Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
theatlantic.com
Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
1–10 of 26 posts
Re: Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
#2I don't understand a word, but it must have been funny: I can hear laughter at 0:58
Re: Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
#3just amazing. i can only wonder what levels of reconstruction from data the future holds...
Re: Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
#4It must have been "magical" to be able to hear your own voice played back during those times. I wonder if in 100 years from now people will wonder if we though smartphones were magical.
Does anyone know if the noise in the recording is because the foil is so old and that's the best they can recover, or if that's how it was played back originally?
Re: Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
#5It must have been "magical" to be able to hear your own voice played back during those times. I wonder if in 100 years from now people will wonder if we though smartphones were magical. Does anyone know if the noise in the recording is because the foil is so old and that's the best they can recover, or if that's how it was played back originally?
I think the whole thing is magic now. That here in my bedroom, this box can link me 135 years into the past just strikes me as incredible.
Re: Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
#6It must have been "magical" to be able to hear your own voice played back during those times. I wonder if in 100 years from now people will wonder if we though smartphones were magical. Does anyone know if the noise in the recording is because the foil is so old and that's the best they can recover, or if that's how it was played back originally?
doh, a 100-year misunderstanding of today's people created by Apple's marketing material.
Re: Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
#7The time between about 1860 and 1910 seems totally magical to me.
For all of history, people lived, loved, and died. Aside from perhaps a few of them writing their thoughts down, they totally disappeared.
With the invention of still photography, and much more audio and moving-picture recording technology, suddenly you could see and hear people who were long gone.
These folks are not just dead. Their kids are dead, their grandkids are dead, their great-grandkids are probably also gone. Yet we are able to hear them play music, tell stories, and laugh. They might even tell a joke and we can laugh along with it.
It's as if mankind suddenly came out of a very dark tunnel. We are finally able to really coalesce into a multi-generational conversation about what our humanity means. (A little too poetic. Apologies. I just find it amazing)
Re: Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
#8The time between about 1860 and 1910 seems totally magical to me. For all of history, people lived, loved, and died. Aside from perhaps a few of them writing their thoughts down, they totally disappeared. With the invention of still photography, and much more audio and moving-picture recording technology, suddenly you could see and hear people who were long gone. These folks are not just dead. Their kids are dead, th…
No, it's not too poetic--it strikes just the right chord and really resonated with me.
Wealthy patrician Romans used to keep busts of their ancestors in a hallway in the entrance to their home to keep them (and their guests) reminded about whence they came. We might be able to do something similar for our ancestors, except with "living" imagery and audio. Imagine being able to watch a clip of your great-great-great grandfather and hearing him speak! That's what future generations have to look forward to.
Re: Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
#9The time between about 1860 and 1910 seems totally magical to me. For all of history, people lived, loved, and died. Aside from perhaps a few of them writing their thoughts down, they totally disappeared. With the invention of still photography, and much more audio and moving-picture recording technology, suddenly you could see and hear people who were long gone. These folks are not just dead. Their kids are dead, th…
I'm with you --- it was an amazing transformation in our link to the past. But don't underestimate the power of written language to carry on that multi-generational conversation. We can read the thoughts of people who died thousands of years ago, and we still have a lot to learn from them.
Re: Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording
#10Isn't there a theory somewhere that there have been accidental recordings in the past when objects vibrate against another and make grooves?
That would be amazing to discover an accidental recording from 1000 years ago that can be recovered using laser scanning to decode.