#27: The First Videotape Recorder

This behemoth of a machine is the AMPEX quadruplex VR-1000A, otherwise known as the first commercially available videotape recorder. This invention was released in 1951 after famous singer Bing Crosby urged the company AMPEX to develop a practical recording machine for television. The same thing already existed for recording sound, so why not?

The result was this giant machine created by the AMPEX team led by Charles Ginsburg. Today, Ginsburg is credited with inventing history’s first practical videotape recorder. The invention was patented in 1951, changing the landscape of video recording forever. Thanks to the technology used for this recorder, we could tape all of our favorite shows in the 90s when we weren’t home!