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Old 1st Aug 2007, 5:10 pm   #1
ppppenguin
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Default EMI: past present and future

EMI is a strange company. It was formed in 1931 by merging the Gramophone Company (HMV) and the Columbia Graphophone Company. The history is actually more complex than that with significant US shareholdings. Apart from making records, EMI was an innovative company with huge achievements notably in television, radar and CT scanning.

More than once it indulged in that great British practice of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. In 1971(?) incomptence in managing the CT scanner business drove EMI to the verge of collapse. It merged with (taken over by would be a fairer description) Thorn to create Thorn-EMI. Gradually through the 1980s and 1990s the group disposed of many of its businesses such as television (Ferguson), lighting, electron tubes, radar and reverted to being purely a music and entertainment company.

It is now being bought by a private equity company.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6926032.stm
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Old 1st Aug 2007, 5:24 pm   #2
ianj
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Default Re: EMI: past present and future

hmmmmmmmm thats that then..............................another old firm going............................................. .........ianj
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Old 2nd Aug 2007, 9:18 am   #3
newlite4
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Default Re: EMI: past present and future

Brilliant autobiography by Godfrey Hounsfield here who developed the CT scanner whilst at EMI as well as early computing design for the firm:

http://www.engology.com/eng5hounsfield.htm

One of the "Great Britons",

Neil
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Old 2nd Aug 2007, 12:04 pm   #4
Aerodyne
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Default Re: EMI: past present and future

They picked up some good men when Columbia was merged with HMV, among them being Alan Blumlein, one of the driving forces behind EMI's successful 405 line TV system and pioneer of stereophonic recording. HMV were very traditional makers of wind-up gramophones in the early days and only went into radio production when the acoustic gramophone trade was threatened by the 'newcomer'. Pity to see yet another proud name losing status, but that's the way of the world today, I guess.
-Tony
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