Magnavox

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There's Magnavox, there's Philips, then there's Philips Magnavox. Basically from 1917-1974 it was all Magnavox. From 1974 to present it has been either Philips or Magnavox with a patch of the 90's when Philips used Magnavox' name recognition to boost its own by putting "Philips Magnavox" on some of their products. As soon as they realized they were confusing us poor little consumers they went back to using one brand or the other.

Now, I've always liked the Magnavox brand and was somewhat surprised to learn that Philips uses the Magnavox name to market its lower end product lines. Pardon me, its "value-priced" product lines. (I guess that makes me a smart shopper because I don't recall ever owning anything with the Philips name on it.)

As far as video games go, Magnavox entered the world of gaming 2 years before Philips came into the picture in 1974. Actually I should say that Magnavox pioneered the world of gaming two years before Philips came into the picture. It was after all Magnavox who, in 1972, came out with the very first Home TV Game system known as the Odyssey.

Once Philips arrived they wisely continued the line of game systems. Which brand name do you think they used? Both, of course! Having two brand names allowed them to better penetrate the market. They continued to do this all the way through the mid 1980's which was when a lot of video game companies went under.

Always best known for making home entertainment products (TV's, VCR's, DVD players, record players, etc.), Magnavox was also big in the production of defense electronics. Among their contribution in this market were radios, data systems and sonobuoys. (WAIT – Don't look it up! I already did... It's a buoy that sends a radio signal when it detects the sound of underwater objects.)