Edison’s phonograph never ceased to amaze other inventors. Many made attempts to make improvements on it. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, produced a phonograph of his own. He wanted to give Edison due credit for his original efforts in developing the phonograph. Bell suggested to bring out the new machine in both their joint names. This was in 1887.
This made Edison angry: why should he share the credit for something which was basically his invention? He decided to develop an improved version of the original machine that he had built ten years ago. He spent a year on this project. The fragile tin foil of the original phonograph was given up, and all-wax cylinders were used for the recording surface. A sapphire was used as the needle, and the pick-up head was also more sophisticated. The new phonograph worked far better than the original one.
The technique of sound-recording was to undergo many more changes. The phonograph itself was later replaced by the gramophone. Yet the world will never forget Edison’s place as the person who taught the world to record sound.
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