Stefan Kudelski poses with the Ampex-Nagra VPR-5 portable recorder in an undated photograph. The devices were used to record the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.
Credit Courtesy of the Kudelski Group
Kudelski with actors Maggie Smith (left) and Maureen Stapleton at the 1978 Academy Awards. That year, Kudelski won a Scientific and Engineering award for improvements "in the Nagra 4.2L sound recorder for motion picture production." It was one of four Oscars awarded Kudelski in his lifetime.
Credit Courtesy of Jim Anderson
A Nagra recorder used to record a 1976 interview at the University of Chicago for the NPR Program 'Folk Festival USA.'
Credit Courtesy of Randy Thom
Randy Thom, director of sound design for Skywalker Sound, with his Nagra 4.2. While filmmakers now use smaller and lighter digital recorders, Nagras are still used to record gunshots and other very loud sounds.
Credit Courtesy of the Kudelski Group
Stefan Kudelski poses with the Ampex-Nagra VPR-5 portable recorder in an undated photograph. The devices were used to record the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.
While few outside the film and radio industries may recognize the name Stefan Kudelski, his Nagra recorder — meaning "will record" in Kudelski's native Polish — transformed the world of sound recording for radio, television and film.
Kudelski, inventor of the first portable professional sound recorder, died Saturday in Switzerland at the age of 84, according to a statement from the Kudelski Group.
Originally published on Tue January 29, 2013 12:13 pm
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Credit Frank Langfitt / NPR
Li Tiantian, a human rights lawyer, is under heavy surveillance by Chinese authorities. She says police tried to get her boyfriend to break up with her by showing him photos of other men she had been involved with.
China is becoming a surveillance state. In recent years, the government has installed more than 20 million cameras across a country where a decade ago there weren't many.
Today, in Chinese cities, cameras are everywhere: on highways, in public parks, on balconies, in elevators, in taxis, even in the stands at sporting events.
Officials say the cameras help combat crime and maintain "social stability" — a euphemism for shutting up critics.
Reading always seemed to be the most private of acts: just you and your imagination immersed in another world. But now, if you happen to be curled up with an e-reader, you're not alone.
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A salesperson demonstrates the Apple iPhone 4 in New Delhi, India. While mobile device use is growing rapidly in emerging markets, Apple's current product line may prove prohibitively expensive for many consumers.
