Fact File about the Invention of CDs: Invention: CDs *** Date of Invention: 1982 *** Name of Inventor: James T. Russell *** Lifespan of Inventor: 1931 - Present *** Nationality of Inventor: American *** Historical Period: Technology and Information Age *** Category: Science and Technology *** Country of Origin: America *** Facts about the Inventor, James T. Russell, and the invention of CDs ***

Fact 1: Who invented CDs? CDs were invented by James T. Russell in 1982 during the Technology and Information Age of inventions.

Fact 2: Who invented CDs? Prior to the invention of CDs in 1982 vinyl records of albums and singles were the music medium of choice. Cassettes were also available at this time.

Fact 3: Who invented CDs? The inventor of CDs, James T. Russell, was born on 1931 in Bremerton, Washington, United States.

Fact 4: Who invented CDs? The early years of James T. Russell were spent in Bremerton, Washington, United States where he was raised by his family. James T. Russell was educated at Reed College (1953) where he earned his Bachelor degree in physics.

Fact 5: Who invented CDs? Following his education his first job was at a General Electric lab in Richland. James T. Russell was then appointed as a "designated problem-solver" for General Electric experimental unit where he able to research and develop the latest computer technologies of the 1960's.

Fact 6: Who invented CDs? His inspiration for his invention of CDs came not surprisingly for his love of classical music. He loved playing his vinyl records but became frustrated at their poor sound quality and when they became scratched or damaged.

Fact 7: Who invented CDs? James T. Russell decided to try to resolve his problems with playing music and initially attempted to improve the record player.

Fact 8: Who invented CDs? He identified that the major problem was due to the contact from the stylus to the record. His work had involved the birth of computers and he had experience working with punch card systems and digital data. Pondering on the wear and tear problem he had a 'Eureka' moment as he realized that the issues could all be avoided by using a light to read the music without physically touching the disk.

Fact 9: Who invented CDs? James T. Russell went on to invent the first system to record digital information on an optical transparent foil that was lit from behind by a high-power halogen lamp.

Fact 10: Who invented CDs? In his system laser read the minuscule pits (binary patterns), and a computer converted the data into an electrical signal.  James T. Russell then found it a fairly simple taks to convert the signal into an audible or visible transmission.

Fact 11: Who invented CDs? James Russell filed his first patent for an "Analog to digital to optical photographic recording and playback system" on September 1, 1966 and was granted patent number US3501586 on March 17, 1970 for his invention. Its assignee was Battelle Memorial Institute who had taken over the project from General Electric.

Fact 12: Who invented CDs? In 1971 a New York venture capitalist named Eli S. Jacobs became extremely interested in James Russell's ideas and established Digital Recording Corporation with the major objective of enhancing the product for the consumer video market

Fact 13: Who invented CDs?  Eli S. Jacobs appointed James Russell as Vice President to work on the invention of a a video disk. Russell  went on to be granted over 20 patents for various elements of his compact disk system as he developed his ideas throughout the 1970's.

Fact 14: Who invented CDs? There was no commercial interest in his ideas until the late 1970's when Philips and Sony began to develop ideas on laser and optical disc technology. Philips were convinced that an analog system was the only way ahead (they were wrong!) and coined the term 'compact disc'.

Fact 15: Who invented CDs?  Sony launched the first commercialized CD player in 1982 and early compact discs were made at just two factories, owned by Philips and Sony but were soon joined by other leading manufacturers in the music industry.

Fact 16: Who invented CDs? Music CDs dominated the market despite the fact that they cost just about double the price of the equivalent vinyl record.

Fact 17: Who invented CDs? James Russell's intellectual property was purchased by Optical Recording Corporation (ORC) in Toronto in 1985 and royalties from CD player sales were paid to Battelle and to Optical Recording Corporation.

Fact 18: Who invented CDs? James T. Russell never received any money for his inventions because they were owned and controlled by his previous employers.

Fact 19: Who invented CDs? In 1985, the CD-ROM entered the market and went beyond audio to record optical data storage and the photo CD was created by Kodak for the purpose of storing photographs in a digital format.

Fact 20: Who invented CDs? James T. Russell went on to establish a company called IOPTICS in Bellevue, Washington specializing as an optics consultant and continues to develop revolutionary inventions. 

Fast Info and Fact File: Country of Origin: America *** Name of Inventor: James T. Russell *** Nationality of Inventor: American *** Date of Invention: 1982 *** Invention: CDs *** Lifespan of Inventor: 1931 - Present *** Invention Era: Technology and Information Age *** The Inventor and Invention of CDs ***