1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: tech are you. I'd like to thank our sponsor for 5 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: this episode, Nissan. Thanks so much, Nissan. I have decided 6 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: to do an episode about special innovations in text. See 7 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: once in a while, a person or a group of 8 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: people come up with an invention that defines a new standard. Right. 9 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: It could be an entirely new idea, or it could 10 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: be refining a concept to a point where everyone treats 11 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: it as if it were a brand new idea. So 12 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: today we're going to talk about some of the technologies 13 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: that gave us abilities and opportunities that before we hadn't 14 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: even imagined were possible. And I thought it would start 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: with one that's near and dear to my heart, the 16 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: Victor Talking Machine. Not that I own a Victor Talking machine, 17 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: and I do not have one of these antiques. As 18 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: old as I am, this is way before my time, 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 1: but it's an important invention, I would argue, not just 20 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,679 Speaker 1: because it would lead to the modern turntable and the 21 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: modern album, but it would completely shape society and culture. 22 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: So our story really starts back around eighteen seventy seven 23 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,200 Speaker 1: with Thomas Edison. Now, if you wanted to be really picky, 24 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: you would have to go even further back and start 25 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: going to stuff like the telegraph. But if we keep 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: doing that, we're going to eventually end up in the 27 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: Stone Age, and we don't have that kind of time, 28 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: So we're gonna actually begin with old Tommy Boy Edison. 29 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: So he and many of the people working for his 30 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: lab had been working on a device that could potentially 31 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: record the sound playing through a telephone so that it 32 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: would be possible to play that back later. This experimentation 33 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: led to the cylindrical phonogra. Now, this gadget had a 34 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: diaphragm that would flex as it encountered sounds, so you 35 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: would talk into like a trumpet essentially, and it would 36 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: cause this diaphragm to move, and that would move a 37 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: pointed stylus against a turning metal cylinder covered in tinfoil, 38 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: doing these sort of vertical grooves in this tinfoil coated cylinder. 39 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: So Edison's version actually had a secondary stylus and a 40 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 1: secondary diaphragm for playback, so you had one set to 41 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: record and another set to play it back. So you 42 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: would set this playback stylus on the grooves carved by 43 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: the recording stylus. You would again have the cylinder rotate 44 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: and you would get to hear the recorded sound. It 45 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 1: was faint, and the cylinders weren't terribly resilient, nor were 46 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: they easy to manufacture. They would switch to other materials 47 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: besides tenfoil and use things like wax, but still not great. 48 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,959 Speaker 1: You could, however, now record sound for posterity, which was huge. 49 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: The ephemeral came less, so I wouldn't say permanent, because 50 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: these cylinders were also delicate and they could only be 51 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: played back a certain number of times before the quality 52 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 1: of the recording would degrade to a point where you 53 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: couldn't understand what it was. You know what the original 54 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: audio was. So while Edison's invention had made it possible 55 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: records sound for later playback, it wasn't practical. The cylinders 56 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: were really delicate. They weren't suitable for mass manufactures, so 57 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: it was very slow to produce them, and other inventors 58 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: would come along to make some refinements that would usher 59 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: in a new way to experience audio, and those inventors 60 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: were Emil Berliner and Eldridge Johnson. But let's start with Berlinner. 61 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: So he was born in eighteen fifty one in Hanover, Germany, 62 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: So I guess I should say Berlina, since there's no 63 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: hard r in German. He immigrated to the United States 64 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy and he became interested in engineering, and 65 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: so he and Edison would actually end up in a 66 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: patent battle over microphone technology before Berlinner turned his attention 67 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: to creating a disc based record player, so like a 68 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: flat disc as opposed to a vertical cylinder. So like 69 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: Edison's cylinder based phonograph, his record player would use a 70 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: stylist traveling through a groove, this time with horizontal grooves 71 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: rather than vertical grooves, and it would play back sound, 72 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: but this groove would be on a flat disc instead 73 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: of on a cylinder, and the disc had a distinct 74 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: advantage because Berlinner could mass produce recordings. He could make 75 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: a master recording and then use that to press copies, 76 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: so you could suddenly make lots of copies in a 77 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: fraction of the time it would take you if you 78 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: were trying to produce this using Thomas Edison's cylinder based phonograph. 79 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: So Berlinner's invention had one little drawback, well more than one, 80 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: but one distinct one. To power it, the listener would 81 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: have to turn a crank, and you'd have to keep 82 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: turning the crank in order to provide the rotational power 83 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: to keep the record turning. So Berlinner wanted to find 84 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: a way to motorize the turntable, both to free up 85 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: the listener and to maybe create a slightly more uniform 86 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,840 Speaker 1: rotational speed, because if you're changing your speed at how 87 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: you're cranking the crank, then the record's going to turn 88 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: at different speeds and it may sound funny. So Berliner 89 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: met Eldritch, Johnson, and Johnson suggested a wind up spring 90 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: motor system, so you would still have to wind up 91 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: the device, which at this point was called the gramophone, 92 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: but then the motor would take care of the rotation 93 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,159 Speaker 1: for you until you needed to wind it up again. 94 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:31,599 Speaker 1: That is now. The Gramophone would go on to be 95 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: a huge success, and the model would stand for future turntables. 96 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: They would all become disc based turntables. But more importantly 97 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: for our story, it meant that customers could purchase a 98 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: record and have a copy of music to play at 99 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,359 Speaker 1: home whenever they liked. It's pretty hard for us to 100 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: imagine it now. Right, we have our ability to access 101 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: pretty much any media on demand from devices ranging from 102 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: smartphones to televisions to refrigerators for goodness sakes, But this invention, 103 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: the VIC talking machine or gramophone had a massive impact, 104 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 1: a huge change. No longer did you have to go 105 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:11,239 Speaker 1: to a performance venue and listen to musicians play something 106 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,840 Speaker 1: one time and then you may never hear that again. 107 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: You certainly won't hear the same performance. It would be different, 108 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: even if they played it back to back. Now you 109 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: could enjoy a specific performance over and over and over 110 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: again from the comfort of your home. And these days, 111 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: with vinyl albums enjoying a resurgence and popularity, we can 112 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 1: thank Berliner's ingenuity for forging a path that we still 113 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: follow today. That is a very powerful invention. And again, 114 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: this invention would have a massive impact on culture and 115 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: the way music would develop and the way music companies 116 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: would come to be. The very format of vinyl albums 117 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: would have a big impact. Right, you would have your 118 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:55,840 Speaker 1: forty fives versus your full length long play vinyl albums. 119 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: It was really a huge moment in tech, this development 120 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: of the Victor talking machine and having access to recorded 121 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: music again, such a huge change in culture. It's hard 122 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: for us to take into account these days because we 123 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: can take for granted the fact that we can access 124 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: music whenever we like, but that wasn't always the case. Now, 125 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: on a related note, let's talk about an invention that 126 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: wasn't a physical gadget, but more of an innovation in 127 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: how to encode data and how that in turn created 128 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: an entirely new market. So I'm talking about the Motion 129 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: Picture or Moving Picture Expert Group Audio Layer three, better 130 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: known as the MP three. Now, this story dates back 131 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 1: to the late nineteen eighties. There was a need to 132 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: encode audio data in such a way that you could 133 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: have a relatively high level of quality, but you didn't 134 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: want to have all the information that would come along 135 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: with a raw audio file because the files were huge. 136 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: And the reason for this was that data transmission throughout 137 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties was limited. You didn't have gigafiber connections 138 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: back then or anything like that, so transmitting a digital 139 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: audio file would take a very long time unless you 140 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: found some way to compress it to reduce it in size. 141 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: The MP three standard would create a compression method, and 142 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: the way it did this was really innovative. The MP 143 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: three compression rates come to us courtesy of psychoacoustic masking, 144 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: which sounds scary but it's not. It's actually means that 145 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: the inventors of the MP three wanted to reduce digital 146 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:36,079 Speaker 1: audio file sizes largely by eliminating sounds that humans aren't 147 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: likely to hear in the first place. So, for example, 148 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: if you're listening to something and there is a very 149 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: loud noise and it's followed immediately by a quiet sound, 150 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: you're not going to hear the quiet sound. You'll only 151 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 1: perceive the loud noise. So that means that if you 152 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: were encoding an audio file into an MP three and 153 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 1: it detected a quiet noise following a very loud no well, 154 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,719 Speaker 1: it would essentially eliminate the quiet noise data because you 155 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to hear it anyway. Why keep it 156 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: in there if you can't perceive it. As another example, 157 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,960 Speaker 1: we generally described the range of human hearing for frequencies 158 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,720 Speaker 1: in you know, if we're talking about like pitches From 159 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: around twenty hurts to twenty killer hurts or twenty thousand 160 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,679 Speaker 1: herts in other words, so that's the lowest of the 161 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: low to the highest of the high that humans typically 162 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 1: can perceive. Obviously, there's always exceptions, so for pitches lower 163 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: than twenty hurts or pitches that are higher than twenty 164 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: killer hurts, we usually can't perceive them, at least not 165 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: through hearing, though we might feel them, like if you 166 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 1: have a fifteen hertz sound playing at a very high volume. 167 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: You may not hear it, but you might feel it. 168 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: And as we get older, we also typically lose some 169 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: of this range of hearing, usually in the upper range. Well, 170 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: that means that if there are any sounds in a 171 00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: recording that are outside the range of human hearing, you 172 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:01,200 Speaker 1: can theoretically just lose that data too, because humans wouldn't 173 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: be able to hear those sounds. Right now, this does 174 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 1: get a little whibbly wobbly. There are arguments about how 175 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: imperceptible sounds might actually affect the stuff we can here, 176 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: but when you're trying to save space by compressing a 177 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: digital file, you got to make some hard choices anyway. 178 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: The MP three method is actually something of a sliding scale, 179 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: So when you're encoding an MP three, you can actually 180 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,200 Speaker 1: choose how you want to optimize the file. Maybe you 181 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: want to really conserve space, so you get really brutal 182 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: with the settings, which is going to affect the audio 183 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: quality of the file. You know, it might sound like 184 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,880 Speaker 1: something that's been recorded off a fairly weak radio signal, 185 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: or maybe you want to optimize it for quality. Well, 186 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: then you can choose to have the MP three be 187 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: a pretty close to the original quality of the recorded audio. 188 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: You're just not going to conserve as much file space 189 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: that way. So usually we aim for a sweet spot 190 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,439 Speaker 1: in the middle where the hit to quality isn't typically 191 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,680 Speaker 1: that perceptible. I mean, some people argue they can pick 192 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,079 Speaker 1: it out nine times out of one hundred, and I 193 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: guess it depends on the quality of the encoding. But 194 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,199 Speaker 1: the key is that we do get the benefit of 195 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: a smaller file size this way, which makes it easier 196 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,320 Speaker 1: to transmit these files. And the MP three format would 197 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,560 Speaker 1: enable the creation of MP three players, then turn leads 198 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: to the creation of the Apple iPod and a spoiler alert, 199 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: that won't be the only Apple product that we'll talk 200 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: about in this list, but not only would the iPod 201 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,040 Speaker 1: introduce digital music players to the mainstream at large. It 202 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: would also help secure my career. I mean, this is 203 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: a podcast, right, tech Stuff's a podcast? Well, where do 204 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: we get the word podcast? We get it from the 205 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: Apple iPod. Even though the iPod was not the first 206 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: digital media player on the market, right, they weren't the 207 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: innovators in that sense. They just made a product that 208 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: really took off. Apple's amazing product design, coupled with the 209 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 1: very savvy development of iTunes and the iTunes store, would 210 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: secure its place in history. It actually take a couple 211 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: of generations of the iPod for that particular invention to 212 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,200 Speaker 1: really take off. Now, the development of the MP three 213 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:08,000 Speaker 1: had a massive impact on culture. In the late nineties, 214 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: we saw the rise of peer to peer file sharing 215 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:14,559 Speaker 1: networks that were largely trafficking in MP three files, and yes, 216 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: a lot of those files, perhaps most of those files 217 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: were shared without permission from the copyright holder, which meant 218 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: we were then in the era of digital piracy. The 219 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 1: MP three also created new challenges. For example, it created 220 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 1: challenges and how artists can expect to be paid for 221 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: their work. This was really complicated by the shift to 222 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: streaming media. But the digital file formats raised questions as 223 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: to how much an artist should receive per sale, right 224 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,679 Speaker 1: because you weren't talking about sales of albums necessarily, you 225 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: might be talking about specific tracks. And while there were 226 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: you know, there's a history of singles that dates back 227 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,840 Speaker 1: to the earliest days of records, but it wasn't like 228 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: you could buy an album track by track in the past, 229 00:12:57,559 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: or just by you know, two or three tracks off 230 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: an album. That was not possible before this digital file 231 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 1: format really unless you just lucked out with the singles. 232 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 1: So it would end up shining a light on the 233 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: music industry's economics, and that gets pretty hairy hit times. 234 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 1: But that's a matter for a different kind of episode. 235 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: So the MP three certainly deserves to be on this 236 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: list of inventions that would break the mold or perhaps 237 00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: create an all new mold. And that's just scratching the 238 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 1: surface of how MP three's have really made a change 239 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: in how we experience audio. But let's go even further 240 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: back for our next invention. Now, like a lot of innovations, 241 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 1: it can actually be tricky to say definitively this is 242 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:42,680 Speaker 1: the first of its kind, but broadly speaking, historians agree 243 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: that George Bauschamp deserves credit for the next entry on 244 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:50,840 Speaker 1: our list, and that is for the electrically amplified pickup. 245 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,960 Speaker 1: Now I'm not talking about pickup trucks. I'm talking about 246 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: what makes an electric guitar and electric guitar. It's the pickup. 247 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: So the pickup's job is to convert the energy from 248 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 1: a vibrating guitar string into an electric signal that, once 249 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: it's amplified, can then be sent to a speaker and 250 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: then play back the tone of that vibrating string. And 251 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: Beauchamp gets the credit for making the first one. He 252 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: built it into a guitar, and eventually this guitar became 253 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:24,480 Speaker 1: an actual model of guitar that was sold. It was 254 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: called the Rickenbacher Electro A twenty two. This first hit 255 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: the market way back in nineteen thirty four. So how 256 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: do these things work? What's going on? Well, it has 257 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 1: to do with magnetic fields and electrical charges. So we 258 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: know there's a special relationship between electrical fields and magnetic fields, right, 259 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: That's why we talk about electro magnetism. So, for example, 260 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:49,160 Speaker 1: if you run a conductive wire through a magnetic field, 261 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: the magnetic field will induce an electrical current to flow 262 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: through the conductive wire. Similarly, if you wrap a conductive 263 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: wire around something like an iron nail and then you 264 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:03,000 Speaker 1: run an electric current through the wire, then you will 265 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 1: generate a magnetic field and you will have an electro 266 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: magnet on your hands. Well, a guitar pickup typically consists 267 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: of one or more magnets, though not always with conductive 268 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: wire wrapped around them, and the permanent magnet or magnets 269 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: generates a magnetic field, and the guitar strings made of 270 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: material like steel and nickel or brass or bronze, will 271 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: disrupt that magnetic field when you strum them, and it 272 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: induces an electrical current to flow through the wire, and 273 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: that current will correspond to the frequency of the vibrating 274 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: string or strings. So if you're playing the E string, 275 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: then it's going to produce an E because the frequency 276 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: is going to create an electrical current that corresponds with 277 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: that E. Note. Again, you have to pass the current 278 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: through an amplifier, amplifying the signal, and then it gets 279 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: sent to a speaker and then you get the replication. 280 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: But it's brilliant and it was actually necessary at the 281 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: time because in the nineteen thirties when Beauchamp made this innovation, 282 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: Big jazz were becoming popular and guitars were seen as 283 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: useful instruments, but they could really only provide a little 284 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 1: flavor and fullness to the sound because they were far 285 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: too quiet against the rest of the band's instruments in 286 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: order to stand out and be really versatile, So amplification 287 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: was necessary to get guitars to have enough oomph to 288 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: really stand out and give more opportunities to explore an 289 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: experiment with music. The invention of the pickup opened up 290 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: new doors for musicians to make new sounds with guitars, 291 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: and it led to huge innovations in jazz and rock 292 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: and roll, tons of other genres, my favorites being like 293 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: glam rock, punk rock, new wave and garage rock. And 294 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 1: then we would get a lot of experimentations with the 295 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: pickups themselves. This meant we would end up with guitars 296 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: that had very distinct sounds to them. Right, Brian May's 297 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: guitars don't sound like anyone else's guitars because he wound 298 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: his pickups himself, at least in his early guitars he did. 299 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: So you might be talking about like big brands like 300 00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 1: Fender and Gibson, or he might be talking about competitors 301 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: that have their own distinct elements that set them apart. 302 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 1: And it's all due to the invention of these pickups 303 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: along with the construction of the guitars themselves. So to me, 304 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:16,680 Speaker 1: like the electric pickup really ushered in an entire new 305 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:22,199 Speaker 1: way of making music and expressing yourself, something that just 306 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: was not possible before. So I had to put it 307 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 1: on the list. Plus, like, I started playing guitar during 308 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: the pandemic, and now I have two Fender guitars. I've 309 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,439 Speaker 1: got a stratocaster and a telecaster, and I also have 310 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: a bass guitar. So I got pulled in y'all. And 311 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: let me tell you. When you get a guitar and 312 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: you start learning those chords and you get your first 313 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 1: like amplifier and pedal, like maybe adding a little effects 314 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 1: to that sound as you're processing the signal that's being 315 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: sent to the amplifier. Wow, it's just such an incredible feeling. 316 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,159 Speaker 1: I wouldn't say I achieved rock god status, but it 317 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: sure is fun to play with. Okay, that's a good 318 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: start for a list of incredible pioneering technologies. We've got 319 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 1: several more to talk about before we get to that. 320 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: We're going to take a quick break to thank Nissan. 321 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,959 Speaker 1: All right, So we're back. And recently I did an 322 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: episode about the history of the digital camera. Now I 323 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: don't want to go through that entire episode again, but 324 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: I do think it's important to acknowledge the development of 325 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: two different types of sensors, the charge coupled device aka 326 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:47,159 Speaker 1: the CCD and the complementary metal oxide semiconductor or sea moss. 327 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,400 Speaker 1: Both of these trace their history to the nineteen sixties 328 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: and both are important in technology that we use today. 329 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 1: The first out of the gate was actually sea moss. 330 00:18:55,800 --> 00:19:00,159 Speaker 1: Researchers at Fairchild's Research and Development Laboratory created the C 331 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,679 Speaker 1: MOSS sensor. They build a semiconductor, which I'll remind you 332 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 1: semiconductor is something that under certain conditions operates as an 333 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: electrical conductor and in other conditions it operates as an 334 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: electrical insulator. This type of semiconductor was incredibly useful for 335 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: low power applications because it would draw next to no 336 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 1: power if it was just in standby mode. But we're 337 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: more concerned with a subset of sea moss sensors, namely 338 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: image sensors. So these sensors take light in the form 339 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: of photons and they transform the energy of light into 340 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,919 Speaker 1: a different kind of energy, electrical current. The sensors consists 341 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: of photodiodes and these correspond to the pixels in a 342 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: digital image. The intensity of light hitting each photodiode determines 343 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: the amplitude of electrical charge that each photodiode generates. This 344 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,159 Speaker 1: in turn goes through an analog to digital converter to 345 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: be processed into a digital image. There's a lot more 346 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: to it than that, but you get the general idea. 347 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: With sea MAS sensors, each photodiode has its own amplifier, 348 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: so the photodiode captures the light, converts it to electrical current, 349 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: It goes through an amplifier for that specific photodiode and 350 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,159 Speaker 1: then continues on through the path to the analog to 351 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: digital converter. That's important because the charge couple device or 352 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: CCD works in a slightly different way. Now. It followed 353 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty nine, so it was the second of 354 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: the two sensors to be developed, and it came out 355 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: of the work of scientists who are at Bell Labs. So, 356 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 1: like a sea MAS sensor, the CCD also consists of 357 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,360 Speaker 1: a grid or mosaic of photodiodes, but the CCD can 358 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: have as few as just one amplifier, So instead of 359 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:49,639 Speaker 1: each photodiode wired to its own amplifier, the overall CCD 360 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:53,600 Speaker 1: stores a collection of charges. Then it shifts those charges 361 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: off that are then amplified and processed, and they're shifted 362 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,159 Speaker 1: row by row if you think of it as a grid, right, 363 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 1: So you shift everything over one step up and then 364 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: you process that and go it through the amplifier. Then 365 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: you do it again and again until you've transferred the 366 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:15,440 Speaker 1: entire grid of charges. The reason why this is important 367 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: is because using just the one amplifier the one pathway, 368 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:23,160 Speaker 1: reduces the amount of noise generated through electrical leakage, which 369 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: leads to better images. You don't have problems like striation 370 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,640 Speaker 1: in your digital photos, at least not to the level 371 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: that you would with old seamos digital cameras. Now, in 372 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: more recent years, improvements in seams technology has really changed 373 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 1: the scene. So now seamos has come to dominate technologies 374 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: like VR and AR headsets, and that's due in part 375 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: to the fact that seamos is far more power efficient 376 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,160 Speaker 1: than CCD. It's also far less expensive, so it helps 377 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,880 Speaker 1: bring costs down. But these innovations led to the development 378 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,880 Speaker 1: of digital cameras and digital headsets, and that also means 379 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: they had a huge impact on an establish industry, namely 380 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: the film industry. And you want to talk about disruptive. 381 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 1: Digital cameras were incredibly disruptive to the film industry and 382 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: still are today. So I'm talking about film as in 383 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: motion pictures as well as film as in the physical 384 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 1: medium that we used to depend upon if we were 385 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: taking photos or filming something. Digital photography would have a 386 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 1: massive impact on that industry, particularly once it became standard 387 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: for our phones to have digital image sensors in them. 388 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: That was truly a game changer. Now we're entering into 389 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: an era of mixed reality headsets that use these types 390 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,679 Speaker 1: of image sensors to help interpret and recontextualize the visual 391 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:44,400 Speaker 1: world around us, like we're able to augment our experience, 392 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,199 Speaker 1: and in large part it's due to the fact that 393 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: we have these types of sensors. It's hard to put 394 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:53,720 Speaker 1: into words how powerful this is now. At the moment, 395 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,479 Speaker 1: we're still in an era where the tech is pretty 396 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: expensive for things like VR and mixed reality, and therefore 397 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: it is very much limited to a niche audience, right, 398 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: not everybody has a mixed reality headset, But the potential 399 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: of this technology to really augment our experiences is really 400 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:12,679 Speaker 1: mind blowing. We may not ever reach the levels of 401 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: something like Ready Player one, but we're already seeing the 402 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,920 Speaker 1: tech implemented into everything from smart glasses to car displays. Now, 403 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 1: if we're talking about tech that forged a new path, 404 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: I think we have to give a nod to Doug 405 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 1: Ingelbart and his team at what was at the time 406 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: called the Stanford Research Institute. These days we call it 407 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 1: SRI International. So back in nineteen sixty four, Inglebart presented 408 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 1: a technology that would have a gargantuan impact on computers 409 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,120 Speaker 1: and specifically computer interfaces, and it was when he introduced 410 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 1: the humble computer mouse. Now, the original computer mouse was 411 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,520 Speaker 1: inside a little wooden chassis and had wheels to allow 412 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 1: you to move it across the table top. It wasn't 413 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,640 Speaker 1: like based on a little track ball, but rather these 414 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,160 Speaker 1: little wheels. It also had a single button to use 415 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,120 Speaker 1: to select things and using a mouse single Bart showed 416 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,359 Speaker 1: how it was easy to convert movements across an x 417 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 1: y axis in one plane like the horizontal plane as 418 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: in your desktop, and to have that connect to the 419 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: movements of a cursor on a different plane, you know, 420 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: a vertical display. And if you think about that ver 421 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: a second, I think it's really remarkable. We take it 422 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 1: for granted today, right, We take it for granted that 423 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: if you have your hand on a mouse, you're moving 424 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,800 Speaker 1: it around the table, you're moving a cursor across your screen. 425 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: But you got to remember that that's a flip of 426 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 1: a plane of ninety degrees. Today, it's second nature to 427 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: use a computer mouse. We don't even consider for a 428 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 1: moment that we're making movements along one set of axes 429 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: in order to control elements on a totally different set 430 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: of axis. It's just natural. But there was a time 431 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 1: before the computer mouse where that wasn't a foregone conclusion. Now, 432 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: the computer mouse, along with the graphical user interface or 433 00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:57,719 Speaker 1: gy or guy, would define computer interfaces in the future, 434 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,400 Speaker 1: though it would admittedly take a few decades. The first 435 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 1: personal computers focused on text and keyboard inputs. Right. They 436 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: didn't have a mouse, they didn't have graphic user interfaces. 437 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:12,240 Speaker 1: But the Apple Macintosh and the birth of Microsoft Windows 438 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,879 Speaker 1: would usher in a new era of computer interfaces and 439 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: control systems, and it's stuck around ever since. Even in 440 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,520 Speaker 1: the era of touch based interfaces, the history of the 441 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,879 Speaker 1: mouse is still there. We still have guy phones and such, 442 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:28,639 Speaker 1: so even in devices that don't have a computer mouse, 443 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: the impact of the mouse is still felt because the 444 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: design of the interface dates back to when we were 445 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: using a computer mouse. But you know, talking about guy 446 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: phones is fun. Now. I'm fascinated with the longevity of 447 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: the computer mouse, while the invention dates back to the 448 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,879 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties. For personal computers, we can really point to 449 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four as being the real beginning with the 450 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,880 Speaker 1: debut of the Macintosh computer. But considering all the other 451 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: methods that we have to interface with computers, from gestures 452 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: to voice, it is telling to me that the keyboard 453 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: and who else combo is still the dominant method, at 454 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: least for desktop computers, which is really saying something. Now, 455 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: I think there's no better way to conclude this episode 456 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,760 Speaker 1: than with a discussion about the iPhone. Now, let's be clear, 457 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: the iPhone was not the first smartphone. It wasn't the 458 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,719 Speaker 1: first device to even have a multi touch display. There 459 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 1: were prototypes that were out there that already were working 460 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: in that field. However, it was the first smartphone to 461 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:30,680 Speaker 1: bring the smartphone form factor to the mainstream public. Before 462 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,720 Speaker 1: the iPhone, smartphones were more utilitarian. They were relegated to 463 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 1: folks like executives and early adopters who had deep pockets. 464 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:43,320 Speaker 1: They typically had physical keyboards, and they stressed function over form. 465 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: The iPhone would change all of that. So when Steve 466 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 1: Jobs first unveiled the iPhone back in early two thousand 467 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: and seven, he emphasized how it was the combination of 468 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:57,879 Speaker 1: a widescreen iPod would touch controls, a quote revolutionary mobile 469 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: phone end quote, and a break through Internet communications device. 470 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: And perhaps at the time you might be forgiven for 471 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: thinking some of this was marketing hyperbole, right, it was 472 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,639 Speaker 1: all razzle dazzle. But I would say that calling it 473 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: a breakthrough Internet communications device turned out to be a 474 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:19,119 Speaker 1: massive understatement. The iPhone would transform the Web as we 475 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,240 Speaker 1: know it, and I actually saw this unfold in real 476 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:25,400 Speaker 1: time because in early two thousand and seven, I started 477 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: my job at HowStuffWorks dot com, which is a website 478 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: dedicated to explaining the mysteries of the universe one topic 479 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,640 Speaker 1: at a time. I started just a month after Steve 480 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:39,000 Speaker 1: Jobs had unveiled the iPhone. He did so in January 481 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: ninth of two thousand and seven, and my first day 482 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: was February fifteenth, two thousand and seven, but the phone 483 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,440 Speaker 1: wouldn't actually launch until that summer. It launched on June 484 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: twenty ninth, so it still had six months to go 485 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 1: before it would come out, So we had no clue 486 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:54,959 Speaker 1: at the time that it was going to change everything. 487 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: But that launch started a trend, and that trend was 488 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: that lots of people would end up buying a smartphone, 489 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 1: and if it wasn't an iPhone, then it might be 490 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:06,160 Speaker 1: an Android device, because those came out the following year 491 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight, or you know, maybe they 492 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,760 Speaker 1: were one of those poor folks who ended up with 493 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 1: a Windows phone. I say poor folks because Windows phones 494 00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: just didn't stick around very much. They weren't very well supported, 495 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:18,640 Speaker 1: they had a very small user base. But the point 496 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,200 Speaker 1: I'm making is that the consumer smartphone era had arrived 497 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: and it meant that people were shifting their behavior. So 498 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: instead of using desktop or laptop computers to access the web, 499 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: more folks were using their mobile devices. But that presented 500 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 1: a major challenge to website developers. The design and layout 501 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: of web pages often didn't mesh well with the mobile experience. 502 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: Either everything would appear to be far too small, or 503 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,920 Speaker 1: navigating the page was just way too clunky and required 504 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: too much swiping and dragging your finger on the screen. 505 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: The change in behaviors necessitated a change in design practices 506 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: for the entire web. It was clear that if you 507 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: wanted to remain real event on the web, you needed 508 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: to make sure your website was optimized for different methods 509 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 1: of accessing that site, including mobile phones. So companies spent 510 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: millions of dollars in order to catch up, and there 511 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: were entire careers that came into being as a result 512 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: of this, with new generations of web developers specializing and optimization. 513 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: Beyond this change, which I assure you was enough to 514 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: justify putting the iPhone on this list, Apple's smartphone would 515 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 1: lead to other massive transformations. So having a digital camera 516 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 1: incorporated into the design of the iPhone would mean that 517 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 1: you could leave your normal camera at home and just 518 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: rely on your smartphone to snap a pick or even video. 519 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: The evolution of streaming media would mean you wouldn't even 520 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,840 Speaker 1: have to carry a standalone digital media player. You could 521 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:49,800 Speaker 1: just listen to your music on your smartphone. While the 522 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: iPhone and other smartphones might not be superior to these 523 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: individual gadgets, the convenience of having just a single device 524 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,040 Speaker 1: that did it all really made up for it. The 525 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 1: rival of the App Store was another massive shift, again 526 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,600 Speaker 1: thanks to Apple's iPhone. We used to talk about programs 527 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: back in the day. We don't really say the word 528 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: programmed that much anymore. Now. We talk about applications innovation 529 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: in the app space, where developers figured out new ways 530 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 1: to leverage smartphone features like geolocation, data or connectivity. They 531 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,000 Speaker 1: really opened up opportunities like never before. I mean, billion 532 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,800 Speaker 1: dollar companies emerged out of these opportunities, and while not 533 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: all of them would stick around, some would change our lives. 534 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,160 Speaker 1: So I'm excited to see what other devices in my 535 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: lifetime will make this kind of huge impact, some of 536 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,880 Speaker 1: which we may not notice until after the fact. So 537 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,280 Speaker 1: is it possible that Apple will pull it off again? 538 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: Is it possible that the vision pro will one day 539 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,959 Speaker 1: join a list like this one? Or is it going 540 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: to take some other huge leap for that kind of 541 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: technology to grow beyond early adopters who have big old 542 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: wallets and what other innovations are going to stand out 543 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: as game changers. Can't wait to find out. To me, 544 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: that's one of the really exciting things about covering technology. 545 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,640 Speaker 1: I like talking about improvements that happen over time and 546 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: the gradual evolution of technologies as well, but it's really 547 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 1: exciting to zero in on a specific technology that would 548 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 1: ultimately have a massive impact on us, either directly or indirectly. 549 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:25,720 Speaker 1: And I really do believe that the ones I've mentioned 550 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: today fall into that category. Well that's it for this episode. 551 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 1: Thanks again to Nissan for sponsoring us to explore this 552 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: world of pioneering technology, and I'm sure I'll do more 553 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: episodes in the future talking about other examples, because this 554 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: is just a small collection. I hope you are all well, 555 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you again really soon. Tech Stuff 556 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 1: is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 557 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 1: thee heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 558 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.