Detroit, high-tech capital of the US?

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Detroit gets a bad rap. OK some of it’s been deserved over the years. The thing is,  there are inner city problems in every city Detroit’s size, and Detroit’s been working hard to fix them, unlike San Bernardino CA, a city that entered into bankruptcy around the same time Detroit did and is still spiraling downhill after years of flailing.

It’s where we call home

The suburbs of Detroit are lovely, and one of them (Novi) is the home of Solid Signal’s corporate headquarters. I can’t say enough about the friendly people and the beautiful scenery, and just having Solid Signal there makes it one of the most tech-friendly cities in the region.

Detroit was the home of high-tech innovations in factory operations, of course, and the area continues to house some of the nation’s biggest manufacturers. In the coming years, the best electric vehicles in the world will be conceived and engineered in Detroit.

Looking back, though… I was pleased and surprised to find that Detroit’s history as a tech center dates back decades, and it’s not all about cars either. The ad you see above dates from April 1945, and it’s for the “Detrola Radio and Television Company.” This was a large manufacturer of radios before World War II and during the war its output was devoted to the war effort.

Take a look at these

They made some beautiful radios like this one:

Which even if you don’t like old technology, it’s a pleasure to look at just as a piece of furniture.

Detrola (the suffix “-rola” was common for companies that made record players and radios back then) had big plans for the postwar years: they wantsed to make televisions, too. Unfortunately the company never did end up doing that, and the company went out of business in 1948.

The Detrola radios, though not highly sought after by collectors, are still out there and many still work. The name was recently used by Crosley, who makes new electronics that look like old electronics. Take a look at this Crosley Detrola, which went into production a few years back.

For some reason, this retro radio wasn’t a hit for Crosley. We were never able to sell it at Solid Signal either. It’s beautiful, but I guess it didn’t capture the public’s imagination. Solid Signal, on the other hand, grows year after year. But, we’re a different company than Crosley. Despite our proud Detroit heritage, we’re more about cutting-edge tech than retro-looking tech.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.