I was watching a Discovery Time special last night called “Yearbook.” It was covering 1978 and talked about how that was the first year the Walkman came out. It went on to say how it was the first time we could actually walk around and carry our music with us. I told my husband how funny it was that now, with the invention of the iPod you could carry around ALL the music you own in one small little device.
I started to think how lucky I was to have seen almost all the mediums and devices for music. Actually, my father is an old radio buff, so I have even seen an old Edison phonograph. My grandmother had what must have been the greatest job in the 50s – she pressed 78s. If you don’t know what a 78 is, it is – well, I consider it something between a 33 1/3 and a 45.
If all this sounds Greek to you, allow me to explain. First, there was the phonograph that Edison invented in 1877. Edison considered using a disc, but went with a cylinder instead. Emile Berliner invented the first recording disc, what we know today as a record. The records were known by their rotation speeds. In 1925, 78.26 rpm (revolutions per minute) was chosen as the standard. So in the 50s, my grandmother was still pressing records in 78s. They were in between the size of the 33 1/3, which was larger and the 45, which was smaller. They were thick and you really had to whack one to break it. I remember sitting at my parent’s huge stereo console, playing “DJ” and spinning my dad’s 78s of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Johnny Cash. Unfortunately, not many of those survived.
78s were the only type of record available until after World War II. After WWII, 33 1/3 and 45s were invented. The 33 1/3 was a larger record in size and known as an LP (long play) because it could hold many songs on each side. The 45 was a smaller record that contained one song on each side. It was often known as a “single.” Stereos with turntables, by the time I came around, came with all three speed settings. I used to crack myself up, playing a 33 1/3 album at the 78 speed or better yet, the 45 speed. Elvis suddenly sounded like the Chipmunks!
By the 70s, the production of 78s had pretty much died out. By the, we had two new mediums –cassettes and 8-tracks. Both cassettes and 8-tracks were first produced in 1964. They were based on reel-to-reel audio tape recordings (yes, I’ve seen one of those players too!). Instead of a record, the music was now stored on tape. 8-tracks were popular from the mid-60s to the early 80s. Cassette production lasted a bit longer, with them meeting their demise in the early 90s. Some people still have 8-track players and cassettes, but the problem with both 8-tracks and cassettes were the tape could become stretched or break over time. So the industry had to come up with something new.
They did with the invention of the compact disc. Now commonly known as a CD, this is an optical disc that stores music. It is the standard today and is much more durable and longer lasting than anything before it. I had a hard time giving up cassettes – I had about 500 in my collection. But, finally, my husband and the industry forced me kicking and screaming into the CD era.
Then, Steve Jobs got a bright idea. What if you invented a device that could carry all your CDs and music and it was so small you could carry it around with you? In 2001, Apple produced the iPod. It is a portable media player that allows me to carry around all the music I own. No more carrying around CDs – just my iPod. And I won’t even go into how I can put pictures, videos, or podcasts on it!
To me, it is all quite headspinning to realize all the changes that have occurred in the last 100 years. I wonder what Edison would think?