Experience seems to suggest that as technology becomes more sophisticated, its rate of change also accelerates. For example, it took many thousands of years to get from the wheel to the steam engine but less than 50 years to get from computers the size of warehouses to today's smartphones, desktop super‑computers and the Internet. While we welcome the benefits of new technology, they may render traditional skills, such as typesetting or the design of tape recorders, virtually obsolete overnight. On the plus side, technology has democratised recording to an extent that would have been hard to predict back in the Sinclair Spectrum days, when hard drives cost around $10,000 per gigabyte.
The current 'big thing', of course, is the electronic tablet computer, with Apple's iPad grabbing most of the headlines. You probably know that we've been beavering away on an iPad App version of Sound On Sound for some time now, and I'm happy so say that it's finally available, both in UK and US versions, via the iTunes Store.
The iPad edition contains all the editorial content of the print edition, and is also enhanced with the addition of audio and other interactive content. For example, while reading Mix Rescue, you can listen to the original track and the rescued version simply by clicking the play icons at the start of the article, which is pretty neat!
Instead of merely exporting the print magazine wholesale to the App, we've designed a new layout specifically to fit the iPad screen, which means that there's no awkward scrolling or zooming just to read a column of text. We've also spent some time making sure that it's easy to flick between pages or complete articles, which should make for a more pleasurable reading experience. And the really great thing about all this is that you can add each new issue as it comes along and your iPad won't get any heavier! There's a free-to-download issue on iTunes right now, so give it a try and let us know what you think.
Your paper Sound On Sound will continue as before, with sound examples accessible via the www.soundonsound.com web site, and while technology continues to march forward, the end result of your recording endeavours will, as always, depend more on the skill of the musicians and the engineer than on the actual equipment being used. That's where you can depend on us to continue helping you get the best possible results from whatever recording system you have, and to provide unbiased, in-depth reviews of new products so that you can make an informed choice, whether planning a new system or upgrading an existing one.
Paul White Editor In Chief