Randy,
The problem is that all geniuses have big egos. This is usually their
downfall. They refuse to let go of what they though was a good idea even
though the commercial realities dictate that they should. I used to work
for Polaroid. Edwin Land who's career was similar to Edison's had the same
shortcomings. He insisted on introducing his Polavision instant movie
system even though he knew that video tape was very close to being available
commercially. The result was a colossal failure that cost him his job as
president of the company
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 5:36 PM
Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Edison phono question
>
> In a message dated 12/5/2004 1:07:48 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
> 24 minutes of uninterrupted Edison
> sound (with occasional winding, of course); ah, heaven!
>
>
>
> IF...memory serves me, an extra spring barrel was part of the Edison
> Long-Play upgrade kit, so a properly equipped machine would play an
> Long-Play record
> through without rewinding.
>
> I THINK the grooves on Edison LP records are 450 per inch, or one-third
> of
> the normal DD groove width. That was a problem which would not be solved
> until
> electrical playback, using lightweight cartridges, became possible twenty
> years later.
>
> I believe the gentleman who said that the long-play records consisted of
> excerpts from standard-length DD's is correct. I don't think the Edison
> company
> ever recorded longer works that could exploit the possibilities of the
> Long-Play format. The Edison Long-Play format merely highlighted the
> shortcomings
> of all records, when they were compared to radio. Their lack of volume,
> (The
> Long-Play records could not equal even the standard DD's in SPL's),
> fragility,
> and expense doomed the effort. When these limitations were added to the
> incompatibility of DD's with other record formats, the whole Long-Play
> venture
> was reduced to an exercise in futility.
>
> I have been fascinated by and an ardent admirer of Thomas Edison since I
> first heard about him when I was a little boy, but I have never been able
> to
> understand, or even rationalize Edison's stubborn refusal to adopt
> electrical
> recording. This man invented the light bulb! He discovered that a heated
> filament will, in a vacuum, radiate electrons that can be captured by a
> second
> filament! The phenomenon that allowed vacuum tubes and radio to be
> developed is
> called, "The Edison Effect." He should have invented electrical
> recording, not
> fought it. Oh, what might have been...
>
> Randy Minor
>
>
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