Saturday, October 15, 2016
Neat idea! Oops.
Related to this discussion of why sound recording came late.
From a 1950 radio trade journal. This was meant as a module for other manufacturers to build around. Hey! Neat idea! Tape and phonograph, record and play!
Oops. Do you see the problem? Clearly the other mfrs saw the problem. Nobody ever used it. I'm tempted to think it's an April Fool, but it was in the May issue.
Later: Actually there are two problems. (1) Threading the tape under the turntable would be tricky, and a pileup or kink would be unremovable**. (2) The control knob would rub against the tape when the front reel is full. Both could have been solved by putting the tape heads off to the left, between the reels. I don't see why the maker couldn't build it that way.
Of course the biggest problem is the 'missing narcissism' that I discussed earlier. People just didn't feel any urgent need to record sounds.
= = = = =
** Unremovable: On a phonograph of this era, pulling the turntable out can be quick and greasy, or it can be an all-day job, depending on whether the turntable has a lock setscrew to keep it in place. Either way, it's not a task you want to perform every time the tape gets tangled! Proper reel-to-reel recorders had a simple cover over the heads that you could slip off in a second.
¶ 1:23 AM 
From a 1950 radio trade journal. This was meant as a module for other manufacturers to build around. Hey! Neat idea! Tape and phonograph, record and play!
Oops. Do you see the problem? Clearly the other mfrs saw the problem. Nobody ever used it. I'm tempted to think it's an April Fool, but it was in the May issue.
Later: Actually there are two problems. (1) Threading the tape under the turntable would be tricky, and a pileup or kink would be unremovable**. (2) The control knob would rub against the tape when the front reel is full. Both could have been solved by putting the tape heads off to the left, between the reels. I don't see why the maker couldn't build it that way.
Of course the biggest problem is the 'missing narcissism' that I discussed earlier. People just didn't feel any urgent need to record sounds.
= = = = =
** Unremovable: On a phonograph of this era, pulling the turntable out can be quick and greasy, or it can be an all-day job, depending on whether the turntable has a lock setscrew to keep it in place. Either way, it's not a task you want to perform every time the tape gets tangled! Proper reel-to-reel recorders had a simple cover over the heads that you could slip off in a second.
¶ 1:23 AM
