[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by RitchieMars

Sounds like a pretty sensible marketing ploy. A huge improvement comes along in technology, and even though that technology isn't instantly available to everyone, simply the fact that it's been accomplished is good news towards improving what we've already got. Considering the prices of early color televisions, I don't think they were worried about people becoming disinterested in their black and white sets, but rather just wanted people to feel better knowing that their back and white sets would still be even better and still worth the money!

I can imagine that the folks who initially bought those first few color televisions had some serious disposable income! There were many people who didn't buy their first color television until many, many years after this point in time; perhaps even a decade! But it reminds me of when Ford came out with the Lincoln Continental Mark II in '56. The car itself was priced and marketed on par with a Rolls Royce, and while your average guy wasn't riding around in a Lincoln Continental ( Elvis maybe ), the car was marketed not just for it's own benefit. It was hoped that the mere existence of such a fine car in the Ford Company's lineup would hopefully say something about the company as a whole. But, this is more of a symbolic association than anything else. A standard Ford sedan with a wheezy 6-cylinder and 3-speed on the column couldn't have less in common with a Lincoln Continental!

But, I'm sure that the development of color television really did improve these black and white sets, and I personally think I would have been just fine without color television for quite awhile longer.

If I may chime in, IIRC, I remember Ford comparing the 1976 Ford Granada to a Mercedes Benz.