The Invention of Recorded Sound

 Today, recorded sound is everywhere. We stream music, listen to podcasts and replay voices without thinking twice about the technology behind it. But less than two centuries ago, capturing a sound and hearing it again was a revolutionary idea.

Phonautograph

The story actually begins before the traditional record. In 1857, French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville created the phonautograph, a machine capable of recording sound vibrations onto a permanent medium. According to the National Park Service, Scott's invention could preserve a visual representation of sound, but it was not designed to play that sound back. 

That limitation made Thomas Edison's work especially important.

In 1877, Edison invented the phonograph, the first machine capable of both recording sound and reproducing it. The Smithsonian Institution explains that Edison's machine used a stylus connected to a diaphragm to create indentations in tinfoil wrapped around a rotating cylinder. During playback, the process recreated the recorded sound.

The invention did not appear out of nowhere. Edison was already experimenting with two major communication technologies of the era: the telephone and telegraph.

According to the Library of Congress, Edison had been working on a system that recorded telegraph messages as indentations on paper tape. That work encouraged him to consider whether telephone messages could be recorded in a similar way.

The phonograph ultimately changed more than telephone communication. It changed people's relationship with sound itself.

Edison and the Phonograph

The technology was initially used as a dictating machine in offices, but the phonograph soon became popular entertainment. The Library of Congress notes that inventors continued improving the technology, including using wax cylinders instead of the original tinfoil. Recorded selections eventually became available to the public.

Recording also transformed music. Before this technology, listening to music generally meant hearing someone perform it. The phonograph allowed a performance to be reproduced rather than recreated each time. As Smithsonian Magazine explains, the phonograph fundamentally reshaped the way people experienced music.

Still, early recording technology was far from perfect. Edison's original tinfoil recordings had poor sound quality and could withstand only limited replay, according to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Despite those limitations, recorded sound created a lasting shift in communication. A voice, song, speech or performance no longer had to disappear after it happened.

That may be the phonograph's greatest legacy. Edison did not simply create a new way to hear music. He helped make it possible for sound itself to survive beyond the moment it was created.

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AI DISCLOSURE: The post was a collaboration using Microsoft Copilot. I took my presentation and speech about the invention of recorded sound and had AI write me a journalistic blog post. In addition to facts that I learned, I then asked Microsoft Copilot to help me improve the text by correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I asked Microsoft Copilot to help me shape the text into a blog post format. After reviewing the text, I added links to related resources and appropriate images and captions.

Blog Post #5

Two TED Talks. One theme: we're being tracked way more than most of us realize.

I went into this week's videos expecting the usual "protect your passwords" advice. Instead, I walked away thinking about license plate scanners and adhesion contracts — and honestly, a little unsettled.

TED Talk Classic Logo

Catherine Crump's talk was about mass location tracking, specifically automatic license plate readers. They're everywhere now, quietly logging where cars go, no matter who's driving or whether they've done anything wrong.

Here's the part that got me: police departments often keep this data indefinitely, even for people who were never suspected of a crime. So it's not just that the tech can track us. It's that the record sticks around, waiting to be used for something we never agreed to.

Crump's line — "the government knows too much" — isn't really about one scan on one street. It's about the pattern that builds up over months and years. Enough scans, and you've basically mapped someone's whole life.

The second set of notes was about Facebook, and how privacy invasion is basically baked into the business model.

A few terms from that talk stuck with me. There's the adhesion contract — a contract where one side holds all the power. Sound familiar? It's every terms-of-service agreement you've ever scrolled past without reading. That consent feeds data mining, pulled from what we post, tracking malware, and deep packet inspection. All of it builds a digital dossier, a profile assembled from our online behavior, which then gets used for behavioral marketing — that profile, put to work on us.

The term that stuck with me most was the third-party doctrine: once you hand information over voluntarily, you lose control of what happens to it next. That's the kicker. The second your data leaves your hands, you don't get a vote in how it's used, sold, or passed along.

And then there's the image from the second video that's stayed with me since: our content online is like an electronic tattoo. Permanent. Visible. Not going anywhere.

My family drives the same routes almost every day — work, gym, the grocery store. If plate readers are logging all of that, there's a record of our routine that none of us signed up for. It's not that we have anything to hide. It's that we have no idea who's holding onto it, or for how long.

Plate Reader

The Facebook stuff feels even closer to home. Everyone I know has clicked "I agree" without reading a word. We post constantly, and almost none of us stop to think about the profile being built behind the scenes — one that exists to sell things back to us. Free app, expensive trade.

There's a case for capping how long location data can be kept when there's no active investigation, instead of letting it sit in a database indefinitely just in case. There should also be more transparency around what's collected and who can see it. On the Facebook side, adhesion contracts need real regulation so consent can't just be buried in fine print, and there need to be actual limits on what companies can do with our data once it's out of our hands.

Right now, companies write their own rules. We don't get much of a say.

Realistically, none of us are ditching our phones or giving up driving. But a few things help: actually reading privacy settings instead of hitting "accept," sharing less than we're tempted to, and assuming that whatever we post online is permanent, because it basically is. It also helps to learn the vocabulary — third-party doctrine, deep packet inspection, all of it — because it's hard to push back on something you don't understand.

Both talks made the invisible visible for me. The tracking was always happening in the background. I just hadn't stopped to think about how much of a permanent record it adds up to — until now.

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AI DISCLOSURE: The post was a collaboration using Claude AI. I took detailed notes while watching 2 TED Talk videos about online privacy and data collection. In addition to facts that I learned, I emphasized my own reactions and opinions while watching. I then asked Claude AI to help me improve the text by correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation. I asked Claude AI to help me shape the text into a blog post format. After reviewing the text, I added links to related resources and appropriate images and captions.

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Speech Theories

Freedom of Speech is so important in our society, and it is one of the biggest things that makes the United States, what it is. People are entitled to their opinions and have the right to speak on them however they want to and to whoever they want to. When I think about our society today I think about of Freedom of Speech being one of the most valued and used Amendments.

Freedom of speech comes in many different forms whether that be displayed in music, a book, a speech, on social media, the news and so much more. This is something that we as Americans have the privilege of experiencing in our country. 

In the Blog post, the "Eight Values of Free Expression" we are shown eight speech theories. I will be discussing two of the eight that stand out and resonate most with me. 

Of the 8 Values of Free Expression I connect the most with the fourth one, which is Individual Self-Fulfillment. It states that individuals can use free speech to express themselves and create their own identity. 

Especially with some of the current events happening, by sharing our opinions we can allow others to see different point of views about specific topics. I think it is important to hear multiple points of views in order to better understand your own and this is done through others exercising their freedom off speech.

When I am scrolling on social media and see a news story, that is only one persons opinion and point of view. When I see someone else sharing a different opinion about the same topic, it encourages me to think deeper about what my thoughts are. 

For example in our class I enjoying hearing points of views that I may not have considered before. This connects well with the eighth value listed which is Protect Dissent. This states that we are not all supposed to agree with each other, or the government. We not only have a right, but a duty to disagree with everything that the government says or does. 

I do believe that when we disagree with things that people say we should remain civil and respectful. Although we have the freedom of speech we should by no means use that to make harmful and threatening remarks about others. We should disagree with each other in a respectful manor that sparks interesting and important conversation. 

My Top 5 News Sources

I wouldn't say that I religiously keep up with the news every day, but I do like to stay aware of what is happening around me and in the world. When I come across news it is usually while scrolling on my phone or it is sent to me by my family or friends, I do not usually find myself intentionally reading or watching the news. When I come across a story or topic that is interesting to me and that catches my eye, I will further look into it to learn more about it from other sources. I get my news from many different platforms and people. For this blog I will be sharing my top news sources and I will explain how I determine if the sources is trustworthy or not.

1. TikTok

TikTok is one of my main sources when it comes to keeping up with current events. I find myself coming across news about politics, pop culture, and more about things happening in the world while scrolling on my For You Page. TikTok's short form content makes taking in information more interesting and quick, which is the appeal for me personally. I completely acknowledge that TikTok is not always the most accurate and reliable with the information that it shares. This is why I choose to further look into a topic that is introduced to me on TikTok, on a different, more reliable news source. 

2. Google

I most likely use Google after coming across cross a story that interests me on a platform like TikTok. Google gives me a quick and efficient overview of news. Google also gives me many different news sources so I can compare stories and perspectives. I know not everything tat comes up on google is a reliable source, so it is just important to fact check websites.

3. Instagram

Instagram is another source that I get news from sometimes unintentionally. When the news I see is from a verified account, I see it as most likely to be more credible. I do keep in mind that different news sources promote certain stories and lean certain ways so I also fact check. I come across a lot of news while scrolling instagram whether it is my algorithm of people I follow posting their views on their stories. People Instagram is another platform with more short form content, sometimes the whole story is not told or is leaving out important information.

4. Family & Friends

Another way I hear about current events in through my family and friends. They will sometimes send me a news story, post, or an article on an event that they think I should know about or that they think I would be interested in. Since I'm not one to be consistently checking the news this is often how I end up hearing about things. If the story is something that I am interested in I will usually look more into it on my own. Although I obviously trust the people sending me news, I fact check it by looking it up on my own after it is sent to me.

5. Fox News 

Fox is a more traditional source that I tend to get news from. Getting news from here rather than my other sources like TikTok and Instagram allows a more depth source rather than short form platforms. Of course no news source is perfect and they all lead with some bias, but I do find that Fox is accurate and somewhere I find myself getting news from. I still tend to look at other sources just to compare and get two sides to a story.