In March 1979, a prototype of a ‘Compact Disc (CD) digital audio system’ was publicly presented and demonstrated to an audience of about 300 journalists at Philips in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. This milestone effectively marked the beginning of the digital entertainment era. In the years to follow, the CD-audio system became an astonishing worldwide success, and was followed by successful derivatives such as CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD, and recently Blu-ray Disc. Today, around the thirtieth anniversary of the milestone, it is taken for granted that media content is stored and distributed digitally, and the analog era seems long gone. This book retraces the origins of the CD system and the subsequent evolution of digital optical storage, with a focus on the contributions of Philips to this field. The book contains perspectives on the history and evolution of optical storage, along with reproductions of key technical contributions of Philips to the field.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. The story of the compact disc is also the story of the end of physical media. It is the story of how the quest for perfection laid the grounds for the death of a great industry. For in the passage from analogue media, like records and tapes, to digital formats, like CDs, something changed in the nature of media and in the relationship we have with music. Music became code, a sequence of 1s and 0s, a flow of pure information. The material structure of the medium itself was always supposed to disappear. But the physical has proved to possess an uncanny knack for returning. Today the CD is a zombie medium, still popular amongst certain avant-garde record labels and Japanese consumers. Against all the odds, the spectre endures. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

"This is a book about how technology has affected the music industry through a series of disruptions that have taken place ten times over the past century. Whenever technological innovations result in a compelling new way to distribute music to the public, the music industry changes in myriad and fundamental ways to adjust to the new format. And while the technologies themselves have evolved over the decades, the changes within the business follow a distinct pattern. Key Changes describes this pattern: it defines an analytical structure, the 6C Framework, that explains how the music business transformed in each era. The ten disruptions are the formats for distributing recorded music: phonograph records, radio, LPs, tapes, CDs, television, digital downloads, streaming, and streaming video; and then into the future with voice response and AI technologies, where the changes are in progress now. Each of these has a chapter in the book. The book concludes with an examination of how the 6C Framework applies across the timeline of various music formats, as well as to technologically induced changes in other industries, ranging from movies to sports to coffee, and it offers some observations about how blockchain technology could be the source of the next set of disruptive innovations in the music industry"--

Economics is the nexus and engine that runs society, affecting societal well-being, raising standards of living when economies prosper or lowering citizens through class structures when economies perform poorly. Our society only has to witness the booms and busts of the past decade to see how economics profoundly affects the cores of societies around the world. From a household budget to international trade, economics ranges from the micro- to the macro-level. It relates to a breadth of social science disciplines that help describe the content of the proposed encyclopedia, which will explicitly approach economics through varied disciplinary lenses. Although there are encyclopedias of covering economics (especially classic economic theory and history), the SAGE Encyclopedia of Economics and Society emphasizes the contemporary world, contemporary issues, and society. Features: 4 volumes with approximately 800 signed articles ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 words each are presented in a choice of print or electronic editions Organized A-to-Z with a thematic Reader's Guide in the front matter groups related entries Articles conclude with References & Future Readings to guide students to the next step on their research journeys Cross-references between and among articles combine with a thorough Index and the Reader's Guide to enhance search-and-browse in the electronic version Pedagogical elements include a Chronology of Economics and Society, Resource Guide, and Glossary This academic, multi-author reference work will serve as a general, non-technical resource for students and researchers within social science programs who seek to better understand economics through a contemporary lens.

This reference book details the top 100 groundbreaking events in the history of American business, featuring case studies of successful companies who challenged traditional operating paradigms, historical perspectives on labor laws, management practices, and economic climates, and an examination of the impact of these influences on today's business practices. Throughout history, important commercial developments in the United States have made it possible for American companies to leverage tough economic conditions to survive—even thrive in a volatile marketplace. This reference book examines the top 100 groundbreaking events in the history of American business and illustrates their influence on the labor laws, business practices, and management methodologies of corporate America today. The 100 Most Significant Events in American Business: An Encyclopedia depicts the chronological order of events contributing to the evolution of American business, with an emphasis on the commercial innovations of each period. The book explores the origins of successful brands, including Apple, Wal-Mart, and Heinz; demonstrates the successful collaboration between public and private sectors illustrated by the Erie Canal, Hoover Dam, and the interstate highway system; and depicts the commercial impact of major economic events from the Panic of 1857 to the Great Recession of 2010.

Engineering Optics is a book for students who want to apply their knowledge of optics to engineering problems, as well as for engineering students who want to acquire the basic principles of optics. It covers such important topics as optical signal processing, holography, tomography, holographic radars, fiber optical communication, electro- and acousto-optic devices, and integrated optics (including optical bistability). Practical examples, such as the video disk, the Fresnel zone plate, and many more, appear throughout the text, together with numerous solved exercises. There is an entirely new section in this updated edition on 3-D imaging.