Norio Ohga’s Legacy
I’m sure most, if not all of you, may be wondering who Norio Ohga was. A former opera singer, and Sony chairmen, Ohga was credited with developing the compact disc. Unfortunately, he passed away last weekend, but not before leaving a lasting legacy. Ohga led Sony to create what would become the standard for commercial audio and ushered in a new era of technology as a result.
Even today, companies are still using some of those standards when developing newer disc-based technology. For example, it was Ohga’s decision to standardize the size of each disc to precisely twelve centimeters — a measurement still used with DVD and Blu-ray. While it may seem arbitrary, Norio Ohga settled on that size specifically so that the disc would hold just enough data to store the entiterty of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Crazy, right?
Who would have thought the format would serve us so well for so long? Who would have guessed it could have so many applications? Indeed, Norio Ohga was a visionary and he will be missed.
News via JapanToday
Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, he contributes to the ModernMethod Network of sites as the Features and Reviews Editor for the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator. He’s also an Assocaite Editor for their popular gaming blog, Destructoid, and the collectible toy culture blog, Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.