Some Popular Misconceptions About Magnetic Recording History and Theory

Magnetic recording was first proposed by Oberlin Smith in 1878, but the first working recorder was not built until 1898, by Poulsen [1] [2]. The early magnetic recorders all used a steel wire or tape, but these were “non-starters” – too clumsy, not easily spliceable, too heavy, and too expensive. In those days there were no electronic amplifiers, and the distortion was much too high, so magnetic recording was not an instant success.