Philips DS9-37 - Manual (Page 7)

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Pioneering connected audio
Hot on the heels of the compact disc came the FW-i1000 - the world’s first integrated
audio device connecting to more than a thousand internet radio stations. This was shortly
followed in 2003 by Philips Streamium MC-i250 - the world’s first wireless broadband
internet micro Hi-Fi system. Designed for the emerging ‘connected home’, this wireless
product was a pioneer in connected entertainment and the forerunner of wireless speakers
we enjoy today. It was the first audio product to offer access to multiple online music
services and streaming of digital music from multiple devices on a home network.
The MC-i250 was followed by a number of products marketed under the ‘Streamium’ name
with the slogan ‘Don’t dream it, stream it!’. These provided traditional home entertainment
combined with access to audio and video content from a PC, media server or thousands of
on-demand online entertainment services.
The CD revolution
Just as the popularity of the compact cassette was at its peak,
Philips was preparing to unveil yet another ground-breaking
innovation in audio. From 1974, a team of researchers at Philips’
labs in Eindhoven, The Netherlands started work on a project to
develop a 20cm optical audio disc with sound quality superior to
that of the large and vulnerable vinyl record. What they ultimately
revealed to the world in 1979 was a smaller 11.5cm optical audio
disc they named the ‘compact disc’ in line with the Philips compact
cassette. Aware that international standardization was key to the
success of this product, later that year Philips joined forces with
Sony and the two companies collaborated on establishing the
global Red Book standard for digital audio discs.
Philips’ researchers had succeeded in their objective: the music
reproduction was of an unprecedented quality; without interference
and noise, insensitive to light fingerprints, dust and scratches.
The first album to be manufactured in the new CD format was
The Visitors, ABBA’s eighth and final studio album in 1981.
By 1983, what is considered the ‘Big Bang’ of the digital audio
revolution took place as CD players and discs were widely released
in the United States and other markets. Many of the early adopters
of the new technology were classical music enthusiasts which
benefitted Philips due to Polygram’s strength in the classical genre.
As prices for CDs came down and they became more affordable,
the CD would revolutionize the record industry and the way the
world listened to music at home thanks to improved sound quality,
durable materials and the ability to skip whole tracks in an instant.
All these improvements helped Philips firmly establish its reputation
as an undisputed global leader in audio.
CD-100 - The world’s first CD player, 1983 (Invented by Philips in cooperation with Sony).
Streamium MC-i250 - The world’s first wireless broadband internet micro Hi-Fi system, 2003.