After reading the sound article by Steven Johnson, I am amazed about how sound transformed into what it is today. Something I found interesting is how many inventors imagined how their inventions would be used in the future of society. For example, Leon Scott de Martinsville invented the phonautograph, which would etch out waves according to what was said into the hornlike apparatus. Scott thought that in the future, we would learn how to read these waves, almost like a second language. This was a good idea in the sense that it could transcribe what a person was saying; however, it had a shortfall in that no one was going to learn a new language to read it.

Another interesting example was the thought Edison and Bell had for their invention’s future usage. Edison had invented the phonograph as a way of sending audio letters through the postal system. Bell had envisioned the telephone as a way of listening to music, with an orchestra on one side of the line and the person on the other. These two inventions were actually used for reversed reasons. The telephone was used for communication, while the phonograph was used to listen to music.