Few people have heard of it, yet John Blankenbaker's KENBAK-1 was the first commercially available personal computer.
Another Audio Format Rolls Into The Sunset
By James Grahame
Yet another vintage media bit the dust last week as the final piano roll, uh, rolled off the assembly line at QRS Music Technologies in Buffalo. It was the 11,060th title released by the company, the classic "Spring is Here" by Rodgers and Hart. Astoundingly, QRS still sells around 50,000 rolls annually - mostly modern pop songs.
Thanks to the production equipment's age and a dramatic decline in piano roll sales over recent years, it's doubtful that production will resume at another location. Besides, QRS has chosen to hang its future success on a line of digital player pianos.
Link: The Day The Music Died
