voice/writer tape deck
Date1971-1972
Inventory Number2004-1-0224
ClassificationTape Deck
Subject
Maker
3M Company
(Wollensak Division)
1902 - present
User
Polaroid Corporation
1937-present
Owner
Edwin H. Land
1909 - 1991
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensions10.5 × 35.5 × 31 cm (4 1/8 × 14 × 12 3/16 in.)
Material
Accessories"VOICE/WRITER DECK - COMPENSATOR SWITCHING DIAGRAM" in instrument file.
DescriptionThis tape deck is also part of the Polaroid Interactive Lecture System developed for science teaching. This deck, which used standard cassettes, is made of wood and metal and has several knobs and switches to record and playback audio files.
It has been modified from the original product made by the 3M Wollensak Division. A metallic box at the back of the deck is equipped with switches and data sockets, which were designed for the electrowriter receiver and transmitter (2004-1-0222 and 2004-1-0223, respectively) that were part of this system.
The cassette is marked: "EW Exercise"; "SW own"; and "5/76 MDI". SW stands for Stewart Wilson, the inventor of this system for Polaroid.
It has been modified from the original product made by the 3M Wollensak Division. A metallic box at the back of the deck is equipped with switches and data sockets, which were designed for the electrowriter receiver and transmitter (2004-1-0222 and 2004-1-0223, respectively) that were part of this system.
The cassette is marked: "EW Exercise"; "SW own"; and "5/76 MDI". SW stands for Stewart Wilson, the inventor of this system for Polaroid.
In Collection(s)
Signedon deck: Polaroid Corporation
on plaque, underneath: Wollensak 3M Company
Curatorial RemarksThe senior scientist who worked on this project at Polaroid between 1971 and 1976 was Stewart W. Wilson. His resume posted on the web (see <a href="http://www.eskimo.com/~wilson/resume.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>) mentions that he
"Invented, developed, produced, and marketed the Interactive Lecture System (ILS), an individual learning system which approximates a personal, branching interaction with an articulate scientist or teacher on a topic of mutual
interest, including answers by the speaker to questions as they arise.
Contracted with and directed the making of Interactive Lecture recordings by scientists such as Carl Sagan and Philip Morrison. Tested system with students from M.I.T., Harvard, and Boston University.
For the ILS’s graphic channel, which allows formulas and sketches in the teacher’s own hand to play back from the second track of the tape, invented and implemented a compensator unit which totally eliminates tape flutter effects from the writing.
Directed manufacture of the ILS, introduced as a Polaroid product at shows such as the American Physical Society’s annual meeting, and marketed it nationally to schools and colleges."
ProvenanceThis object belonged to Edwin H. Land and came from the Rowland Institute, Harvard University. Gift of the Edwin H. Land Family.
Victor Comptometer Corporation
Date: 1971-1973
Object number: 2004-1-0223
AMPEX
Date: 1960
Accessories: plaque (separated)
Object number: RS0972a
Olympus
Date: after 1988
Accessories: transcriber foot pedal (2004-1-0290b); power supply (2004-1-0290c); headphones (2004-1-0290d)
Object number: 2004-1-0290a
Henry Hughes & Son, Ltd.
Date: 1900-1915
Accessories: instruction manual for instrument is in box of disassembled parts as are the two brass thumb screws that attach a to b.
Object number: DW0141a
Victor Comptometer Corporation
Date: 1971-1973
Accessories: circuitry schematic (in instrument file)
Object number: 2004-1-0222
Mystic Seaport Museum
Date: circa 1986
Accessories: velvet bag; authentication card
Object number: 1997-1-1673
International Business Machines Corporation
Date: 1970-1980
Object number: 2004-1-0029
Date: 1890-1930
Object number: RS0528
Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory
Date: 1947-2002
Object number: 2003-1-0291
Polaroid Corporation
Date: circa 1978
Accessories: wrist strap, Twi Light movie lights
Object number: 2004-1-0507
Henry Hughes & Son, Ltd.
Date: 1900-1915
Accessories: instruction manual for instrument is in box of disassembled parts.
Object number: DW0141a-p
See also/See also
