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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
07/17/09
One of the things that killed Betamax was content. Sony saw Betamax as a recording system, and they worded hard on recording quality. But VHS was about watching stuff. Sony was really caught unawares by the movie rental and sales. VHS providers were much more savvy about getting video content, and worked hard to get budding video chains to be VHS-only. Sony responded with the Super Beta Hi-fi, which recorded beautifully and sounded good, too. Making a nicer machine wasn't an answer to the content question. The nail in the coffin for Beta was when Blockbuster--a VHS-only chain--became the dominant chain and drove out little mom&pop Beta-friendly chains.
07/17/09
Minidisc
ATRAC audio codec
Betamax
Memorystick
At least they're trying new things. New things that are proprietary and expensive.
07/17/09
07/17/09
Memory Stick is very far from failing, especially with the success of the PSP... I have 5 devices that take memory sticks at home.
I'd say UMD video was a total bust, but the disc itself is still doing ok for games...
Other than that, carry on! lol
07/17/09
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07/17/09
Of course, my family owned a Beta system...
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07/17/09
It was a very, very satisfying day when I got to remove the 3/4" decks from a machine room at a post house. To make room for G5's. Now those G5's can't play back youtube... sadtrombone.
07/17/09
07/17/09
I'm not saying I agree or disagree with it, I'm just saying this is how I see things going.
07/17/09
It's all just so fickle, it really is. To care so much about this stuff, and for what.
07/17/09
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07/17/09
IIRC it came up again in the HD DVD/BD war of 2008 with HD DVD getting the porn industry to back it originally. However they too switched to BD when they started seeing more sales on the BD discs they did sell.
07/17/09
Doesn't look like Sony has changed much in the last 30 years. Hopefully they start waking up.
07/17/09
i work at an ad agency and we send out beta tapes daily of our tv spots. we also do digital transmission, but it's still primarily tape.
07/17/09
You may know this, but I thought I'd point it out for general consumption.
07/17/09
07/17/09
I remember going to our local Sound Warehouse to rent videos and slowly watching the Betamax section shrink and shrink and shrink, until one day it was gone, subsumed by the VHS cassettes everywhere.
(This was about the same time that he decided it was time for a home computer and bought us the Apple IIGS.)
Edit: Great piece by the way. Thanks Wilson.
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07/17/09
Same experience here. My folks still have some home videos on Betamax. Of what I have no recollection, and hope to keep it that way.
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02/12/09
Whoops, My bad. I thought it was released as a consumer format in 1972, but turns out that's just when it was first demo'd. Wasn't released until 1978, two years after VHS. I retract my previous assertion. Guess I should bone up on my history before I open my mouth :P Carry on, chaps!
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