You're listening to the skeptics guide to the universe. You're escape to reality.

Hello and welcome to the skeptics guide to the universe. Today is Wednesday, March 9th,

2011 and this is your host, Steven Novella. Joining me this week are Bob Novella. Hey

everybody, Rebecca Watson. I love you, Ellen. Jane Novella. Hey guys. And Evan Bernstein.

He was on this date in 1923 that Phono film, the first motion picture with a sound on film

track was demonstrated at a press conference by its inventor, Dr. Lee DeForest.

That's awesome. Wasn't he bones? Yes, that's exactly right.

Lee DeForest Kelly. Lee DeForest was also the inventor of the radio tube back in

on the O.T. 7, 19 O.T. 7. That's it, just the radio tube and talking film. Right. Now this

Phono film system which recorded synchronized sound directly onto film was used to record

vaudeville acts, musical numbers, political speeches, and opera singers at the time. The

quality was kind of poor at first and it got passed by by other more sophisticated systems

through the 1920s as they were developed, such as the Vitaphone. But think about it. I

mean without it, we would not have the movies of today that we take for granted and enjoy

the talkies as they say. So how did that happen? How does it name evolve from Phono film which

is kind of cool to talkies which is kind of lame? How did that happen? That's English

for you. That's a merit for you. Because somebody came up with that and

it's stockpub. Talkies is cute. We have movies. I mean the reason why we call them movies

is just because they're moving pictures. My English friends have teased me about the

word movie. Really? Yeah, comparing it to the word talkie.

I was never mind to me. I was watching some really cheesy science fiction movie. You

know how you have like a primitive person they talk stupid. Yeah, they talk stupid.

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