EOTO #1- Communication Technologies

The phonograph was developed as a result of Thomas Edison's work on two other inventions, the telegraph and the telephone. The first phonograph was invented in 1877 at the Menlo Park Lab. It is said to be his favorite invention. This invention was a critical first step in sound recording. 

The history of the phonograph is quite something. He started out with a piece of tin foil that was wrapped around the cylinder in the middle Someone would shot a message into the piece on one side of the cylinder while the handle was getting turned. Inside was a needle that would shake or vibrate when voices were heard. The sound vibrations would go through the needle and make a groove in the tinfoil and the needle would be able to play back what was recorded. 

Edison tested the machinery by singing the nursery rhyme "Mary had a little lamb" into it and the machine played it back to him. 

The patent on the phonograph was issued on February 19, 1878. The only other recorded evidence of such was an invention in a paper by a French scientist, but it remained only a theory because he never made a working model of it. 

Edison then took him new invention to New York City to the offices of Scientific American. The invention was reported in several New York newspapers and later in other American newspapers. The Edison Speaking Phonograph Company was established on January 24, 1878, to exploit the new machine by exhibiting it. Edison then received $10,000 for the manufacturing and sales rights and 20% of the profits. It was great success, but was difficult to operate and the tin foil lasting was an issue. 

In 1896, a Times reporter, went to New Jersey to interview Edison. "I have always wanted to get close to the man who loves the opera, but can't afford it, the man who has a fine ear for elocution, but is limited by poverty in his patronage of the theatre."

The early phonograph also played bad sounds that were barely audible and the machine had terrible sound fidelity. When it came to recording music, musicians faced many challenges. In an article by Smithsonian Magazine, "recording was physically demanding. To capture quiet passages, singers, or instrumentalists would often have to stick their face right into the recording horn."

Alexander Graham Bell started to improve the design of the phonograph pioneered by Edison. He started experimenting with metal instead of steel and had many improvements. But instead of patenting their invention, they sealed it in the Smithsonian and it was not discovered again until 1947. 

These was another innovator who took liberty to improve the phonograph. In 1887, Emilie Berliner innovated the way that sound was physically recorded onto the surface. She made it a disc shape instead of cylinder, she used a technique called electroplating, and she also innovated the development of shellac discs. She laid out the foundation for the modern record player. 

The first vinyl record was born in 1948. A man named Peter Carl Goldmark, created the first "Long Play" record. It was able to play for 23 minutes. 

In the late 80s, record players started to die out win popularity due to new formats and policies with distributors. But, in the mid 2000s, the popularity of indie rock caused a resurgence in vinyl and record players. 

Phonographs allowed people to listen to whatever music they wanted, where they wanted, and for as long as they wanted. The phonograph was also instrumental in the development of jazz. Because of the phonograph, jazz musicians were able to learn intricate pieces by playing the records over and over, studying the song.