Monday, October 19, 2020
Atwater's backwater
An odd backwater of radio, closely related to courseware.
Radio and TV have always tried to serve classroom education. Several stations based at colleges started early, with K-State among the first. These efforts** didn't last long; commercial stations and networks actually did a better and more permanent job, because FCC required them to do a good job. Syndicated programs did the best job of all, creating experiences and teamwork with a purpose.
Here's a side of educational radio I hadn't noticed before. A few companies, notably Atwater Kent, made specialized equipment for school listening.
The switchboard is most interesting, but the book doesn't describe it beyond the caption. I suppose it just connects a speaker in each classroom to the central receiver.
The large consoles had a standard Atwater Kent radio plus a phonograph plus some kind of switchboard and PA system. Each console involved fine custom woodwork, so this product line couldn't have been a 'cash cow' for Atwater.
Atwater Kent was a BIG company that specialized in mass-producing one standard radio in a variety of cabinets. It failed immediately after 1929 because it hadn't devoted much attention to other ways of using its skills and factory. If it had put more attention into sidelines like school equipment (a government job!) it might have survived on a smaller scale. The history of US electronics has a single arrow, pointing steadily toward government jobs. Every currently successful company is making military equipment or running Deepstate surveillance. All consumer products were offshored to Japan in the '60s, then later to China.
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** College-based stations were mainly designed to train the college students in the techniques of broadcasting. So they preferred to focus on the more typical parts of broadcasting like drama and news and music.
The switchboard is most interesting, but the book doesn't describe it beyond the caption. I suppose it just connects a speaker in each classroom to the central receiver.
The large consoles had a standard Atwater Kent radio plus a phonograph plus some kind of switchboard and PA system. Each console involved fine custom woodwork, so this product line couldn't have been a 'cash cow' for Atwater.
Atwater Kent was a BIG company that specialized in mass-producing one standard radio in a variety of cabinets. It failed immediately after 1929 because it hadn't devoted much attention to other ways of using its skills and factory. If it had put more attention into sidelines like school equipment (a government job!) it might have survived on a smaller scale. The history of US electronics has a single arrow, pointing steadily toward government jobs. Every currently successful company is making military equipment or running Deepstate surveillance. All consumer products were offshored to Japan in the '60s, then later to China.
= = = = =
** College-based stations were mainly designed to train the college students in the techniques of broadcasting. So they preferred to focus on the more typical parts of broadcasting like drama and news and music.Labels: Experiential education, skill-estate
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