"World's First Color TV"

[Tom Albrecht]

Just read this this morning in an article about Toshiba's current financial challenges:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/21/inve...d=hp-stack-dom

Originally Posted by CNN Money

Toshiba was founded in 1875, and made a name for itself introducing technological advancements in Japan from electric washing machines to refrigerators, and later, the world's first color TV.

Huh?

[dieseljeep]

[QUOTE=Tom Albrecht;3151907]Just read this this morning in an article about Toshiba's current financial challenges:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/21/inve...d=hp-stack-dom
The article was probably written by a 20 something journalist. It was possibly the first color set built in Japan.
But that wouldn't be correct, either.

[bgadow]

What bothers me most is that others will read that as gospel and it will get repeated and repeated.

[Findm-Keepm]

Maybe submit the article/page to snopes? They clear up a lot of BS....

[Electronic M]

The link don't work for me....404 error. (EDIT: Now the link works.)
While IMO there are much worse news sources than CNN, I'm not surprised to see this level of "journalism" from them or most other main-stream news outlets these days....Journalism ain't what it used to be.

[Tom Albrecht]

Here's the full article that was on CNN Money today for those that can no longer link to it. Hate to see this kind of historical misinformation out there from a widely accepted source. In the late 40s and early 50s when CBS and RCA were busy actually demonstrating the first color TVs, I wonder if Toshiba had even made a black and white set yet?

---------------------------

Toshiba expects to post a $4.5 billion loss this year as it deals with the aftermath of a massive accounting scandal.

The estimated loss is significantly higher than analysts had expected, and is six times more than the 90.5 billion yen ($734 million) loss it posted for the first half of the year.

Some of the losses are associated with a huge restructuring plan Toshiba announced Monday. The company will cut about 6,800 jobs in its consumer electronics divisions by the end of March, and another 1,000 employees at its headquarters, according to company statements released after markets closed in Tokyo.

Toshiba will also shutter its audio-visual business in all countries except Japan, and instead focus on licensing its brand in foreign markets. The $4.5 billion annual loss will result from restructuring costs, poor performance from the company's energy and electronic devices divisions and income tax payments.

Toshiba shares plunged 10% Monday in anticipation of the reorganization.

Toshiba has been struggling to recover from an accounting scandal that resulted in inflated profits. Shares of the company have fallen 50% this year, as the scale of the problem has continued to grow, forcing CEO Hisao Tanaka to resign in July.

Related: Toshiba CEO resigns over $1.2 billion accounting scandal

Other executives have also stepped down, and Toshiba has corrected its earnings statements from previous years. The headache started in April, when Toshiba itself began investigating accounting practices in its energy division.

"The scandal has just sped up the entire process of restructuring, and it's adding a sense of urgency," said Bernstein analyst Michael Miles.

Toshiba was founded in 1875, and made a name for itself introducing technological advancements in Japan from electric washing machines to refrigerators, and later, the world's first color TV. Today, the company has expanded from consumer electronics to include a diverse range of products from nuclear power to medical equipment.

Miles said there could still be additional "skeletons in the closet" at Toshiba.

"It just keeps coming, and there is still a lot to do -- it's a very opaque company," he said of the accounting scandal.

Related: Toshiba's interim CEO to take 90% pay cut

CNNMoney (Hong Kong)
First published December 21, 2015: 2:56 AM ET

[Tom Albrecht]

Here's what Toshiba says about their own history on their website: http://us.toshiba.com/history-of-innovation

------------------------------------

We rank high on the list of Firsts

When you spend as much on R & D as Toshiba, you’re bound to set all kinds of records. And so we have. Not to brag, but since our bright beginnings over 135 years ago we’ve brought out innovative new technologies year after year.

Along with the world’s first mass market laptop computer, we also debuted the first color TV with black stripe-type cathode-ray tubes back in 1972. Later came the first wireless laptop to let you expand your computing beyond four walls with email and the Internet, followed by the world’s thinnest widescreen 12.1” laptop with a built-in optical drive to help you travel lighter. We’ve unwrapped many other originals, too—like the first DVD drive and color monitor in a laptop, plus the first 4-in-1 audio video laptop, just to name a few.

---------------------------------------

All you have to do to get to CNN's incorrect statement is fail to understand that "the first color TV with black stripe CRT" is not quite the same as "the first color TV." And it would certainly help if you were not yet born in 1972!

[old_tv_nut]

Also on the Toshiba site:

In the 30’s they [the founders] introduced the first electric washing machines and refrigerators in Japan, later the world’s first color video phone, color TV with black stripe-type cathode-ray tubes, plus a lot more.

[Sandy G]

That's where the "Hook" comes in-the black stripe CRTs. THAT'S likely true, but its still misleading. As my English neighbor would have said, "Bloody Nips !"

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

The link don't work for me....404 error.
While IMO there are much worse news sources than CNN, I'm not surprised to see this level of "journalism" from them or most other main-stream news outlets these days....Journalism ain't what it used to be.

I agree, Tom. I don't get CNN anymore (downgraded my cable service recently), but I do watch NBC Nightly News most nights and have found the same thing--that television journalism, like everything else, is nothing like what it once was. Local TV news, and to a certain extent the nightly newscasts from the major networks (especially NBC), often does not check to be sure they have the facts on a given story, and the English grammar used by the assignment reporters and anchors is less than polished these days; today's local and national TV newscasters are not of the same caliber as Chet Huntley and David Brinkley (NBC, 1956-1970), Walter Cronkite (CBS, '50s-early '90s) and whomever anchored ABC world news at that time (I do not watch ABC news often enough to know much about the quality, or lack of it, of their nightly newscast). Today's local and national TV news is formatted, written and produced on strict deadlines, which means if there are any mistakes (and there are, all too often), they are usually not corrected before air time. Television news anchors or field reporters are not permitted to ad-lib or change the wording of news stories; they read those stories as they are written, mistakes and all.

NBC's news is consistently #3 (excluding Fox) in the ratings, quite possibly due to the foregoing. I hate to say it, but the network may find itself out of the broadcast TV news business before long if they do not shape up--and soon. Today's local and national anchors may not be as good as H/B or Cronkite were, but that is no excuse for the slipshod manner in which most newscasts go out over the networks and local stations in this century. The American people deserve to see and hear quality newscasts on television from the local stations and networks, but I don't think we are going to see anything even close to that any time soon.

[Geoff Bourquin]

Jut tried the link and it works here. (10:50PM Dec 22 pacific time). Still says Toshiba made the first color TV.

[Tom9589]

Most likely, the person writing the CNN script either 1) didn't understand the significance of the black striped CRT or 2) thought their audience wouldn't understand what was a black striped CRT.

Either way it's sloppy journalism.

General Sarnoff probably would have sued them for that mistake.

[sampson159]

again,nothing more than an opinion piece.in journalism,there is no real truth,they all have certain agendas they are trying to push.i watch all news from time to time and find i may get the truth somewhere between them all.the local networks here in columbus are very far left.fox news is the only network here that reports usually unbiased.before i get a barrage of hate mail,as i said,here in columbus.was once a witness to a crime and had to testify in court.the news reported the crime with a slant that made the purpetraitor look like a victim."he came from a fatherless home,was a good son and fsather,trying to get his life together,etc,etc,etc".sickening!anyway,toshiba did not produce the first color tv.they introduced the blackstripe crt back in 1972.it was theirs.this would be like zenith making the first chromacolor crt.of course they did.it was their design.journalist!educated idiots,conmen and liars.

[Carmine]

Originally Posted by Tom9589

Most likely, the person writing the CNN script either 1) didn't understand the significance of the black striped CRT or 2) thought their audience wouldn't understand what was a black striped CRT.

Either way it's sloppy journalism.

General Sarnoff probably would have sued them for that mistake.

David Sarnoff was so far up their a$$, helping them dump TV sets into the US market that I doubt he'd have noticed.

[David Roper]

It's true that journalism isn't what it used to be. But in a piece such as this it's absurd to ascribe the mistake to anything but ignorance on the part of the writer. This is a pretty specialized interest, so don't expect pieces about TV history that aren't written by TV historians to be exhaustively researched. So this is obviously not a product of any kind of bias. As briefly and vaguely as I can, I'll say that we are definitely worse off for not having a Walter Cronkite or even a John Daly figure in today's media whose sole apparent bias was factual reporting. Many of those who complain about biased reporting really just want reporting with a bias which matches their own--which is ironic considering how much easier that is to find today than it was in Uncle Walter's day.