From the first military headphone in 1910 to Beyer Dynamic’s famous DT-48, this site offers a pretty interesting way of showing the past 120 years of headphone development. The presentation features an interview with John Koss who was a pioneer of personal audio and takes us right up to the acquisition of Beats by Dre by Apple just a few weeks ago.
The site developed by UK electronics retailer, liGo, takes you on an interactive journey of the important key eras such as:
1890’s
The first electrophones were introduced which allowed people to listen to live music at home for the first time. People used to pay a lot of money for this service and it is the first “music subscription model” to exist. I guess Spotify wasn’t so original!
1910’s
Nathaniel Baldwin invented the first ever headphone in 1910 which had two sound receivers connected with a headband. The US Navy were his first major customer.
1930’s
This decade saw the creation of the world’s first dynamic headphones, Eugen Beyer’s Beyerdynamic DT48, which were manufactured up until just 2 years ago.
1950’s
Following World War II the 1950’s saw a huge increase in people buying music to play at home with teenagers taking advantage of the brand new Vinyl records. The Koss SP3 was released in 1957 the first stereo headphone and was designed purely for listening to music.
1980’s
With the release of the Sony Walkman in 1979 personal audio became mainstream, selling 200 million units. To make the Walkman truly portable Sony developed a lightweight pair of headphones that were almost ten times lighter than many headphones that preceded them.
2000’s
The biggest stride in the early 2000’s was the release of the Apple iPod. While personal MP3 players had existed for some time it wasn’t until the full marketing force of Apple got behind the device and made it a must have device. The small white ear-bud headphones shipped with Apple iPods and later the iPhone became a status symbol for trendy young adults.
2010’s
In 2008 Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine released the Beats Headphones and went on to capture over 50% of the premium headphone market. Whilst audiophiles aren’t a fan of the sound quality produced by Beats many people have been captured by the brilliant marketing and branding of the company bringing together fashion, music and electronics. I guess that’s why Apple paid $3 Billion for them!
Click here to check out 120 years of headphone development
The post The Evolution of the Headphone – A 120 Year History appeared first on Geek My Gadget.