<story><title>Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording</title><url>http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/scientists-recover-the-sounds-of-19th-century-music-and-laughter-from-the-oldest-playable-american-recording/264147/</url><text></text></story><parent_chain><item><author>DanielBMarkham</author><text>The time between about 1860 and 1910 seems totally magical to me.&lt;p&gt;For all of history, people lived, loved, and died. Aside from perhaps a few of them writing their thoughts down, they totally disappeared.&lt;p&gt;With the invention of still photography, and much more audio and moving-picture recording technology, suddenly you could see and hear people who were long gone.&lt;p&gt;These folks are not just dead. Their kids are dead, their grandkids are dead, their great-grandkids are probably also gone. Yet we are able to hear them play music, tell stories, and laugh. They might even tell a joke and we can laugh along with it.&lt;p&gt;It&apos;s as if mankind suddenly came out of a very dark tunnel. We are finally able to really coalesce into a multi-generational conversation about what our humanity means. (A little too poetic. Apologies. I just find it amazing)</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dhughes</author><text> I wonder if the late 1990s to roughly now will be seen as a audio, video, still picture dark ages of sorts.&lt;p&gt;The average consumer was astounded by low quality mp3 audio over a record, cassette tape or later on compact disc. Sort of like fast food, convenience over quality.&lt;p&gt;It&apos;s also the same for photography I remember the first digital cameras and they had horrible resolution and colour depth but it was amazing to have a film-less camera. Video being a close cousin to pictures got worse in quality too but more affordable and convenient no more giant saddle bag and shoulder-crushing camera.&lt;p&gt;Looking back years from now family pictures and audio will be great up to roughly the mid 1990s then from then on until the early 2000s the bottom fell out.</text></comment>
<story><title>Scientists Recover Oldest Playable American Recording</title><url>http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/scientists-recover-the-sounds-of-19th-century-music-and-laughter-from-the-oldest-playable-american-recording/264147/</url><text></text></story><parent_chain><item><author>DanielBMarkham</author><text>The time between about 1860 and 1910 seems totally magical to me.&lt;p&gt;For all of history, people lived, loved, and died. Aside from perhaps a few of them writing their thoughts down, they totally disappeared.&lt;p&gt;With the invention of still photography, and much more audio and moving-picture recording technology, suddenly you could see and hear people who were long gone.&lt;p&gt;These folks are not just dead. Their kids are dead, their grandkids are dead, their great-grandkids are probably also gone. Yet we are able to hear them play music, tell stories, and laugh. They might even tell a joke and we can laugh along with it.&lt;p&gt;It&apos;s as if mankind suddenly came out of a very dark tunnel. We are finally able to really coalesce into a multi-generational conversation about what our humanity means. (A little too poetic. Apologies. I just find it amazing)</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>JasonFruit</author><text>I&apos;m with you --- it was an amazing transformation in our link to the past.  But don&apos;t underestimate the power of written language to carry on that multi-generational conversation.  We can read the thoughts of people who died &lt;i&gt;thousands&lt;/i&gt; of years ago, and we still have a lot to learn from them.</text></comment>