The modern society constantly throes of a technology revolution that has a variety of technical changes that marks the advances in society. The rapid improvement in communication technology has resulted in a closely integral society. The prevalence of the phonograph has made a drastic impact since its creation that is still evident today. The new generation of the phonograph shattered the past evolutions and unquestionably is a scientific revolution.
Before the emergence of the internet and other modern telecommunications facilities, there were numerous strides to send information as efficiently as possible. The transition from a speaking community to written tradition allowed for the progression into retaining and distributing knowledge and information. The first experimental acoustic mechanical telephone was credited to Robert Hooke in 1672. Hooke discovered that sound could be transmitted over wire or string into an attached earpiece or mouthpiece. The Chappe brothers, two French inventors, created the first optical telegraph system in 1790. The optical telegraph was a system of pendulums set up at a high area to send sign messages to different towers. In 1838 Samuel B. Morse worked on the idea of a recording telegraph with Alfred Vail and Leonard Gale. This became known as Morse code and lay the foundation for modern land-line phones. From 1876-1915 big strides have been made by Alexander Graham Bell as he invented the telephone. Thomas Alva Edison made incredible studies in sound recording and transmission when he completed the first acoustic phonograph in August of 1877. He had been trying to improve the model for the telephone when he realized that by adding a needle to the phonograph diaphragm and a tin-foil cylinder, one could record and playback sound. Throughout the evolution of communication technology, there was no evidence of any means to record audio until the phonograph. A new assumption requires the reconstruction of prior assumptions and the evaluation of prior facts. Ergo, there was not a prior theory or invention in the same umbrella as the phonograph. Evidently “noncumulative developmental episode in which an older paradigm is replaced in whole or in part by an incompatible new one“. (Kuhn, pg.92) A paradigm shift occurs if there is a failure in the existing paradigm or crisis that needed to be solved as “the failure of existing rules is the prelude to a search for new ones.” (Kuhn. 68) When analyzing the periodic advancement of communication technology there is distinctly no failure in the field to which a new paradigm can arise. Consequently, the creation of the phonograph does not result in a scientific revolution and is simply a gestalt shift.
In history the phonograph was the first recording device however on March 27th, 2008 a group of American audio historians found the phonautograph created by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinsville. This was a device that converted lines on paper to sound and “this is a historic find, the earliest known recording of sound,” said Samuel Brylawksi, the head of the recorded-sound division of the Library of Congress. (Rosen, 2008) The device patented on March 25th 1857 had the capability to record sound and consisted of a cone-shaped horn with a flexible membrane on the smaller end and a sharp needle. When sound was picked up the stylus moved beneath resulting a visible line recording in a soot of the paper. The crisis raised with the phonautograph was that it was not able to replay sound. A problem resists and is identified as a failure in the field to organize the needed tools to be solved in the future. The phonograph was able to replace the phonautograph as it became an alternate candidate. It became the new scientific theory as, “the assimilation of either a new sort of phenomenon or a new scientific theory must demand the rejection of an older paradigm.” (Kuhn, pg. 95) The phonautograph was eradicated as the paradigm of the phonograph gained status and in turn became more successful in solving problems and offered a promise of success. The new assumptions of the phonograph completely reconstructed of the prior facts. It is accepted as a paradigm because the phonograph is “seen better than its competitors and… explains all the facts with which it can be confronted”. (Kuhn, pg.17-18) The transition from the phonautograph to the phonograph in the field of communications deems the phonograph as a scientific revolution.
In the race to improve communication, Thomas Alva Edison changed history with the phonograph. It became one of the earliest recording devices and Edison identified his phonograph as a textual device for taking diction. In the North American Review in June 1878, Edison offered several uses for the phonograph. He believed that the phonograph could be used for books, education, music, family record, and other electrotype applications. (Edison, 1878) In 1878, Edison stated, “the phonograph will undoubtedly be liberally devoted to music”. (The North American Review, 1878) It becomes evident that the outcome anticipated by Edison does not fall into the expected results. It is still accepted as a lucrative paradigm as a “successful new paradigm/theory permits predictions that are different from those derived from its predecessor”. (Kuhn, pg.98) The phonograph made a drastic impact on ethnology, music production, and business. Edison’s experiment paved the future for the music industry and is said to redefine music. The phonograph was said that “The possibilities are so illimitable and the probabilities so numerous.” (Edison, 1878) The means of music drastically changed to fit the phonograph. A new method of producing recordings was brought into place as the mechanical procedure differed to fit the medium. Jazz bands replaced their drums with different equipment to acquire the wanted sounds and became the operation of “on demand” music. The business phonograph was “a faithful servant that will conduct business like a setting hen, and will never strike for higher wages” (Sterne, 2003) The implicit message being that the phonograph was to replace skilled position such as a stenographer. Edison's machine became one of the basic tools of anthropology. It gave researchers the method to preserve folk songs but, also abled the investigation of distinct vocal expression giving a grasp of the culture. The phonograph recordings are used as sound archives and become the new mechanical “third presence” for anthropologists and hold descendants of the people recorded.
As the advancement of technology was a gradual process, there was a heightened sense of techno-paranoia when the phonograph was introduced. Many believed that it is the commencement of the disorganization of society. On March 25th, 1878 a New York Times article stated that the invention is an impediment to society. It shows how people at that time believe that, “This machine will eventually destroy all confidence between man and man” (The New York Times, 1878) and that Edison should be hung for his invention. Ultimately, “In the days of persecution and it was said…that the walls had ears” (The New York Times, 1878). Musicians believed the phonograph decreased the fine arts and the real understanding of music. John Philip Sousa, an American composer, believed that the phonograph destroyed the finer instinct of the ear and put professional musicians out of work. He believes that an aspect of the music is lost when it is captured permanently, “The nightingale’s song is delightful because the nightingale herself give is forward”. (Souza, 1906)
Progress has become inherent in the definition of science and is evident in the evolution of communication technology. New discoveries and development in this field led to an important side product the phonograph which was debatably a catalyst and impediment to society at that time. The evolution episode of communication technology ultimately portrays the replacement of old paradigms with the phonograph being accepted. The phonograph is transformational and has made a revolutionary impact thus, is deemed as a scientific revolution.