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RCA tried to duplicate Bell Labs' success and it arguably bankrupted the company.

• OutOfHere 1y ago
  I suspect the MBAs contribute in no small part to the bankruptcy.
• whiplash451 1y ago
  Out of curiosity: is there a write up about this?
  • MrRadar 1y ago
    The Technology Connections video series on RCA's Selectavision CED home video system touches on this quite a lot (it was a horribly mismanaged project which took more than a decade to commercialize, by which time it had already been superceded by VHS/Betamax and Laserdisc)[1]. His main source for the information on the development of the CED system was the book "The Business of Research: RCA and the VideoDisc" by Margaret B. W. Graham. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnpX8d8zRIA&list=PLv0jwu7G_DFVP0SGNlBiBtFVkV5LZ7SOU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnpX8d8zRIA&list=PLv0jwu7G_D...
• Animats 1y ago
  RCA's Sarnoff Labs produced the image orthicon, NTSC color TV, an early videotape system, an early flat-panel-display, and lots of vacuum tube innovations.[1] The big business mistakes were in the 1970s, when RCA tried to become a diversified conglomerate. At one point they owned Hertz Rent-A-Car and Banquet TV dinners.[2] [1] https://eyesofageneration.com/rca-sarnoff-library-photo-archives/ https://eyesofageneration.com/rca-sarnoff-library-photo-arch... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA
  • sidewndr46 1y ago
    This seems to be the fate of many companies. Rockwell at one point somehow was producing the space shuttle while also having a division that made automotive components.