The Digital Gramophone: original design or DIY shortcut?

Mmm, the digital gramophone. New and old in a union of laser and nostalgia sure to make T.A. Edison's prodigy swoon. Designed by Yong Jieyu & Ama Xue Hong Bin, the Phonograph CD Player consists of a disassembled CD player with the laser positioned like a classic needle tracing a wax groove. While we like the idea of the exposed disc assembly, we imagine the sound to be fairly consistent with those early 19th century recordings. While the designers claim that their aim was to "analyze a product in its history and function and redesign it," we can't help but wonder if this isn't just a masked DIY gramophone kit available on Amazon.co.jp for years. Just sayin' is all.

[Via Akihabara News]

[P. Berliner @ May 31st 2007 11:02AM]

The Gramophone was NOT invented by Thomas Edison as the aticle stated. Rather, it was invented by my Great Grandfather, Emile Berliner. Do a Google search for "Who invented the Gramophone" to find out its history.

[Matt @ May 31st 2007 12:16PM]

Emile Berliner invented the disc playing phonograph, Thomas Edison invented its predecessor, the cylinder-operated one.

[yelloj @ May 31st 2007 5:30PM]

My thought exactly.
Hey Yong and Ama ... Don't call it a phonograph. Phonographs play round cylinders, not flat discs.

[Peter Tripp @ May 31st 2007 12:30PM]

Why does it have a DVD recordable disc on it instead of a CD? Maybe I'm mistaken, but that looks purple, and I've never seen a purple CDR. And that cheap discman they ripped apart certainly can't play a DVD.

Or translated to standard engadget troll form:
"CDs are so 1990, make me one that plays DVD Audio and i'm in."

[Fruition @ Jun 1st 2007 4:25PM]

Yeah, it looks like a DVD-R, probably just for the sake of the picture. Purple looks way better than the greenish-yellow of CD-Rs, IMHO.

[AJ @ May 31st 2007 1:26PM]

That would be early 20th century, not 19th..

[jimgirardi @ May 31st 2007 1:56PM]

MAJOR difference from the Japanese one... that one actually works like a gramophone in that is ETCHES whatever you put on it (CDs, paper, llamas, whatever)... this one actually plays the CD using a laser. So this is essentially a stylized CD player rather than an actual mechanical etching/playback device. Once you use a CD on the Japanese one... you have some really scratched up plastic and/or llamas!

[G$ @ May 31st 2007 5:25PM]

Isn't there a risk from the invisible IR radiation that the laser outputs?

[oj @ Jun 2nd 2007 8:53PM]

there is a laser record player that uses a laser to read vinyl, but its a few $thou. id like to see a true analog optical disc.- ie- dvd recorded w/ laser but not w/ 1&0's but instead an analog wave burned on the disc. now thats a true meld of nostalgia and modern tech.