The small movement of the stylus scraping through the grooves on the revolving cylinder is amplified by the large horn that stares out into space. We hear words that were captured over a century ago: voices of men who started the new technological revolution which made the world grow smaller by the day.

Exactly 110 years ago, a young man walked into the offices of the "Scientific American" magazine carrying his latest creation under his arm. The Editor was used to seeing new inventions, but today he was going to witness an extraordinary moment in history. As the machine was carefully placed onto his desk, young Thomas Edison explained that it was designed to "record and reproduce the sound of the human voice". He began winding the machine and spoke into the small disc that was connected to a needle, which in turn transcribed an imprint onto the revolving tin foil. "Mary had a little lamb" was recorded and, to the Editor's amazement, played back again. The unearthly voice drifting through the outer offices piqued the staff's curiosity, drawing them into the small office. The floor, which was not used to such weight, started creaking, prompting the Editor to remark to Edison, "Would you please mind leaving the building!"

This invention, so crude and yet so effective, still amazes people even today. While man has developed technology to land and walk on the moon, the L.P. Record technology we use today is virtually unchanged in principle from the first "tin foil" machine of 1877. Even more amazing is the influence the phonograph and its offspring have had on our lives in the past 110 years; the fruits of a gifted group of individuals, pioneering technology with a vision for the future.