'Father of the CD' Dead at 81

Norio Ohga presided over Sony for its release of the first CD and PlayStation, and made the brand one of the strongest in the world.

The man who turned Sony from a middle-of-the-road tape-recorder manufacturer into the king of high-tech and entertainment died this past weekend. Norio Ohga, 81, was president of the Japanese company from 1982 to 1995, and oversaw the release of the first-ever compact disc, approved plans to launch the PlayStation gaming console, and led Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures in 1989. Ohga's training as an opera singer shaped much of his outlook upon taking control of Sony – his oversight of the CD project made certain that Beethoven's 74-minute Ninth Symphony could fit onto a single disc. Ohga was also responsible for introducing the sleek, all-black design that's helped make Sony products the envy of the world.