THE FUTURE OF RADIO
In this illustration are shown some of the
future wonders of Radio. Several of the
ideas are already in use, in an experimental way, and it should not
be thought that the entire conception is
fantastic.
The illustration shows a business man, let us say, fifty years
hence. To the right is a television and
automatic radiophone. By means of the plug shown
to the right of the machine, the man can plug in any city in
the United States he desires ; then, by
means of this automatic control board he can select anv
number in that city he wishes, merely by consulting his
automatic telephone directory. As soon as
he has obtained his number, a connection is made automatically
and he not only can talk, but he can see the party whom he
calls. At the top of the instrument is a
loud-talker which projects the voices of the people,
while on a ground-glass in front of him the distant party is
made visible. This idea is already in use,
experimentally.
Directly in front of the man, we see the "radio business
control." By means of another television
scheme, right in back of the dial, the man, if he chooses to do
so, can load and unload a steamer, all by radio telemechanics,
or throw a distant switch, or if a storm
comes up, look into the interior of his
apartment and then, merely by pressing a
key, pull down the windows; all of which can be accomplished
by radio telemechanics, a science already well known.
His business correspondence comes in entirely by radio. There
is a teleradio-typewriter. This
electro-magnetic typewriter can be actuated by any one
who chooses to do so. For instance, if we wish to write a
letter to Jones & Company, Chicago,
Illinois, we call up by radio, that station, and tell the operator
that we wish to write a letter to the
Company. Once the connection is established,
the letter is written in New York, let us say, on a
typewriter, and automatically sent out
through space by radio; letter for letter, word for word being
written by the other typewriter in
Chicago. The letter when finished falls into a basket.
Instead of sending our correspondence by mail we shall then
do our letter-writing by radio. There is
nothing difficult about this scheme, and as a matter of fact, it can
be put into use today, if so desired. We have all the
instrumentalities ready.
Going further, we find the Radio Power Distributor Station
that sends out power over a radius of 100
miles or more. This radio power may be used for
lighting, and other purposes. In
front of the bridge we see a number of people who are propelled by
Radio Power Roller Skates. On their heads we see curious
3-prong metallic affairs. These collect
the radio power from a nearby railing, which, however, is
not in view, and which they do not touch. The power is sent
through space from the rail to the
3-pronged affair and then is conveyed to the skates, which are
operated by small electric motors. The<e roll at the rate of
15 to 20 miles an hour, and there is no
visible connection between the wearer and the Radio
Power Distributor.
We next see the crewless ships controlled by radio. This has
been made possible today. Indeed, several
U. S. battleships have already been manoeuvred over
a considerable distance by radio. The time will come when we
can direct a ship across the ocean without
a human being on board. Future freight will be sent
in this manner. The ship, every ten minutes, gives its
location by radio, so that the land dispatcher will know at any time where the ship is located.
Collisions are avoided by a number of
instruments into details of which we need not go here,
but which have already been perfected. Collision with
icebergs also is avoided by thermo-couples
which divert the ship away from the iceberg as soon as it
enters water which has been cooled below a certain degree.
The radio-controlled airplane works similarly to the
radio-controlled ship, and it will be
possible to control such airships very readily in the future. As a
matter of fact, John Hays Hammond, Jr., in this country, has
done this very thing. Radio-controlled
airplanes will play a great role in the next war.
It is a mistake to think that radio is only good for the
distribution of intelligence.
As the illustration shows, the great uses of radio have not been
touched
upon as yet.
