Posted by Bill Vermillion on 04/06/06 00:55

In article <1144241239.711876.316950@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com>,
asj <kalim1998@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Research firms (e.g. Forrester Research) note that Blu-ray will most
>likely win in the format war:
>
>"Blu-ray has several advantages that will help it win the day, Schadler
>said. HD DVD is a one-trick pony for video playback, but Blu-ray is
>also designed for games and computers, he said. Indeed, its inclusion
>in millions of Sony's next-generation video game consoles is a factor.
>And when former HD DVD loyalist Paramount endorsed Blu-ray, it shifted
>the movie studio momentum. Finally, although Blu-ray manufacturing will
>cost a little more initially, it offers more capacity and employs a
>proven technology, Java, for interactive features."
>
>http://www.cnet.com.au/desktops/storage/0,39029473,40057660,00.htm
>
>Informal Polls show same:
>http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=451395
>
>I have informally talked to people as well. They note Sony lost betamax
>because it did not license it out. In this case, Blu-ray is supported
>by a large number of vendors. This is not just Sony. This is Panasonic,
>and Disney, Warner, Fox, and Sun, and IBM, and.....

Well the people who told you that Sony did not license it were
wrong.

I've owned Sony Betamax machines, a wonderful NEC that recorded
in Super Beta I, and a Radio Shack machine that appeared to
be a rebranded Sanyo. And Sony built and rebadged their units
for Zenith.

For more details on the development and growth of the VCR industry
see "Fast Forward". It was written in the late 1987 by James
Lardner. I just checked one reference in it and it noted
that in 1984, after Zenith announced they would have VHS machines,
that the 3 other Beta manufacturers, Toshiba, Sanyo and NEC would
hedge their bets by also making VHS machines

And while Beta slowly faded in the US other countries in the world,
notably SA, continued to have fairly large Beta sales.

All you'd have to do is go to any of the theme parks in the Orlando
area and see the blank Beta tapes for sale for the SA tourists
cameras, while you'd be hard pressed to find them in any normal
retail outlet.

One of the bigger reasons that Sony lost the consumer battle was
the RCA jugernaut caught them by surprise. They never expected the
huge advertising campaign that RCA waged after they bought the
technology from the Japanese, after scrapping their $400 million
investment in developing their own video tape recorder.

The advent of RCA in the market caused the Quasar "Time Machine" to
disappear from the market virtually overnight, while it took
a few months more beofore Sanyo stopped their V-cord and went with
Beta.

So for a short time there were 4 competing video tape formats in
the US, and prior to RCAs introduction Sony was beating Quasar
[which had one of the most ungainly cartridges I've seen] and
Sanyo.

You will find more accurate reportings by going back to article
written during the time the 'wars' were going on, instead of
the numerous re-writes by people who weren't there when it
happened, and often just rehash undocumented rumors they have
heard.

Bill
--
Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com

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