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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1960)
1 lUUSTJUTIO .if -si - "V r s . k a? - O TTIK1E by DR. de FOREST as told to Alfred Balk RACK The Father of Radio" looks to the Dr. Lee de Forest, often referred to as "The Father of Radio," is one of the United States' most famous scientists. In 1906, 11 years after Marconi introduced wireless telegraphy, de Forest devised the audion tube, which made transmission of the voice possible. Now retired and living in Hollywood, Calif., he made the survey which resulted in the accompany ing exclusive forecast for Family Weekly. A half-century ago, after my introduction of the . audion tube, a professor and I began speculating on what the world of the future would be like. I won't recall our ideas, for time has proved us quite unimaginative. I, for one, never foresaw that radio, which the audion tube made possible, would evolve into the force it did and lead to television. Yes, science seems to move so fast nowadays it even surprises scientists. In 1951, one of my col leagues, Brig. Gen. David Sarnoff, asked research ers for three "gifts" for his 50th anniversary in elec tronics, then five years off. The developments were major ones a magnetic tape recorder for black-and-white TV, an electronic air conditioner with no moving parts, and an electronic amplifier of light but five years later they were realities. More and more, such research "miracles" have become commonplace, and from what scientists in many fields have told me, we will see the world of tomorrow sooner than we think. Before this cen tury has ended, for example, it seems to me these "dreams" will be realities: Space Exploration Men will have orbited around the earth and moon many times over. Space platforms outside the earth's atmosphere will be in use as relay stations. We will have landed on the moon and established a base there. Instrument-equipped missiles will be fired millions of miles into space, and will return to earth with data on the planets and other bodies of our solar system. Communication You will have portable telephones no larger than a king-size cigarette pack (transistor radios of that size already are being built) . Walking down a street in Boston, you can call your family at home, or phone a friend in Los Angeles or even abroad. A miniature TV. screen will let you see the per son you are phoning. (By accepting a less-detailed image than that of home TV, we already can send such pictures over telephone wires and narrow radio bands.) You can also see items you may be considering for purchase, from small products to pieces of real estate. When you phone a foreign country, electronic translating equipment, built on the principle of today's computers, will translate your conversa tion instantaneously. If, for example, you are call ing Japan, answers will come back translated from Japanese. World-wide television, both color and black-and-white, will be common. Atmospheric disturbances never will disrupt it; relays will be possible through communications satellites or use of the atmospheric "scatter effect" which reflects some TV waves over phenomenal distances even now. Miniature TV sets, completely portable, and flat surface sets hung like pictures on your wall will be old-hat Transportation Cars will have "automatic pilots." After enter ing an expressway, you can relax and ride an in visible beam. It will keep your car at a safe dis tance from other autos, and radar automatically will apply your brakes as required. Passenger - carrying helicopters helibuses will take you up and over congestion, turning the sky into radar-controlled, multilevel highways which, incidentally, will be much less costly than those on the ground. Inexpensive private, airplanes equipped for vertical take-off and landing also will fill the air. Atomic-powered missiles will carry freight and mail between cities and continents within min utes. Jets and missiles will be commonplace for passenger flights. Downtown streets will have moving conveyor type sidewalks. They will carry you from one store or office to another as you sit on a portable golf type stool if you like. Light Electroluminescence, or "cold light," will revolu tionize the appearance of homes, industries, and entire cities. With no heat, shadow, or glare, this lovely "glow" will usher in a new era of comfort and safety in individual rooms, at airports, and on high ways. A touch of a button will permit changes of color nuances for entire wall panels. Power Nuclear energy will be a practical power source for industry, autos, ships, missiles, trains, and planes. One "shot" of atomic fuel will last years, even decades. A single atomic battery will produce all the electricity needed for years in homes or fac tories in isolated regions. Devices which will catch and store energy from 4 Family Weekly, January 17, 1960
