F. B. Fenby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Edison was not the original author of the word “phonograph” (which literally translates as sound writer). That honor goes to F. B. Fenby, an inventor in Worcester, Massachusetts, who was granted a patent in 1863 for an unsuccessful device called the “Electro-Magnetic Phonograph”. His concept detailed a system that would record a sequence of keyboard strokes onto paper tape. Although no model or workable device was ever made, it is often seen as a link to the concept of punched paper for player piano rolls (1880s), as well as Herman Hollerith's punch card tabulator (used in the 1890 census), a distant precursor to the modern computer.
