Ediphone Transcriber, circa 1920
Add to SetSummary
Dictaphones and Ediphones were sound recording devices used for efficient oral dictation in business settings. When Edison invented the phonograph, one proposed use was "dictation without the aid of stenographers." Its tinfoil playback medium lacked quality, however. Alexander Graham Bell's Graphophone (later, Dictaphone) improved the phonograph by using wax cylinders for superior playback; cylinders were also used in the competing Ediphone.
Dictaphones and Ediphones were sound recording devices used for efficient oral dictation in business settings. When Edison invented the phonograph, one proposed use was "dictation without the aid of stenographers." Its tinfoil playback medium lacked quality, however. Alexander Graham Bell's Graphophone (later, Dictaphone) improved the phonograph by using wax cylinders for superior playback; cylinders were also used in the competing Ediphone.
Artifact
Dictating machine
Date Made
circa 1920
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
29.2003.56
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Thomas A. Edison, Inc.
Material
Composition (Material)
Iron alloy
Nickel (Metal)
Textile
Wax
Dimensions
Height: 36 in
Width: 18 in
Length: 14 in
Inscriptions
Name on front
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