EVOLUTION OF SOUND - The first recorded
music technology was the phonograph which worked by rotating engraved wax cylinders.
It ran on a hand crank system and didn’t need electricity, pulling faint music through
a needle into the horn. The next generation was a hand cranked Victrola which
played flat records that could be printed and mass produced. Broadcast radio
and the Electrola were next, run on electrical power, each coming onto the
market around the same time. Music volume was amplified. Vinyl records and
transistors improved electric record players as did the LP (long playing) album
format. The compact audio cassette tape could also store data in early
microcomputers. It was wound between two miniature spools, held inside a
protective plastic shell and once flipped, it played the other side. For the
first time music was portable. Options included a boombox, Walkman and car audio
systems played through a console to listen while driving. The digital
compact disk (CD) succeeded the analog gramophone because it didn’t
have background noise. And of course it was smaller. Then, the hard drive rendered
other physical storage mediums obsolete. While the MP3 file loses some of the
sound richness--of the vinyl record or CD audio--right now it’s the prevailing 21st
century format. The iPod and iTunes gave consumers anywhere access on portable
devices, a user friendly experience and the bonus of affordability. With the popularity
of Netflix and YouTube, streaming media (Pandora, Prime, Spotify) now
eliminates the need for physical media altogether. What will be the next step
in the evolution of sound?
https://www.chadschimke.com/2022/02/evolution-of-exploration.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/02/evolution-of-sound.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2018/09/the-evolution-of-text.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/09/evolution-of-images.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/08/the-evolution-of-flight.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/04/evolution-of-computing.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/02/evolution-of-sound.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2018/09/the-evolution-of-text.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/09/evolution-of-images.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/08/the-evolution-of-flight.html
https://www.chadschimke.com/2017/04/evolution-of-computing.html
Great article. The images make me all sentimental :-)
ReplyDeleteVery cool visual history, Chad! With the development of virtual reality stuff, it'll be interesting indeed :)
ReplyDeleteI remember these. I was taken right back to there and then.
ReplyDeleteWow. Love the pictures.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! It's fun to see all these "old" things!
ReplyDeleteNice post.
ReplyDelete