News

At this year's recent CES in Las Vegas, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced the first 50 inductees into its Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame, chosen from the nominees by a panel of 11 media and industry professionals.

Gary Shapiro, CEA president, states that "this is one of the rare occasions that the industry gets to commemorate the technological advancements it has provided and . . . to reflect back on the accomplishments of our industry and pay tribute to those individuals who have paved the way for today's workstyle and lifestyle products. Individually, and in some cases together, they made significant contributions to the development of all consumer electronics products. Without their creations, the world would be a very different place."

Several of the inductees who may be of interest to audio fans are listed below. A complete list of inductees and their profiles can be viewed online at www.CESweb.org and www.CE.org.

• Benjamin Abrams, founder of Emerson Radio and Phonograph Corp.
• Robert Adler, inventor of the remote control
• Edwin Armstrong, creator of FM radio
• William Balderston, former president, Philco Corp., and leader in developing car radio
• John Bardeen, co-inventor of the transistor
• Walter Brattain, co-inventor of the transistor
• Karl Ferdinand Braun, inventor of the oscillograph
• Powell Crosley, Jr., first mass-market radio
• Lee DeForest, vacuum tube development
• Ray Dolby, founder and chairman of Dolby Laboratories Inc.
• Thomas Edison, developer of the light bulb, storage battery, and phonograph
• Carl Eilers, developer of stereo FM and stereo TV
• Reginald Fessenden, developer of radio broadcasting
• Avery Fisher, inventor of the transistorized amplifier and combination stereo radio/phonograph
• Paul Galvin, founder of Motorola, mass-produced car radio
• Peter Goldmark, inventor of the 33rpm vinyl LP record and the first color TV system
• Dr. Sidney Harman, developer of the first receiver
• Heinrich Hertz, first to demonstrate the production and detection of Maxwell's waves
• Eldridge Johnson, founder and president of The Victor Talking Machine Co.
• Jack Kilby, co-inventor of the integrated circuit
• Henry Kloss, co-developer of the acoustic suspension speaker and large-screen projection TV
• John Koss, Sr., designer of the first commercial headphones
• James B. Lansing, speaker technology
• Saul Marantz, pioneer in high-fidelity music systems
• Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of wireless telegraphy
• Commander Eugene F. McDonald, founder of Zenith Radio Corp.
• Vlademar Poulsen, inventor of telegraphone wire-recording device
• Hermon Scott, founder of H.H. Scott Co.
• Nikola Tesla, pioneer in electric power, invented the electro-magnetic motor