Don Foreman wrote:
On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:53:48 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:


It seems that someone learned how to skimp on parts way early on, eh?


Mr. Muntz did, with the Muntz TV.

"Then came the TV years. Muntz thought the television sets on the
market at the time were far too complicated, so he experimented by
buying an existing set, disassembling it, then removing parts one at a
time. If the set still played, he removed another part. Then another
and another. Finally, with the set simplified as much as it could be,
it became a Muntz TV! And these black and white TV sets, the smallest
of which sold for $99.95, breaking the $100 price barrier for the
first time, became some of the hottest selling consumer products in
America."

http://www.madmanmuntzmovie.com/index.php?m=2

IIRC, the Muntz TV had 13 tubes while most others had more than 20.

Interesting story, Don. Thanks.

Best wishes,

Chris