The sounds of music
As you tune into the latest songs on your favourite music app, did you ever think of how the devices through which we listen to music evolved through the years?
Here’s a quick run through. Let’s start at the very beginning:
1857: Leon Scott de Martinville invented the Phonautograph. This could record sounds but not play them back.
1877: Thomas Alva Edison used this basic design to create the Phonograph, which recorded and played back sounds including human voices.
1887: With Emile Berliner’s Gramophone, people could play recorded music through a disk.
1905: The 78 RPM Standard record is introduced. This ensured that the records would play correctly. This record lasted until 1940 when the LP came into existence.
1954: Music on the go happened with the Transistor Radio. But of course one had to depend on the programmes being broadcast.
1962: Speakers were combined with a record player to bring out the first portable stereo. Now folks could take the record player around with them.
1963: The advent of the audio cassettes allowed more portability. Also people could save the specific kind of music they wanted, giving rise to mix tapes.
1979: Sony introduced the Walkman, a personal music player that had an audio cassette player along with headphones.
1983: In came the Compact Disc, which offered a better quality of recording than the audio cassette and also lasted longer. By 1984, portable CD players also made their appearance.
1998: Devices continued to get smaller with the MP3 player, which played audio files. This made all the CD and Walkman obsolete.
2001: Digital music went up another notch with Apple introducing its first iPod. In 2007, the iPod Touch not only allowed one to play music but also had other features such as apps, games and more.
And, now of course, you don’t need a separate device to listen to music. Your smartphone and music apps let you to listen to whatever you want, wherever you are.
Now that you’ve read this, try this interactive puzzle. Below are images of the various devices you’ve read about. Arrange them in order from earliest to latest.