Internet Archive to make 25,000 old 78s available to hear

The wonderfully oddball Internet Archive, the Brewster Kahle-led effort to keep the digital past accessible has announced an effort to digitally release up to 400,000 old shellac recordings for free. The effort is being handled by George Blood in Philadelphia - read the local article about this project here, then take a listen to some of the music to get a sense of how far (or not) the recording arts have come.