Interesting National Public Radio segment you can hear:


The NPR segment is about Bing Crosby and his radio program, the early days of recording, how he invested money and how his radio program helped to advance magnetic tape recording.

Oct 4/02, NPR, The Morning Edition, The Secret History of Techno part three

quote "Bing Crosby repaid his debt to technology by funding a Silicon Valley start-up that became a leader in the tape recording industry -- Ampex." end quote

Listen at above link, including old bits of Crosby's radio show and see a photo gallery of old recording equipment.