POCKET REPORTER

New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 329, 12 October 1945, Page 19

POCKET REPORTER

Tiny Magnetic Recorder Scoops The News |

NE of the dramatic scoops of the United Nations Conference at San Francisco was made by the use of a magnetic recorder which seems likely to have revolutionary effects on journalism (says Newspaper News). An important Press conference was held at which news was divulged of wide general interest. A magnetic recorder was used by a radio reporter, who thus obtained a verbatim report which he put on the airy while .the other reporters were still transcribing their notes. These recorders have been used by U.S. Army Public Relations Officers to get "on the spot" news at the war. One proved of great value to trained military observers who were able to record everv phase of an important battle in the Pacific. Elaborate secret dictaphones have been a part of innumerable detective stories for years and have been used by governments and police. But the simple little gadget now devised requires no elaborate wiring and can be carried in a pocket, According to special stories in Editor and Publisher, New York, the Milwaukee Journal is about to test a tiny wire recorder which has been brought down in cost from 50 dollars to one dollar. This is, of course, ‘in contrast to the General Electric Company’s big war model, which weighs 351b. It is expected that miniature recorders made of magnetised steel wire will give interviews word for word, court reports, etc., even reproducing the intonation of

the speaker. With the exception of the tiny microphone, the miniature model would be out of sight in a pocket. The idea of a wire recorder was suggested in 1896 by Poulson, a Danish physicist, who exhibited his invention at the Paris Exposition in 1900, but not until the present war have the opportunities of the recorder been realised. It is claimed ‘that the magnetic recorders have the following advantages over other types of recorders. | (1) Recording can be made with the machine tilted in any position, also under conditions of extreme vibration. This makes it possible to use the machine under battle conditions, in airplanes, on trucks, etc. (2) Long, uninterrupted recordings can be made, an hour or more, and still keep the recording medium in a small package. (3) Record requires no processing after recording, except rewinding. It can be played back immediately. (4) Record is permanent. Records have been played over 100,000 times with only an infinitesimal loss in volume. (5) Record is relatively non-destructible. Being made of steel, it is less subject to damage by the elements, and in air or sea transport in war. (6) Record medium can be used an indefinite number of times. If a record has served its usefulness, it can be quickly and easily erased, leaving the medium clean and ready for another recording.