Retro Tech Tuesday: Telefunken Tubes!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 7:01AM A brief history to make sure we're all on the same page. Today's electronics rely heavily on microchips. Before that, it was mainly solid state transistors that kept TVs and radios humming. Going back further you had the wonderful world of vacuum tubes.
Somewhat similar in appearance to a lightbulb, tubes would need to be replaced when they would blow out. Which meant buying new tubes. Which meant tube manufacturers had to reach potential customers, and what better way than an odd (and possibly racist) animated ad, showing just how much better musical notes are treated when you choose Telefunken tubes.
The company, which still exists in some form today, was a German electronics powerhouse, founded in 1903. This ad dates from the 1950's. In this age of non-user serviceable parts, we will probably never see a similar ad for an iPhone battery replacement, or hard drive upgrade. The good old days...