Bob Olhsson wrote:
Indeed. Berliner's argument was that some extra twist in the throat of his horn made his device fundamentally different from Edison's. His backers had enough money to continue fighting with Edison in court and remain in production until after Edison's patent had expired. The disk ultimately won out because of the popularity of Enrico Caruso.
The final sentence is the only one with which I disagree. The disc won out for the same reason that VHS won out over the technically superior Betamax: practicality. The disc is far more practical to produce and to handle. Technical issues are significant (and the professional version of Betamax still survives), but for the producer and the user operational and cost issues take over.
Mike -- mrichter@xxxxxxx http://www.mrichter.com/