The Origin of Magnetic Recording
Aaron Foisi Nmungwun · 2012
Most historians date the modern history of magnetic recording with an article published September 8, 1888. The author, a metallurgist Oberlin Smith, described three possible methods of recording and reproducing sounds that were identical to later inventions in the magnetic field. Smith&s;s apparatus was simple and mechanically easy to understand. The equipment consisted of a mouthpiece and diaphragm, with spring and indenting needles as in the Edison machine. But it differed in that it was equipped with two reels connected by a thin ribbon of iron, or steel, which served as the recording substance instead of Edison&s;s wax disc. The ribbon was unwound from one reel onto another. A lamp would heat the ribbon, which then received an indentation as easily as tin foil. Heating the ribbon made it much harder and durable. This heated ribbon was the recording apparatus or transmitter. Smith saw the following advantages of his proposed device: • The loudness of voice produced by the increased amplitude of vibration.