Throwback Thursday Object: The Edison Voice Writer

By -


Edison Voice Writer
 Our object this week was found in storerooms at the Delaware County Workers for the Blind in Muncie, Indiana in 2013.  Office dictation equipment was used by professional stenographers who were blind or visually impaired to type documents for others, and also by blind professionals to record letters, notes, or any other material they wished to archive.  The machine stored its recording on a red seven inch “Edison Diamond Disc” which could also be played back on a standard phonograph.  Disc-cutting systems such as the Voice Writer, Sound Scriber, and Dictaphone began to decline in popularity in the 1960s, replaced by tape based systems.

The case was designed for Edison by Carl Otto and introduced in 1952.  If you have never heard of Otto, he was one of the most influential industrial designers of the twentieth century.  He designed soda fountain dispensers for Coca-Cola and electric shavers for Schick.  His Edison Voice Writer design, with its rectangular, gray-brown cast aluminum chassis, and bright aluminum trim won a national award from the Industrial Designers Institute. 

Otto supposedly said in 1945, "We create beauty for useful purposes...not for museums."  But in this case, I guess he was wrong…

Comments

Thietke Nhadep said…
merry christmas and happy newyear.
I sell t-shirts. are you want one!?
custom-ink
sunfrog shirts
10:50 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

President Trump Signs Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act

By -
Image
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (October 11, 2018) – On Tuesday President Trump gave final approval to the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act. This comes after bipartisan support of the bill in the both the House and the Senate. The change gives Americans who are blind or visually impaired access to accessible books from more than 40 countries that have joined the Marrakesh Treaty.
“We are excited to see the United States government understand how important accessible books are for everyone,” said Gary Mudd, VP of Government and Community Affairs at American Printing House for the Blind (APH). “At APH, we believe accessible information is more than a convenience, but a human right. We look forward to the role we will play in the sharing of these important publications. This is a major step forward for people who are blind or visually impaired here in the states, and across the globe.”
The Marrakesh Treaty creates a copyright exemption for domestic reproduction and use of accessible literary works an…
Read More »

UPDATED! Oldies but Goodies: "Established" APH Products

By Michael McCarty -
Image
by Monica Turner
As a Field Services Representative, one of my responsibilities is to go to conferences and exhibit APH products. Oftentimes I will display many of the new and exciting products that we have to offer in order to provide consumers an opportunity to see the items firsthand before making the decision to purchase them. While it is wonderful that APH has been producing so many new products over the past several years, I find that I'm not often able to take along as many of the wonderful, older products that we still have available. We give you information about our new products each month as they are released, and we have been thinking that it might be beneficial to also go back and revisit some of the "oldies but goodies." We hope you agree and we welcome any suggestions you may have about products that you would like to see highlighted.

Please send your comments and suggestions to Monica Turner at mmturner@aph.org.

More "oldies but goodies" added t…
Read More »