The document outlines the history of sound recording technology from 1877 to 2010, including key inventions like the phonograph in 1877, tape recorders in the 1920s, cassette tapes and compact discs in the 1960s and 1980s, mp3s and digital music in the late 1980s and 2000s. Modern listening habits using technologies like mp3s, CDs, and digital music are common today, though just over a century ago there was no means of preserving sound.