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From: sxnahm@bbncca.ARPA (Steve Nahm)
Newsgroups: net.video
Subject: Bye-bye Beta?
Message-ID: <498@bbncca.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 21-Jan-84 20:15:14 EST
Article-I.D.: bbncca.498
Posted: Sat Jan 21 20:15:14 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 21-Jan-84 23:36:19 EST
Organization: Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, Ma.
Lines: 18


    I have been thinking of buying a Beta VCR, due to it's
reported technical superiority over VHS.  However, on NPR last
night some video guru (or maybe he was a business analyst) was
being interviewed, and he implyed that Beta was on the way
out due to VHS's dominance in the market (he reported 25% Beta,
75% VHS).  He suggested that the primary reason Sony hasn't thrown
the towel in already is because they would "lose face," which
would be terrible for a Japanese company. 

    Does anyone on the net have any opinions on this?  I really don't
want to buy a machine that will find itself being phased out.  I believe
that if Sony does call it quits on Beta, the video software industry
would also.  How close do you think this is?

Steve Nahm
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