How the Phonograph Changed Humanity

In 1877, the Phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison as a recording device to be used in a variety of ways including the reproduction of sound. This device was a major tool in everyday society and changed the way people recorded sound and important speech to hear again and again. Edison’s phonograph was the first device that could reproduce recorded sound by recording the sound onto a tinfoil sheet phonograph cylinder. This was the first step in technologically recording sound and it started a competitive ingenuity in the field of sound engineering. This invention was improved and changed over time to record and reproduce sound better and more clearly. The phonograph revolutionized sound technology because …show more content…
He knew that his invention was a great accomplishment and he wanted the public to know all the uses it could bring to people. In his article, “The Phonograph and its Future”, he describes all of the uses the phonograph has for society including recorded sound in toys for children, music reproduction, clocks, important letters, etc. His love and favoritism for his invention is pointed out in his first line, “Of all the writer’s inventions, none has commanded such profound and earnest attention throughout the civilized world as has the phonograph.” (Edison 527) His belief of what could be accomplished with his invention helped to sell it in mass quantity. The phonograph not only revolutionized the way sound could be recorded and reproduced, but also sparked a wave of new consumerism in technology that made everyday activities more useful and efficient. Edison lays out the scope of what the phonograph will bring to the table and how it will change society with its various uses. He goes on to say, “The writer has no fault to find with this condition of the discussion of the merits and possibilities of his invention; for indeed, the possibilities are so illimitable and the probabilities so numerous.” (Edison 527) This illuminates the pride he has for this invention and the limitless possibilities he believes it could bring to society through recording of sound. He believed that the phonograph would …show more content…
However, his goals for marketing the phonograph with various entertaining uses ultimately brought his business to a halt. Leonard DeGraaf points out Edison’s direct confrontation to the mass market with his invention, as stated, “Between 1880 and 1910 the phonograph became a mass marketed consumer product. By the first decade of the 20th century the phonograph, as well as music records on both cylinder and disc formats were widely available to consumers. Americans purchased over half a million talking machines and over 27 million records in 1914, and this number continued to rise until 1929.” (Degraaf, 88) Edison’s desperate need for his product to be massively produced and sold is seen in, “The Phonograph and its Future.” with his confident explanation for its many uses. Ultimately the phonograph was not utilized for many of the uses Edison points out in his writing. His development of the phonograph was a major technological advancement in sound engineering, but his strength in business was not the same. He sought to use the phonograph for entertainment rather than just a tool for recording sound, which in turn lead to the failure of his business. As stated, “The traditional explanation for Edison’s commercial failures maintains that he was a poor business manager. This