If we consider the invention of the tape recorder, then it is worth telling the background of what was created before it. It is believed that the invention of the first apparatus, which recorded sound, called a phonograph, is the merit of Thomas Edisson. However, in fact, the idea of a phonograph is completely the brainchild of Charles Crewe, a French poet and scientist. In 1977, he submitted a paper to the French Academy of Sciences, which described in detail everything related to this idea. This paper is now stored in this institution. And already in 1878, this idea was patented and implemented by Edisson. In 1886, Mrs. Chichester Bell and Charles Sumner Tainer of the United States began production of phonographs having a manual winding and a cylinder coated with wax. In 1887, Emil Berlinger in Germany patented the idea of a modern turntable in which flat plates were used. The implementation of the idea falls on 1896.
It’s hard to believe, but the invention of the tape recorder falls on the same period as the invention of the cinema. He appeared at the same time as the first cars. The principle of operation of modern tape recorders was first proposed by Voldemar Poulsen, who was an employee at a telephone exchange in Copenhagen. One of his direct responsibilities was to ensure the normal functioning of the equipment at the station. And here it is not clear whether the equipment was so high-quality or he was such a good specialist, but he had a lot of free time. He devoted it to conducting various experiments with magnets, coils, wires and other details. His interest and curiosity were rewarded by the discovery that different sections of the magnet can be magnetized differently on a thin steel wire. If you then quickly scroll it in front of an electromagnetic microphone, then you can quite hear the sound. That is how the invention of the tape recorder began. He began to develop his idea further, and then came to the conclusion that there is a wire stretched in front of the microphone at the same time when you speak into it, then you can record a human voice on this string or some other sound that will be picked up by the microphone during recording . This idea turned out to be very promising also because the record can be erased, and a new one is recorded on the string. To do this, you only need to demagnetize the string.
In 1898, the signalman had already hurried to patent his device, called the telegraph, and a year later he was already awarded the Grand Prix at the Paris World Exhibition. After a very short time, the invention was patented in other countries, and in 1903 the American telegraph company was already organized, which mastered the production of voice recorders. The invention of the tape recorder has already become interesting to the public. However, the drawback of those devices was their bulkiness, since the tapes on which they were recorded were very large, and the sound quality was very different from phonographs and gramophones. This explains the brief existence of the company. However, only 10 years later, when significantly more powerful amplifiers were introduced to the world, the main shortcomings of tape recorders were eliminated, and the military was the first to evaluate the new capabilities of such devices. In the twenties, the US Navy used new devices to accelerate the reception and transmission of radiotelephone messages. After that, tape recorders began to appear in Europe.
The next step was the invention of magnetic tape, which is what made it possible to create reel tape recorders. To the general public, these devices became interesting only in the forties. This is due to the fact that cassette recorders have already appeared. After that, they began their triumphal march on the planet.