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| Why did VHS win over Beta? by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 06/30/2014, 3:32am PDT | ||||
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| There are a number of reasons why Beta tapes should have been the market leader in the Videocassette Wars. The machines were better built, and the video was higher quality.
But Sony made a number of serious blunders, something they do even to this day. First, the Beta format was too short; the best you could do was about an hour which meant if you wanted to put the average theatrical movie on tape you'd need two (I think Sony later fixed this but it was a problem for a long time). Second, I think Sony would not license its technology to other manufacturers. JVC, which invented VHS, licensed it to anyone willing to pay the license fee. Third, while Beta machines were better built, the VHS ones were only slightly less rugged, and the first machines coming out were 33 pounds for a Betamax and 26 pounds for VHS; that difference means a lot of factors, including reduced cost for shipping and for making the device in the first place. That meant VHS recorders were considerably cheaper, a factor still prevalent today, which is why most people buy much cheaper Windows machines instead of Intel processor chip-based Macintoshes. Fourth, JVC encouraged the development of the rental market and videotape rental stores; Sony still focused on home taping. (Especially after their massive win in the Supreme Court in Sony v. Universal Studios, which basically invented the home video industry.) But, more than anything else, I think, contributed to the destruction of Beta as a good choice for consumers. Sony did not want the makers of porn to use Beta equipment. So, with porn available exclusively on VHS, the lack thereof more-or-less killed the Beta format. |
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Why did VHS win over Beta? by 06/30/2014, 3:32am PDT  Yes. Thread locked. NT by 07/01/2014, 3:06pm PDT |
