Show threadLazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈Jun 3

@fabio this really does explain the decline of progress since I've been alive, and what is called 'progress' now is just endless grift, a grift most people are getting wise to now.

The end of Bell Labs was the end of the lot of things....

Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKJun 3
@Lazarou @fabio British Telecom also had a similar research lab on a smaller scale just up the road from where I live (TBH it still exists, but is now a shadow of its former self, parts have been sold off to "startup" companies, Huawei bought a large portion of it (to the point the govt is now paranoid and regretting this because a whole load of telecoms infrastructure is now run by the Chinese) and its mostly empty other than odd surveillance projects carried out for GCHQ etc and monitoring social media traffic for the authorities as well as cyberthreats..
Show threadWillemJun 4
@vfrmedia @Lazarou @fabio Philips had its NAT Lab in the Netherlands. Also very productive, but does not exist anymore. ASML seems to try it again with another lab.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK

@fabio @Lazarou @wvlith

I think Philips today just sub contracts a lot of its (ready built) products to other companies in Asia although it was already doing the same in the 1980s (for instance all the small audio electronics was often made by Sanyo).

Their inspection lamps (for vehicle maintenance) look aesthetically pleasing, but I can't see how they are that much better than the cheaper Chinese ones I already own..

Jun 4 at 6:23pmWeb
Show threadMariusJun 6

@vfrmedia @fabio @Lazarou @wvlith

Much stronger than that. Philips Consumer Products was sold years ago to a Chinese PE company. They lease the brand name from the original Philips company, who only make medical devices nowadays. And shavers, for some reason.

Show threadElrick_WinterJun 7
@Zamfr @vfrmedia @fabio @Lazarou @wvlith The shavers are likely very profitable. Their shavers are good, but really, really, really expensive. Most of the "innovation" in that market is hype anyway.
Show threadMariusJun 8

@Elrick_Winter @vfrmedia @fabio @Lazarou @wvlith

Then again, they could get a good price for a profitable business. For the last decades, their strategy was to sell business parts and use that money to buy medical-electronic firms.

I think the theory is that shavers, tooth brushes etc. are somehow medically-adjacent

Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKJun 8

@Zamfr @Elrick_Winter @fabio @Lazarou @wvlith

They are classed as health/personal care items (which Phillips have made for decades and they seem to be concentrating their efforts on healthcare related items these days)