Can you repeat that again? The Cylinder Phonograph + Introduction

Thanks for stopping by and reading this blog. Well a little about me, I am 17 years old and I find how things function quite fascinating and have a strong appreciation of simple and creative designs. In this day of age of technology where we basically can not live without it, it is easy to overlook how impressive what many devices do for us. I also have a greater appreciation for older technology due to them being constructed with the limitation of that time. How many of these older devices are stepping stones for many devices we know and love today. I have a greater appreciation for older obscure technology that not too many people know about because they tend to be quirky and very interesting which many time are the reasons in which they are obscure

Image result for free images of thomas edison cylinder phonograph

The first item I would introduce would be is the granddaddy of all recordable media, Edison’s cylinder phonograph. This device was birthed in 1887 by... you guessed it Thomas Edison. Although Edison was not the first to create a device that is able to record sound, he sure was the first though to create a device in which was able to reproduce the recordings it made. Edison’s cylinder phonograph worked much like the record players we know and love, but instead of using 12 inch polyvinyl chloride disc with grooves, it uses… you guessed it wax cylinders which tended to be made from ceresin, beeswax, and stearic wax, earlier versions were made from tin foil. The device recorded with a special record head that is connected to a diagram which would engrave and create grooves on the cylinder, which would be placed sideways with the needle running from one end to the other, once sound travels into the funnel and makes the diagram vibrate. To hear the recording works the same way just crank the phonograph, replace the head and sound should be produced by the needle running across the grooves vibrating the diagram. Not as simple as the recording devices we have now (aka our phones), but this was revolutionary due to the fact that there was nothing like it before in which one can record and hear an exact recording all in the same device. It was mostly used as a dictation device, but it could, also play music as well. The cylinder phonograph would later be replaced by other devices like the vinyl record, but it still remains as an important part of audio history.

⬇Video below is one of the earliest know cylinder recordings⬇

Interesting fact: The cylinder phonograph was also used in toys, especially dolls to make them talk
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_cylinder

Comments

Dorito Power

Rotary engines, the official motor when burning oil is actually a good thing. The rotary engine or Wankel engine is much like chocolate ice cream in the car world, you hate it or you don’t. It is actually interesting concept because unlike other engine configurations, there is no cylinders. Instead they have a rotor which some claim to look like a Dorito spinning. The inventor of this odd engine was a Felix Wankel. Wankel was born in August 1902 in Lahr, Germany. He came up with the idea at the age of 17. It was only after 2 World Wars when he began working with NSU Mototenwerke in the research department without ever getting a degree or a driver license. He complete his design in 1954 and in 1957 and 1958 the prototypes were tested. In 1961 Mazda had contracted with NSU to produce the engine and install them in their cars. The engine was proven to be quite powerful in the 1960s and soon the engine was used by other car companies. The engine would began to lose its popularity in ...

Produce, Crush, Recycle

EV1, the Prius of the late 1990s. I decided to celebrate Earth day with something that is the embodiment of going green… the electric car. I could have gone with Tesla or the previously mentioned Prius, but of course, those are cars as not obscure as the EV1 since they're either crashed or not legally allowed on the road anymore. The EV1, for those who did not see the video in Economics last year, stands for the creative name Electric Vehicle 1 and one of the first mass produce modern electric car. The car soon had a created major up roar by buyers because of GM repossession them and crushing them. The creation of the EV1 started when California CARB or California Air Resource Board in the 1990s started to impose stricter emission due to combat the horrible air pollution at the time. The air quality was so bad in California that it was worse than the other 49 states combined. Thus strongly encouraged major car companies like GM, Honda, Toyota, etc to create emission free veh...

Just My Type

Typewriter, the official device of that satisfying click sound from the movies. Typewriters were once a popular form of typing up essays and document in a clear and formal way in which regular handwritten documents could not replicate. Now they are relics of the past due to the rise of personal computers, allowing so much for functionality with less hoops to jump through. The first commercially produced typewriters appeared on scene in 1874, but became widespread in offices until the mid 1880s. Throughout this time there has been many manufactures and companies who added improvements over time. Historians believes that the typewriter was invented 52 time in some form by other inventors and thinkers. This helped to create competition and develope many types of typewriters. The common mechanical typewriters works like this, the keyboard is in the same order as the keys on a computer or on a digital one on a cellphone. When a is press, for example the F key, a lever swings...

Obscure Technology

Search This Blog