[dayglored]

This is insane. Bell Labs is responsible for a HUGE number of America's technology innovations since 1920 (this is only a fraction of the things Bell Labs has invented or first-developed):

• Fax (1920)
• Movies with synchronized sound (1926)
• Television (first transmission, 1927)
• Radio astronomy (1931)
• Speech synthesizer (1937)
• Calculators (1940 and later)
• Photovoltaic (PV) cell (1940s)
• Scrambler for speech (1943)
• Transistor (1947)
• Teleprinter (1949)
• Microwave research (1950s)
• TransAtlantic cable (1956)
• Electronic music (1957)
• LED (1962)
• CO2 Laser (1964)
• Charge-coupled device (1969)
• UNIX (1970)
• C language (1970)
• Fibre optics (1976)
• 32-bit CPU (1980)
• Cellular phone (1980)
• Breakup of AT&T (1984)
• Wireless networking (1990)
• 56k modem (1991)
• Electron lithography (1996)
• Voice over IP (1998)
• Plastic transistors (2000)
• Increasing foreign involvement (2002-2006)
• Sold to French (2006)

We're selling this??? What are we, crazy?

Sadly, I think so...

[budanski]

This is insane. Bell Labs is responsible for a HUGE number of America's technology innovations since 1920 (this is only a fraction of the things Bell Labs has invented or first-developed): Fax (1920) Movies with synchronized sound (1926) Television (first transmission, 1927) Radio astronomy (1931) Speech synthesizer (1937) Calculators (1940 and later) Photovoltaic (PV) cell (1940s) Scrambler for speech (1943) Transistor (1947) Teleprinter (1949) Microwave research (1950s) TransAtlantic cable (1956) Electronic music (1957) LED (1962) CO2 Laser (1964) Charge-coupled device (1969) UNIX (1970) C language (1970) Fibre optics (1976) 32-bit CPU (1980) Cellular phone (1980) Breakup of AT&T (1984) Wireless networking (1990) 56k modem (1991) Electron lithography (1996) Voice over IP (1998) Plastic transistors (2000) Increasing foreign involvement (2002-2006) Sold to French (2006) We're selling this??? What are we, crazy? Sadly, I think so...

Once the merger is complete it, all listed will now be claimed by the french... or at least on Alcatel's website under company history ;)

[Aikonaa]

The glory days of Bell Labs were largely the creation of the Bell telephone monopoly. The quality of research there has been going downhill after the monopoly was broken up in the early 80s.

[Red Steel]

This is insane. Bell Labs is responsible for a HUGE number of America's technology innovations since 1920....

And some would also say Bell Labs has knowledge of 'foreign technologies' from lands unknown.

Catch the drift....

:-)