The Edison Phonograph
The Edison Phonograph
This page is primarily for people like me, who do not like reading long boring descriptions of things, but would much rather look at pictures. On this page you will find all the pictures that are throughout the site (plus a map), with a brief caption underneath.
More Pictures of Phonograph and Related
Sketch of the phonograph. Dated November 29th, 1877 (left)
Article from The Scientific American about the phonograph. (center)
Article from The English Mechanic dated Jan 7th, 1878
Map of Menlo Park, New Jersey. Edison's Residence and laboratory are in red.
Top: Original Gramophone
Bottom: The very original Edison Phonograph
Top Left: Original Phonographs That were sold.
Top Right: Graphophone
Bottom: Gramophone
Top: Close up look at a tin cylinder. You can see the groves in it.
Bottom: Various two minute wax cylinders.
Phonograph (First form of recorded audio. Holds two minutes of audio, and is in mono. Requires no electricity to operate. Uses Wax or Tin cylinders. No amplifier is needed to play this.)
Gramophone (This is most often referred to a as a phonograph, although it is not. It does not require any electricity to operate. It holds 30 minutes of audio, and the audio is in mono sound. The discs are made of plastic, and later made using rubber. Longest lasting from of audio recording. No amplifier is needed to play this.)
Stereo Record Player (Holds 30 minutes of audio. This was the beginning of the stereo era. All mediums past this one give off sound that is in stereo, meaning has different audio coming out of each of the two speakers. The discs are made up rubber. This unit requires electricity and an external amplifier.)
Reel To Reel Tape (Holds various amounts of audio. This marked the beginning of the magnetic tape era. The concept of magnetic storage still applies in MP3 players today.)
8 Track Tape (22 minutes of audio. Magnetic Tape degrades over time.)
Cassette Tape (Can hold up to 120 minutes of audio. Tapes are about 2.5 inches by 4 inches. Degrades over time.)
Compact Disc (Can hold 74 or 80 minutes of audio. Still smaller than phonograph. Quality does not degrade, but the disc degrades over many many many years, about 70. It does not rely on magnetic storage. It uses lasers to burn holes on an aluminum foil surrounded by plastic.)
MP3 Player (Can hold 1000 minutes of audio in something that is 2 inches by 2 inches. Quality does not degrade, but part that stores the audio does, over about 80 years.)