Man Who Helped Pioneer Music CD Dies

Man Who Helped Pioneer Music CD Dies
Sunday, 24 April 2011

The aspiring opera singer and Sony executive credited with the creation and success of the compact disc has died.

Sony said former president and chairman Norio Ohga died Saturday in Tokyo of multiple organ failure at the age of 81.

Sony executives persuaded Ohga to give up on a career in opera and join the company in the 1950s after he complained about the sound quality of Sony’s tape recorders.

Ohga rose quickly within the company to become a key executive, and helped pioneer work on the compact disc, or CD, promising it would one day overtake records as a main platform for selling music.

It was also upon Ohga’s insistence that the CD was designed to be 12 centimeters in diameter and hold 74 minutes worth of music – enough to hold the entirety of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Sony introduced the CD in 1982, the same year Ohga became Sony president. The Associated Press reports that five years later, CD sales overtook record sales in Japan.

Ohga remained as Sony president until 1995, and then stayed on at Sony as chairman for several more years.

He is also credited with molding Sony into an entertainment giant with the purchase of the Columbia Pictures movie studio, now Sony Pictures Entertainment, in 1989 and the creation of Sony’s PlayStation video gaming division.

Ohga graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and the Berlin University of the Arts. He continued to support classical music throughout his life, supporting young musicians and concerts in Japan.

Current Sony Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer said Saturday that it was Ohga’s ‘foresight and vision’ that helped Sony expand beyond audio and video products and turn into a global entertainment leader.

Beloved Polar Bear Knut Dies

Polar bear "Knut" (Ursus maritimus) shaking off water after swimming, 12 September 2010. (Photo: Benjamin Janecke a.k.a. BennyJ)

Beloved Polar Bear Knut Dies
Saturday, 19 March 2011

Berlin's beloved polar bear Knut, who rose to international stardom shortly after his birth on December 5, 2006 in captivity, died suddenly on Saturday.

Bear keeper Heiner Kloes said the world-famous bear, who was raised by zookeepers, collapsed in his compound and died shortly afterwards.

An autopsy is scheduled to determine a cause of death.

Knut rose to global fame after he was shown to the public for the first time as a 15-week-old cub. “Knutmania” swept across Germany and the world when the cub's mother rejected him shortly after his birth. The cub was raised by his Berlin zookeeper, Thomas Doerflein, who died unexpectedly in 2008 at the age of 44.

Knut merchandise, including postcards, key chains, candy and stuffed Knuts, has brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars to the zoo.

“Knutmania” also led to a famous 2007 Vanity Fair cover with U.S. actor Leonardo DeCaprio, shot by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.