April 18, 2016
What does Thomas Edison’s late 1800s phonograph have in common with 21st-century virtual-reality goggles?
They are two consumer products in the evolution of how creators transmit their work to consumers: From paintings of bison on cave walls to the as-yet-unimagined networks of the future, creative content is changing every day.
For years, creators around the world have harnessed fast evolving technologies to gain wider audiences. That’s why the theme of World IP Day this year is “Digital Creativity: Culture Reimagined.”
For creators, the basic challenge is as old as creativity itself: How to best create works that are adaptable and sharable, while being durable, too.
Below are seven patent applications from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries representing technological advancements that have contributed to linking up creators and their audiences in new ways.
1. “Phonograph or Speaking Machine” Feb 19, 1878, Thomas Edison
2. Apparatus for Transmission of Electrical Energy, Nikola Tesla, May 15, 1900
3. Analog to Digital to Optical Photographic Recording and Playback System, Sept 1, 1966 J.T. Russell
4. High Fidelity Stereophonic Reproduction System, May 19, 1981, Andreas Pavel (Italy)
5. Portable CD player “Mailing and Response Envelope” Netflix, Sept. 16, 2002
6. Ipod – “Method and Apparatus for Use of Rotational User Inputs” Apple Inc., Sept 26, 2002
7.“Method for Providing Virtual Reality Service and Apparatus For The Same” Samsung Electronics Co. LTD, 02/09/2015
