Introduction
We tend to think of inventing as a process that culminates in clear-cut change. Bell had never been able to speak to Watson by telephone, and then one day he could. Until a certain Thursday in 1903, the Wrights had never experienced powered flight, but on that day, they took turns and flew four times.
Radio's story was different, because after being created, radio still had such a long way to go. In the decades leading up to World War I, it achieved success only as a form of wireless telegraphy, relying on "spark-gap" technology (almost as primitive as it sounds). Spark-gap radio waves are incapable of carrying audio signals. It would take many more inventions and inventors before audio-friendly radio waves existed. Remarkably, what it did not take was many more decades. As the 1920s approached, radio engineers in the U.S. realized that audio transmissions finally were feasible, and as a group, they were trying to attack the remaining problems. The issue that stymied them, however, was not a technical one - it was how to overcome the American public's inertia.
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Americans had been hearing about radio - at least what they thought was radio - for almost thirty years. By now, the word radio triggered mental images of a guy with earphones on his head, and with one hand glued to a telegraph key, and that image didn't excite them very much. Whatever else they had been told about radio had not impressed them. They were skeptical that radio could improve their lives, and they were too used to what they already had.
People read a lot then - books, magazines, and newspapers. The papers actually were marvelous in terms of providing the latest news. They received constant feeds from national and international news wire services; many papers printed both morning and evening editions, so that they could deliver the latest information to their customers. They delivered other things, too: short stories, mysteries in serial form, special columns for crafters and hobbyists, and most important of all, the comics.
For further diversions and entertainment, people could go to movie theatres and band shells, even in small towns. They might also attend events held in a local auditorium or church hall. At home, many Americans had phonographs and player pianos, which let them hear the music they liked on-demand. Indeed, a paper piano roll let them hear "live" performances - a copy of a master roll that been generated by a pianist as s/he played a special piano, the piano roll literally played the piano as if the keys were being struck. It was as if, say, Scott Joplin, or a classical pianist, was invisibly playing right in front of you. Why would anyone want a radio?
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Trying to overcome this inertia through technology led to frustration and multiple circular arguments, such as:
- People had to experience radio in order to want it.
- To experience it, radio stations had to broadcast programs.
- Until people bought radio receivers, there would be no real radio stations.
- No one manufactured receivers, because the public did not want them.
In addition, one had to factor finances into the same quagmire: stations counted on advertisers, advertisers counted on listeners, listeners counted on stations. Things would remain at an impasse, circling each other like two boxers in Round 1, until some external catalyst intervened.
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