A Brief Technical Note

We’ve conducted (and in large part transcribed) more than 25 straight hours of interviews in order to research this book, and we’ve got another 4-6 to go, at least. This would not have been possible — in the slightest — without our Olympus VN-3100PC Digital Voice Recorder. It’s never failed us, runs for hours without needing new batteries, stores up to 72 hours of sound in however many folders you want, picks up sound in hostile conditions (i.e. pasteurizers), and converts all our interviews into easy-to-use digital files so that we can transcribe from iTunes instead of rewinding and fast-forwarding a physical tape. I have come to love this thing. As far as inanimate objects go, it is my best friend. As a journalist, I’ve used a lot of recorders in the past (eight? ten?) and this is the first one I’d go out of my way to praise.