pem. They were a power couple of the era, for sure.

Her appearance Monday on N B C has a sub-text to it that I am sure is not lost on her or the family.

From: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.04/farnsworth_pr.html

“We could have sued his pants off,” said Pem Farnsworth, referring to RCA executive kingpin David Sarnoff.

As a boy, Philo Farnsworth saw television in the parallel furrows of his father's potato field. His epiphany: Images could be scanned line by line.

On September 3, 1928, a photograph of him appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle alongside bold type hailing the "young genius" who was "quietly working away in his San Francisco laboratory" on his "revolutionary light machine."

To Sarnoff, it must have seemed far-fetched that some kid from California, working independently, would be anywhere near getting so complex an invention to a commercial stage. Still, he worried that a breakthrough in visual broadcasting would disrupt the market for radio. Under Sarnoff, RCA hired the best scientists and engineers, bought out their patent rights, and controlled the terms of licensing to the rest of the industry. Legally, no one could build a radio without a license from RCA, and no radio could be sold without a royalty flowing back to the company. Shares in RCA became the single hottest stock in the wildly euphoric market of the late 1920s. RCA's fierce radio monopoly also drew steady fire from members of Congress and the Justice Department.

After reading about Farnsworth, Sarnoff wasted little time launching a public relations offensive. He crafted a detailed essay on the state of television, stressing two points: that the new technology was nowhere near ready for the public, and that when it was, RCA would be the leader in bringing it to market.

[WA1GFZ]

Gates must have studied Sarnoff
Cool on the relation Paul!
Very cool on the field rows great thinking.

[WA3VJB]

Yes there have been many references that compare the RCA empire to what Billy Gates has done in modern times.

A couple of differences in the years between however -- the substantial body of anti-trust litigation and court rulings in the time since RCA, including the breakup of the Bell System.

On the other hand, Billy's technological empire is configured to a degree of sophistication that the courts could not easily confirm or dispute during such litigation.

Look at the Blackberry litigation the past few months. And the little guy who invented the time-delay windshield wiper.

Yeah, if you've got the time to really read the material that picks apart such conflict, it is a fascinating read.

In poor Philo's case, he died in 1971, same year as Sarnoff, but with a dramatic contrast in how history has recorded their accomplishments.

Lest I start sounding like Jack, WA8AHB and Tesla, I'd better close here...

[W9GT]

Very Interesting Paul!  I had no idea that you were related to the Farnsworths.  I grew up only a few blocks away from where Philo lived in Fort Wayne.  He was truely
a remarkable man and was sadly ripped-off by the RCA empire.  There are those who believe that Sarnoff & Co. invented TV, but a little reasonable research will counter that with the amazing accomplishments of Phil T. Farnsworth, a true American hero. 
I wrote a little piece about one of my boyhood chance encounters with some of Farnsworth's work for Electric Radio magazine several years ago....will have to look and see which issue.  Even though I lived near him, I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I have long respected his accomplishments.  Pem also lived here in Ft Wayne after Philo's death, I think she still does!  She was a great contributor to his successes.  There are a couple of books on their experiences, including one written by Pem.  I suppose you know about them.  Fascinating reading...but very sad and eye opening as to the real story behind all the hype and treachery of Sarnoff and RCA.

73,  Jack, W9GT

[KB2WIG]

                         "Gates must have studied Sarnoff."

   Where is RCA now???                                 klc

[WA3VJB]

Oh yeah, Jack, she was not only a contributor, she was a co-inventor as far as he was concerned. Think of how progressive his train of thought must have seemed, to hold his wife at lateral value to his career in the era when women were domesticated creatures, who were valued primarily for child-rearing, hearth and homemaking.

Old Philo passed away 35 years ago tomorrow, March 11 (day before my birthday, well hey!)
He was born a hundred years ago in August.

I'm glad his old lady still carries the torch as well as she does.
Hope I can get to 100 that sort of way too, I sure plan on it.
And to think I'm only about halfway there ....

[WA1GFZ]

Hey Paul Happy Birthday, Same day as a old neighborhood friend and had 2 others on 3/18...I'm on 3/22

[Bacon, WA3WDR]

Gates may have imitated Sarnoff, and Sarnoff may have imitated Edison.  Just ask Tesla.

I can't find it now, but I remember a story about some engineer who got pneumonia in the 40s, before penicillin.  It was going to be a long, hard road to recovery.  So his wife said "Get to work on that invention of yours."  And he proceeded to work out the fundamental design of a good tri-color kinescope.  Then the wife, I think, got him together with a good attorney, and they made a bullet-proof patent.  Sarnoff and RCA fought hard, in their classic fashion, but in the end they had to pay to use the design.

I think I would have remembered the name of Philo Farnsworth, so I don't think it was him.  But I forget who it was.

[K6JEK]

Wikipedia makes no mention of Philo Farnsworth in its article about the invention of TV  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_television.  It goes on at length about Baird who got a mechanical TV working in some fashion but doesn't even list Mr Farnsworth in its list of important contributors.  If anyone is so inclined, you can add to and correct Wikipedia entries.

Just to see if Wikipedia always gets it wrong I searched for "inventor of object oriented languages", something I know a little about.  To my surprise and delight up popped Kristen Nygaard (Simula), not Alan Kay (Smalltalk).  I had to scrouge a bit, but Ivan Sutherland showed up too for Sketchpad which predated even Nygaard's work.  Wikipedia got this one right.

[WA3VJB]

Wikipedia isn't worth the time.

I wrote what I considered a nice segment on vintage radio for the ham radio entry, and it was deleted by people who felt the material didn't fit. Yet other specialties in the hobby remained on there?

Write something on Philo for them?

I don't think so !

[k4kyv]

Not only did Sarnoff bully Farnsworth with the visual element of TV, he screwed Edwin H. Armstrong over the audio side of the TV signal as well.

By the end of World War II, FM had been proven. Much to the disgust of RCA's David Sarnoff. "I thought Armstrong would invent some kind of a filter to remove static from our AM radio. I didn't think he'd start a revolution -- start up a whole damn new industry to compete with RCA." Furthermore, FM was a distraction. Sarnoff wanted RCA to put its resources into the development of television, which was taking up huge chunks of RCA's working capital. "A new kind of radio," said Sarnoff, "is like a new kind of mouse trap. The world doesn't need another mousetrap."

The legal battle with Sarnoff over FM drove Armstrong to suicide in 1954.

Thus, RCA's claim on both the video and audio portions of a TV signal were equally fraudulent.

http://www.wsone.com/fecha/armstrong.htm

[WA3VJB]

Pem Farnsworth passed away early yesterday (04/27) in Salt Lake City. She met Philo Farnsworth during her sophomore year in high school. They were engaged on her birthday in February 1926 and
married three months later.

Obit here:
http://farnovision.com

More here:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635203306,00.html

[W9GT]

I'm so sorry to hear of Pem's passing.  She certainly had a fantastic life and undoubtedly was a major contributor to Philo's work in inventing electronic television.

73,  Jack, W9GT