Philo T. Who???

Thomas Edison. Alexander Graham Bell. Philo T. Farnsworth? We all know who Edison and Bell are, but Farnsworth? Philo Farnsworth was a farm boy, a Mormon, and the inventor of the electronic television. If Farnsworth invented the television, then why is he not a well known figure in American history?

Growing up, Farnsworth had a curious mind, especially about projecting images using electrons. He dreamed of a tube that would turn a picture into electrons and then back into a picture to be displayed. Before he was 20 years-old, he was already immersed in created the first television, with economic support from local businessmen. However, during this time period, RCA (the corporation that owned rights to radio at the time) was also trying to create the first electronic television. With a major corporation competing with Farnsworth to create the first television and obtain a patent, the race was on.

When discussing the dominant and subordinate groups in the Farnsworth vs. RCA television race, it is clear that RCA was the dominant group. The corporation had money, power, and the respect from every major company. Farnsworth was subordinate because of the lack of money and support. At one point, RCA even sent a representative to Farnsworth’s laboratory in San Francisco, and copied the blueprints from Farnsworth’s work. RCA clearly took advantage of Farnsworth because they felt dominate to him. When Farnsworth finally developed the first working electronic television and got the patents, RCA offered him $100,000 for the patents but it was refused. Because the corporation had the money, they were able to make the offer and attempt to steal Farnsworth’s work.

Farnsworth eventually began to suffer from depression and alcoholism because of the stress that RCA imposed onto him. How did a gentle, farm boy become a completely different person? It was because RCA exploited him because of their dominate status. Philo Farnsworth’s story shows subordinate groups can be destroyed by dominate groups, Now we can understand why no one knows the name Philo T. Farnsworth; because he was not powerful, wealthy, or dominate enough to compete against a major corporation’s exploitation.