Contents:
- Part one: Reelin’ in the years: From wheels of steel to ribbons of rust
- Part two: A game of noughts and crosses
- ‘Tis a spool’s paradise, t’ be surrrre
- Part three: Video thrilled the radio star: Tracking the history of magnetic tape: … That’s entertainment
This resource, published in three parts over September and October 2013 in the online journal “The Register” presents the history of magnetic recording. Part one: “Reelin’ in the years: From wheels of steel to ribbons of rust” traces the history of recording including the first development of audio tape. Part two: “A game of noughts and crosses; ‘Tis a spool’s paradise, t’ be surrrre” looks at America’s embrace of magnetic recording following its post-war discovery of this German technology including how tape recording increased and new formats emerge that contribute in popularising an enduring and cost-effective media for use in music, video – and, data storage. Part three, “Video thrilled the radio star: Tracking the history of magnetic tape: … That’s entertainment” describes the use of magnetic tape in entertainment, from the video-recorder pioneers to the gradual changes in cinema sound that were accelerated by the work of the late Ray Dolby.
Experts in the field of magnetic recording technology consider this three part article to be historically accurate and well written. It includes technological explanations with good links and rarely seen supporting documents. It is said to be one of the best series on the history of magnetic recording written in terms of the scope and coherent explanations of the evolution of the technology – machine, media, and the social context as well. The article is quite technical in nature and thus may be of more interest to those with some engineering background and interest.